Finance for Non-Financial Managers

Introduction
The Finance for Non-Financial Managers programme is designed to enable managers and
supervisors with little financial background to understand the importance of the finances and
the accounting process in managing a business.
Most managers don't understand important business metrics, and those who do, have a hard
time explaining the numbers and their decisions to those who don't. What they're both missing
is business and financial acumen, knowing how your company makes money and making
better decisions around the money you make, no matter your role.

While the programme is not designed to teach people how to be accountants or book-keepers,
it does provide the vocabulary of accounting and an understanding of the mechanisms and
tools that are used in the accounting process. Critically too, the impact of their decisions and
actions on the business’ performance and its financial statements. This enables non-financial
managers and supervisors to manage projects and tasks cost-effectively and to participate and
contribute meaningfully to the financial aspect of business processes and the creation of value.

The key outcomes are to identify and implement a profit enhancing opportunity within their
business unit and to then have the skills and confidence to continue doing so.

Methodology
The Finance for Non-Financial Managers programme is unique as the methodology makes it
accessible even to those with no financial knowledge or experience.
The programme is a blend of visual frameworks and tools to understand comercial acumen,
business operations and financial statements. These are then applied to a big case study of a
small cycling shop and its operations, together with smaller case studies and exercises to keep
the learning practical and group orientated. Each group maintains a set of business accounts,
using them to understand the effectiveness of their decisions, and in making the next set of
management decisions.
Throughout the experience of the case study and the different financial and business tools,
participants learn and understand the financial vocabulary, as well as a variety of principles
and tools to apply to your business. In the process, your managers gain an understanding of
how a business works, makes money and becomes profitable, so they can do this in your
business.

Workshop Modules
Business Principles
 The Value Chain
 Sales income vs profit (gross margin)
 Good costs and bad costs
 Opportunity cost of decisions
 The effect of quality and value add on margins
 Balancing shareholder and customer needs
Financial Principles
 Accounting tools
o Income Statement
o Balance Sheet
o Cash Flow
 Fixed and Variable Costs
 Margin calculations and analysis
 Break-even Analysis
 Profit creation strategies and trade offs
 Interest and Tax
 Key profitability ratios

TOOLS:
In addition to a good understanding of business and their role in the value chain, a few key
models and financial tools have been included:

 The Profit Triangle – understanding the drivers of profitability improvement

 Value Chain Analysis – using the Value Chain to understand their business flow and
the opportunities for improvement in your business
 Margin and Breakeven analysis
 Good costs (that create value) and bad costs (that destroy value)
  Matching staff to task
 The Income Statement and how the various levels of profitability are calculated and
created, and how they can influence this.
 Trade Maths - calculations and ratios to help them manage more effectively

OUTCOMES ARE:
1. An understanding of business, a set of Financial Tools and the skill and confidence
to use them back at the workplace
2. Mastery of key financial concepts and jargon
3. Confidence in engaging with other managers and clients
4. An improvement project with tangible strategies and ideas to implement -
working closely with other managers to develop and implement their improvement
projects