Module 1: Financial Analysis, Modelling & Forecasting
Day 1
The Competitive Challenge in the 21st Century
- Identifying and Managing Stakeholder Needs
- Business Models and How They are Disrupted
- An Integrated Approach to Risk Management
- The Essentials of Business Performance Management
Fundamentals of Financial Modelling
- Financial Statements Basics
- Fundamentals of Financial Modelling
Day 2
Mastering Financial Analysis
- Building a Financial Ratio Database in Excel
- Practical Modelling: The Cost-Volume-Profit Relationship
- Measuring and Improving Return On Investment
- Measuring and Improving Asset Management Efficiency
- Measuring and Managing Capital Structure and Risk
- Practical Modelling: The Effect of Gearing on Shareholders’ Earnings
Day 3
Improving Financial Forecasting
- Practical Modelling: Using Excel Statistical Analysis Tools
- Avoiding Common Forecasting Problems
- Using Moving Averages to Analyse Time Series Data
- Using Linear Regression for Sales Trend Analysis
- Using Excel Solver to Minimise Forecasting Error
- Using Regression and Correlation to Forecast Costs
- Practical Modelling: Cash Flow Forecasting
Day 4
Financial Models to Improve Investment Decision-making
- Principles of Capital Investment Decision-making
- Sources and Cost of Business Finance
- Practical Modelling: Using Excel Discounted Cash Flow Tools
- Practical Modelling: Capital Investment Analysis
- Essentials of Business Valuation
- Practical Modelling: Business Valuation Based on Shareholder Value Added
Day 5
Managing Risk and Uncertainty
- Identifying and Analysing Business Risk
- Probability Based Approach to Decision-making
- Monte Carlo Simulation
- Sensitivity Analysis and “what-if” Forecasting
- Identifying the Key Drivers of Financial Performance
- Practical Modelling: Key Driver “what-if” Forecast
Module 2: Budgeting, Forecasting and the Planning Process
Day 6
Strategic Management and Financing
- Strategic Analysis, Strategic choices and evaluation, and Strategic implementation
- The Links between Strategy, Forecasting, Planning, Budgeting, Performance Measurement
- Strategic capability and avoiding the Spiral of Death
- Shareholder Wealth maximisation, Corporate and Shareholder value creation
- Financial Strategy, Dividend Policy, the Agency Problem and Corporate Governance
- Long-term Financing
- Debt and Equity; Cost of Equity using Dividend Growth and Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM); Cost of Debt; Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
- Capital Structure Optimisation Models to minimise WACC
- Using Strategy Maps to link strategies to Performance Measurement: The Balanced Scorecard
Day 7
Financial Planning, Forecasting, and Risk Analysis
- The Financial Planning Process and Modelling using Excel
- Statistical Forecasting Tools and Techniques
- Time series; moving averages; exponential smoothing; Pareto Analysis; trend progression; linear regression; correlation
- Forecasting long- and short-term sales revenues, and sales pricing
- Porter’s generic strategy of cost leadership and differentiation; Bowman’s strategy clock; full cost pricing; marginal cost pricing; target cost pricing; life-cycle costing; kaizen costing; value-based pricing
- Using Excel for Optimum Product mix decisions
- Short-term Financing, Working Capital, and the Cash Operating Cycle
- Direct and Indirect Cash Flow Analysis and Cash Flow Forecasting using Excel
- Uncertainty and Risk
- Business Risk
- Financial Risk
- Systematic Risk
- Unsystematic Risk
- The Choices available to minimise and mitigate risk
Day 8
Cost Analysis Techniques
- Cost Behaviour and Activities
- Fixed and Variable Costs, Direct and Indirect Costs
- Product Costs and Period Costs
- Cost Allocation and Absorption of Overheads
- Absorption or Full Costing
- Marginal Costing
- Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) and ‘what-if’ analysis using Excel
- Activity Based Costing (ABC) and Activity Based Management (ABM)
Day 9
Budgeting, Budgetary Control and Performance Improvement
- To Budget or Not – Purposes and Reasons for Budgets
- Stages in the Budget Preparation Process
- Preparation of the Master Budget
- Activity Based Budgeting (ABB)
- Responsibility Accounting and Variance Analysis
- Standard costing; flexed budgets; budgetary control to measure organisational and management performance
- Advantages, Disadvantages and Behavioural Aspects of Budgeting
- The Conflict between Performance Improvement and the Costing System
- Lean thinking and integrating continuous performance improvement into the Budget Process
Day 10
Project Appraisal and Capital Budgeting
- The Time Value of Money
- Future Values
- Present Values
- Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
- Capital investment Project Appraisal
- Accounting Rate of Return (ARR); payback; Net Present Value (NPV); Internal Rate of Return (IRR); Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR); Discounted Payback; Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC)
- Project Risk
- Sensitivity Analysis; simulation; scenario analysis; NPV break-even
- Capital Rationing
- Capital Budgeting and the Profitability Index (PI)