Access the Power of the Financial Conversation

Finance and Accounting Fundamentals

Do you find that

  • You hesitate when presented with financial reports and accounting jargon
  • Your contribution to the workplace financial conversation is limited; you stay quiet in meetings where you might otherwise contribute
  • Previous finance training didn’t stick

Find out more by enrolling onto Optimum’s new best-of-breed workshop that delivers a fundamental understanding of finance and business in only 10 hours of contact time.

The Finance and Accounting Fundamentals workshop follows a visual hands-on approach, demonstrating the five essential concepts every employee should know. The focus in on the underlying meaning of accounting terms, explaining them with simple intuitive examples. Participants leave able to read a balance sheet and income statement, telling a meaningful financial story that informs decision making.

ENQUIRIES BOOK A CONSULTATION DOWNLOAD BROCHURE

Benefits:

  • Make better and more-informed financial decisions
  • Engage and communicate more effectively about financial matters
  • Gain credibility as a trusted, business-savvy team member

The workshop is based on the Color Accounting Learning System™, the globally-acclaimed approach for effectively building accounting and financial literacy. It is used at top-100 law firms, international banks, agencies, industrial companies, and universities in America, Britain, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

What do a butterfly and balance sheet have in common? Find out more by enrolling onto Optimum’s new best-of-breed workshop that delivers a fundamental understanding of finance and business in only 10 hours of contact time.

Programme Information

Programme outcomes
  • Truly understand the mechanics and language of accounting
  • See clearly the fundamental structure of financial statements
  • Be comfortable reading and analyzing key financial reports in order to spot potential commercial issues
  • Engage confidently in financial conversations, asking powerful questions based on a rich understanding
  • Understand the relevance and uses of key performance measures, such as Return on Equity
  • Spot the high-risk areas
  • Be conscious of the ambiguities in the language that accountants and financial professionals use
  • Know the difference between important terms and trivial naming conventions
  • Understand how business works as a value generation cycle
Delivery Options
  • It is available online virtually and on-site.
  • It can be scheduled over one or multiple shorter sessions.
  • Workshops are tailored to the participants’ situation and advanced follow-on modules are available.
Contents And Workshop Agenda

CONVERSATION 1:

INTRODUCTION AND THE BALANCE SHEET

  • Learning purpose – themes, point of view, and organizing systems
  • The accounting duality – why a balance sheet balances and the accounting equation
  • Uses of Funds – assets, recognition criteria, valuation methods
  • Sources of Funds – liabilities and equity
  • The capitalization table – debt vs equity financing

CONVERSATION 2:

THE INCOME STATEMENT

  • Learning purpose – themes, point of view, and organizing systems
  • The accounting duality – why a balance sheet balances and the accounting equation
  • Uses of Funds – assets, recognition criteria, valuation methods
  • Sources of Funds – liabilities and equity
  • The capitalization table – debt vs equity financing

CONVERSATION 3:

THE CLASSIC TRANSACTIONS – ACCOUNTING FOR A BUSINESS SCENARIO

Putting the conceptual accounting, finance and business model to work using the Color Accounting Popup BaSIS Board. This kinesthetic tool deeply reinforces the learning.

  • Debt pay- and repayments, asset and inventory purchases, cost of sales, depreciation, cash versus profit impacts, revenue recognition, prepayments and deferrals, architecture of the income statement, balancing scenarios, terminology.

APPLICATION:

INTRODUCTION TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT INTERPRETATION

This session completes the transition from accounting information to business decision-making.

  • Reading financial statements
  • Generating a business narrative
  • Introduction to financial interpretation and analysis
  • What to look for when assessing a company
Dates

Programme dates: 17 and 24 January 2022

Contact us for more course dates.