More Information - Understanding Accounts

Understanding Accounts

3 hours - valid for 6 months

Course Cost (excl. VAT): £29.99

Introduction

According to a recent survey, 68% of managers have received no financial training and only 50% are confident that they are making the best financial decisions for their businesses [1]. With non-financial managers increasingly expected to manage budgets and finance, organisations that do not equip them with the skills to understand accounts are putting themselves at huge financial risk.

Understanding Accounts will help non-financial managers read and analyse Annual Reports and Accounts including Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Accounts and Cash Flow Statements. The course gives managers a better understanding of the financial consequences of their decisions and allows them to play a more active role in ensuring their organisation meets its objectives.

[1]: You Gov/Intellexis survey of 650 UK managers, March 2006

Who is the course for?

Understanding Accounts is suitable for managers without formal accountancy training who needs to be able to read a set of annual company report and accounts in order to make business or credit decisions. It will also help anyone running a business, or looking to invest in a business, to identify how well that business is performing.

This course is appropriate for any business sector, there are no formal entry requirements and employees do not need any prior experience.

What will you get from this course?

When you have completed this course, you will be able to:

Know what a Balance Sheet is and understand what Assets and Liabilities are
Understand why companies borrow and identify the benefits of using equity and borrowed funds
Understand how companies and tax authorities treat the purchase of capital items
Understand liquidity and the differences between Cash and Profit
Measure the profitability of a business
Understand depreciation
Control cash and Working Capital
Use simple ratios to measure performance

Course features

Based around two fictional businesses, a series of engaging video clips follow salesman Neil, who is in danger of losing a large contract because the customer has been turned down for credit, and James, who is investing in his brother-in-law’s new caravan site.

Financial trainer Nick Rints and broadcaster Christina Barryk demystify the financial environment by using a computer animated model of water tanks, pipes, valves pumps and meters to explain in simple, jargon-free terms how a business uses money. You’ll learn how to make sense of Annual Reports and Accounts, how to identify trends in a company’s financial performance and how to determine if a business is financially healthy.

As you work through the course, a series of interactive exercises let you check what you’ve learned and allow you to build sets of accounts yourself, including the Profit and Loss Account and the Balance Sheet.