Overview:

Introduction:

This training is designed to enable delegates to make corporate financial decisions in an increasingly volatile international marketplace to increase profitability, maintain liquidity, and reduce financial risk.

The module follows the growth of a company from the development of a strategic corporate financial plan, the raising of finance, the preparation and management of budgets to support the plan, the management of financial risk, and ultimately the measurement and evaluation of performance.

Course Objectives:

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

• Develop effective corporate financial plans aimed at maximizing return and minimizing risk
• Evaluate the various methods of finance and make successful capital investment decisions
• Prepare, manage and control budgets to support the corporate financial plans
• Identify and manage financial risk effectively
• Measure and manage performance effectively
• Create opportunities for your personal development and increased financial awareness
• Understand today’s major issues in international corporate finance and budgeting
• Develop their professional skills, powers of analysis, evaluation, and decision-making.
• Make improved finance and capital budgeting decisions, which will increase their importance to your organization.
• Liaise effectively with other departments on matters of finance and budgeting
• Identify areas in which they may be able to contribute to improvements in the financial performance of your company which will help improve your career development.

Targeted Audience:

• Financial Personnel
• Financial Decision-Makers
• Financial Planners & Analysts
• Managers involved in planning and decision-making
• Persons with aims to work in finance-related fields.
• Persons involved in risk management

Course Outlines:

Unit 1: Corporate Financial Planning:

• Strategic Planning
• The Objective of the Firm – meeting Shareholder & Stakeholder Objectives
• Agency Theory – the relationship between Shareholders & Management
• Creative Accounting and the Case of Enron
• Preparing a Strategic Plan
• Financial Management & Financial Planning – the Scope, Role & Responsibilities of Financial Management
• Preparing a Financial Plan – The Master Budget
• Forecasting Future Cash-flows
• Time Series Analysis
• Correlation & Regression
• Financial Modelling

Unit 2: Financing The Plan:

• Sources of Finance – Long Term & Short Term
• Evaluation of the Types of Finance
• Equity Finance
• Debt Finance
• Hybrid Finance & Financial Engineering
• The Dividend Decision
• The Cost of Capital
• Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
• Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)
• The Capital Investment Process
• Payback
• Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)
• Net Present Value (NPV)
• Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Capital Investment Appraisal
• Capital Rationing

Unit 3: Preparing & Managing Budgets to support the Financial Plans:

• Definition of Budgets
• The Budgetary Process
• Types of Budgets
• Fixed
• Flexible
• Incremental
• Zero Based
• Activity-Based Budgets
• The Purpose/Benefits & Problems/Limitations of Budgets
• Setting/Implementing Effective Budgets – Eliminating the Problems
• Budgetary Control
• Responsibility Accounting and Absorption Costing
• Activity-Based Budgeting/Costing (ABB, ABC)
• Variance Analysis
• Cost Behaviour & Break-Even Analysis
• Sensitivity/What-If Analysis
• What-If Analysis combined with Du-Pont Analysis

Unit 4: Managing and Controlling Cashflow to Support The Financial Plan:

• Cash VS Profit
• The Cash Conversion Cycle
• Calculating and Managing the Cashflow Cycle
• Cash Flow Ratios
• Working Capital
• The Cost of Maintaining Working Capital
• Maintaining the Optimum level of Working Capital
• Working Investment Ratios
• Preparing a Monthly Cash Flow Forecast

Unit 5: Managing Financial Risk:

• Risk Management
• Types of Risk
• Identifying Risk – SWOT Analysis
• The Major Quantitative & Qualitative Risks Facing Companies
• Establishing a Risk Management Strategy
• Financial Risk Management & Hedging Techniques
• Financial Risks
• Managing Exchange Rate & Interest Rate Risk
• Derivatives
• Forwards
• Futures
• Options
• Swaps
• Risk Management Glossary of Terms