Introduction:

Finance and capital along with management and staff are the lifeblood of any business. This program focuses on the advanced skills necessary for making sound financial decisions in an increasingly competitive, volatile and global market. Skills and decisions which will enable your company to remain competitive, minimize costs, maximize revenues and also reduce/control risk. The program focuses on the key areas and skills required:

• Financial planning and control: devising and controlling financial plans fit for the future
• Corporate finance and financial engineering: how to finance the business
• The cost of capital and capital investment appraisal: calculating and controlling the cost of capital using WACC and CAPM and maximizing the return on capital and minimizing risk by evaluating potential projects using the latest techniques
• Financial analysis: evaluate financial data
• Assess past performance
• Identify business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• Improve decision making
• Implement and evaluate performance measures
• Aid the strategic planning process
• Business valuation – mergers & acquisition decisions

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Develop the essential advanced skills of financial forecasting budgeting and control using Excel and the latest software to develop various forecasting models including time series models, exponential smoothing, regression and correlation analysis
• Analyze complex capital investment and financing decisions and provide recommendations for action using appropriate discount rates based on WACC and CAPM by applying payback, ARR, NPV, discounted payback, IRR and MIRR using Excel including where capital is rationed/limited
• Identify the key success factors/critical factors in their industry/division to evaluate current and future market/competitive trends in order to identify future opportunities and threats
• Conduct advanced financial analysis using Excel and the very latest techniques/methods that result in developing financial strategies and plans
• Conduct company valuations with a focus on merger and acquisition decisions
• Develop their professional skills
• Increase their knowledge of the latest policies and procedures
• Make more informed and hence better decisions
• Increase their importance to their organization
• Be better placed to liaise effectively with other departments and colleagues regarding current practices and issues affecting the banking sector

Who Should Attend?

Finance Professionals, Finance Managers, Senior Accountants, Accounting & Budgeting Personnel, Corporate Controllers, Financial Controllers, Treasury Professionals, Chief Accountants, Accounting Managers, Accounting Professionals, Financial Executives, Auditors, Financial Analysts, Bankers, Investment Bankers, Senior Accountants, Banking Professionals, Corporate Business Professionals, all accounting and finance professionals who are currently working, or seeking to work, in the financial planning, analysis, budgeting and forecasting domain within their organizations

Course Outline:

Financial Planning

• 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
• Sensitivity/what if analysis
• What-If analysis combined with Du-Pont analysis

Corporate Finance & Financial Engineering

• Raising Finance using traditional sources of equity & debt
• Evaluating the impact of equity & debt finance
• Money market instruments & bonds
• The concept of financial engineering
• Raising finance, trading and hedging using financial engineered instruments
• The dividend decision: whether to pay dividends or not

The Cost of Capital & Capital Investment Appraisal

• The cost of capital
• Weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
• Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)
• The capital investment process
• Capital investment appraisal
• Payback
• Accounting rate of return (ARR)
• Net present value (NPV)
• Internal rate of return (IRR)
• Capital rationing
• Asset replacement decisions
• Controlling the cost of capital and the use of derivatives

Financial Analysis

• The role & responsibilities of financial analysis and management
• Identifying key success factors in your industry sector
• Financial review compared to targets and expectations and variance analysis
• Financial performance measurement systems
• Ratio analysis to evaluate profitability, liquidity, operations and leverage
• Du-Pont analysis and financial modelling
• Altman and Z scores:  quantitative models to assess risk
• SWOT, PEST & Porter: incorporating non-financial analysis
• The analysis and evaluation of case studies using Excel
• Assess past performance
• Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• Improve decision making relating to future
• Divisional/individual performance
• Capital expenditure
• Investment opportunities
• Implement and evaluate performance measures
• Aid the strategic planning process

Valuation, Merger & Acquisitions

• Business valuation
• Definitions of value
• Value to the investor
• Value to shareholders
• Evolution of value-based methodologies
• Creating value in restructuring and combinations
• Business valuation for merger & acquisition
• Business restructuring and reorganizations
• Management buy-outs and management buy-ins

COURSE LOCATIONS