It is often remarkable how little some managers understand about the financial health of their company and their impact on the company financials. Accounting is the language of business. To make informed decisions and help shape and implement corporate strategy, managers must understand financial accounting and analysis. This course will assist nonfinancial managers in understanding, interpreting, and using internal and external financial reports to make better business decisions.

The purpose of this course is to help the attendee interpret data from financial reports, including balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, budgets, and divisional performance reports and to make better business decisions based upon this information. The program will teach the analysis of historical performance of financial reports and forecasting financial performance. Attendees will be better able to communicate the financial goals and performances of their department within and outside their organization. They will improve their understanding and be able to use financial language to communicate with others, including financial managers in the firm.

Topics explored include:

• Financial statements and ratio analysis
• Financial forecasting
• Capital Budgeting, the Time Value of Money and Economic Value Added
• Cost Behavior – Fixed and Variable costs
• Contribution Margin Analysis
• Flexible Budgets