Fundamentals of Accounting for Non-Accounting Personnel Course

Course Overview:

The course entitled Fundamentals of Accounting for Non-Accounting Personnel is aimed at equipping the professionals lacking the formal education in accounting with the basic financial principles and tools that are fundamental for any business’ operations.

The participants will acquire skills for interpretation of financial documents such as the balance sheet, income statement and a cash flow statement. Other critical areas include financial ratios, budgetary control, break-even payback period and investments appraisal using DCF techniques.

Moreover, participants will have knowledge on cost structure, management accounting for decision making, and strategic management accounting for enhancement of business performance. 

This course is great for business managers, operational managers, sales managers, internal audit staff and other professionals from non-financial fields who are engaged in financial report interpretation and decision making in their respective organizations.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this Fundamentals of Accounting for Non-Accounting Personnel Course, learners will be able to do the following:

• Explain the nature and role of financial statements and their interpretation
• Use the language of accounting and finance to communicate effectively with financial professionals
• Review the financial performance and financial position of an organization using the appropriate financial ratio and break-even analysis techniques
• Use budgetary control to compare actual against planned performance and to identify corrective actions
• Evaluate investment projects using DCF and other appraisal methods
• Appreciate the important role of strategic accounting in business performance improvement
• Cost Terms and Concepts
• Cost Behavior: Analysis and Use
• Direct vs. Absorption Costing
• Overhead Costing for Planning and Control
• Standard Costs & Variance Analysis
• Relevant Costs for Decision-Making
• Financial Statement Analysis

Who Should Attend?

This Course is Targeted Specifically for:

• business managers
• non- accounts professionals
• financial professionals
• operational managers
• planning personnel
• Sales and marketing executives
• Supply-stream professionals
• Project professionals
• Internal auditors
• Any non-financial professionals who are required to read, interpret, and contribute to business financial reports
• Senior Professionals in manufacturing, marketing, engineering
• Human resources professionals,
• Attorneys
• Executive professionals who are involved with the development of long-term customers, suppliers, outsourcing partners, and other global strategic alliances.
• Consultants who work with professionals and executives, to support improvements to operational and financial processes
• And other internal decision-makers of an organization who need to understand managerial accounting

Course Outlines:

A Strategic View of the Business Environment

• The business environment
• The uses and purpose of accounting
• Users of accounting and financial information
• Accounting terminology
• Cash versus profit
• Profit and profitability
• The structure of the balance sheet
• The income statement – financial performance
• What is profit?
• The structure of the income statement
• The links between the income statement and the balance sheet
• Accounting conventions
• The published annual report

The Financial Statements and Financial Accounting Analysis

• The cash flow statement
• What is included in the cash flow statement?
• Why is cash flow so important?
• The structure of the cash flow statement
• The links between the cash flow statement, profit and loss account, and balance sheet
• Interpreting the annual report
• The key elements of published reports and accounts
• Ratio analysis: profitability; efficiency; liquidity; investment; cash flow; the Dupont system
• Cash versus profit as a measure of performance, EBITDA and
• Predicting business failure – the Altman Z-score
• Sources of financial information

Budgeting and Break-even Analysis

• Management Accounting
• Cost behavior
• The overhead problem, traditional versus activity-based absorption
• Cost/volume/profit (CVP)analysis
• Break-even analysis
• The impact of cost structure changes
• Limitations of CVP analysis
• Purposes of budgeting
• The budget process, including activity-based budgeting
• Uncertainty and risk – worst and best outcomes
• Motivation and the behavioral aspects of budgeting
• Problems in budgeting

Budgetary Control, DCF, and Capital Investment Appraisal

• Budgetary control
• Standard costing
• Flexed budgets and variance analysis
• Types of variances and the reasons they occur
• Planning and operational variances
• Investment decisions
• Time value of money
• Appraisal techniques
• The effect of inflation
• Free cash flows
• Capital rationing and control of capital investment projects
• Risk and uncertainty and decision-making – sensitivity analysis

Financing the Business and Strategic Accounting

• Financing the business
• Financing principles, including short-term versus long-term, and debt versus equity (gearing)
• Sources and types of finance
• The cost of capital, cost of equity (Ke), and cost of debt (Kd)
• The weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
• Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
• Strategic management accounting
• The effect of competitive strategy, and how to gain competitive advantage
• Competitor information and strategic positioning
• Cost of debt and equity capital
• The disadvantages of traditional cost analysis
• The balanced scorecard and critical success factors
• Economic value added

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