About this Course

Understanding financial statements needs not be the exclusive domain of financial analysts.

Finance and non-finance professionals, you and I included, read and rely on financial statements to make decisions, not only in our work as stakeholders, but also in our personal investments.

It is vital, therefore, we possess the necessary understanding to advance our ability to analyse and interpret financial statements to determine the financial health and performance of our organisation and of those which we may have an interest in. We need not have to depend on or wait for analysis reports from analysts or our accountants.

This workshop features lectures and exercises using Powerpoint presentation.

Objectives

To provide non-financially trained personnel with a basic background, in order to read, understand and interpret the financial performance of businesses. Professionals like Engineers and Lawyers will find this course useful, as it will help them make better cost-benefit decisions, and communicate better with their accounting counterparts.

Course Outline

1.The Basics

• Nature and role of accounting
  
• Desirable qualities of a financial report
  
• Accounting as an information system
  
• Financial and management accounting compared
  
• Fundamental accounting assumptions
  
• Accounting policies
  
• Objectives of financial statements
  
• User groups and their areas of interest
  

2. Statement of Financial Position

• Source & Use of Funds approach
  
• Vertical Format presentation
  
• Items in the Statement of financial position
  

3. Income Statement

• Timing adjustments
  
• Allowances and matching concept
  
• Distribution of profits
  

4. Statement of Cash Flows

• Difference between Profit and Cash Flow
  
• Operating cash cycle
  
• Relationship between depreciation and cash flow
  
• Non operating cash outflows and inflows
  

5. Statement of Changes in Equity

• Owner changes in equity
  

Extracts of selected financial statements based on best practices will also be presented.

Who Should Attend

Executives, Contract Managers, Programme Managers, Project Engineers, Managing Directors, Company Directors, Sales Directors, Business Managers, Financial Controllers, Marketing Managers and Executives, Business Advisers, Bankers, Consultants, Company Secretaries, Administrators, Credit, Finance & Operation Executives, Maintenance Managers, Accounts Supervisors, Lawyers, Legal practitioners & Legal Counsel

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