This finance course covers the core financial statements and provides important experience and practical examples in the following areas:

• An Introduction to Finance Basics – Helping participants appreciate how their role as manager influences and affects finance within the organisation
• Understanding Financial Terms – Addressing the barriers of financial jargon in order to ensure participants feel included in discussions around finance
• Financial Statements – Providing participants with an understanding of the five accounting groups and introducing them to the three key financial statements
• The Profit & Loss Statement (Income Statement) – A walkthrough of this statement with a focus on net profit and gross profit and why they are important
• The Balance Sheet – Asking participants to review the balance sheet to identify what it does and does not tell them whilst ensuring they understand capital, assets and liabilities and the accounting equation
• Cash Flow – Identifying what cash flow is, why it’s important and how the cash flow cycle works
• The Cash Flow Statement – Understanding how to interpret a cash flow statement, who it’s important to and the categories within it (operating, investing, financing)
• Working with Budgets – Helping participants to identify what a budget is and why it’s important to the organisation and the participant as manager
• Budgets and the Operational Plan – Looking at the planning cycle, where the budget sits and it’s relationship with the operational plan
• Writing a Budget – A look at budgeting methods, the different budgeting options, including variables, developing categories and defining budget line items
• Budget Planning Practice – A practical activity that helps participants develop an effective budget plan