Commercial Finance for Non-Financial Managers
Online Financial Training Courses
Our online financial training courses are written and designed in-house to be practical, concise and engaging. They are great as a stand-alone learning tool, as a pre-course requirement or to consolidate your previous learning.
We break down each course into bite-sized chunks so that you can do 5 or 10 minutes at a time on your smartphone, tablet or laptop anywhere you like so long as you have an internet connection and headphones.
Our personalised approach means that you can email or phone your tutor if you have questions.
Financial Management
Online Courses
The Basics of Business Finance – Essentials Online Course
2-3 Hours Introductory SkillsThis course is designed to give you a good understanding of the basics of business finance. You will learn how businesses are funded and what the money’s used for; how they make profits and generate cash; how to measure business performance; where to find the information you’ll need. You’ll see how income statements and balance sheets work and you’ll also understand key financial jargon, concepts and commonly used financial metrics.
- Develop a good understanding of the basics of business finance
- Learn lots of key concepts and financial language
- See how financial statements work and how they are used
- See how to calculate commonly used financial metrics
Budgeting and Forecasting – Essentials Online Course
2-3 Hours Introductory SkillsLearn all about budgeting and forecasting. This course will help you understand how to go about preparing a budget including what information you’ll need to ask for before you start and how to review your numbers for reasonableness. You’ll see how to use typical monthly reports and learn how to input to the forecasting process.
- Learn to prepare and review a budget
- Understand the role of forecasting
- Be familiar with cost types and behaviours
- Gain confidence using budgets including variance analysis and other month-end issues
Investment Appraisal – Essentials Online Course
2 Hours Introductory SkillsUnderstand investment appraisal from first principles. We cover payback period, ROI, NPV, IRR and making the business case. We also show you how to think about the inputs to your spreadsheet and how to challenge the assumptions to ensure that you’re making the best possible decisions.
- Be able to assess a project from a financial point of view
- Understand what’s expected of you and how the process of project appraisal works
- Use appraisal methodologies such as payback period, ROI, NPV and IRR effectively
- Be able to make a compelling business case
How to Analyse a Company – Coffee Break
Coffee BreakLearn how to analyse a company in just 20 minutes with a series of 6 steps that will give you a quick and easy view of how a company’s doing.
Whether you’re looking from the point of view of a supplier, a lender, an investor or a potential employee, by the end of the course you’ll be in a good position to make an assessment of how the business is performing, whether it is financially sound and what the future is likely to hold.
Understanding Shareholder Value – Essentials Online Course
2 Hours Introductory SkillsBy the end of the course, you will have a good understanding of shareholder value, including what it means from a shareholder’s point of view; what it means from a company’s point of view; the levers a company can pull to create more value; making the link with strategic actions that drive value creation and communicating shareholder value.
- Understand what shareholder value really means
- See how companies drive value internally and externally
- Understand the cost of capital and efficient balance sheets
- Make the link with strategic actions that drive value creation
Adjusted Profits – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseThis course will give you a good understanding of what companies mean by “adjusted” or “underlying” profits and the advantages and pitfalls of using these numbers.
Approximately 40 minutes.
Leverage & How Much is Too Much? – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseThis course looks at leverage (gearing). We cover what makes a company suitable for high leverage, how to measure it and we consider how much is too much, using real examples.
Approximately 50 minutes.
Understanding Cash Flows – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseIn this course we cover the difference between profits and cash flows, we look at cash flow statements and we consider the impact of working capital management on cash generation.
Approximately 40 minutes.
Rights Issues – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseThis course will give you a good understanding of rights issues, what they mean for the company and what they mean for shareholders, including common calculations.
Approximately 40 minutes.
Initial Public Offers – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseThis course will help you understand initial public offers (IPOs), the implications, the process, how the shares are priced and the role of advisers.
Approximately 40 minutes.
Understanding DCF Valuation – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseLearn how companies are valued using discounted cash flow techniques. We look at the principles, the maths and a real company example.
Approximately 60 minutes.
Understanding Valuation Using Multiples – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseLearn how companies are valued using multiples. We cover P/E ratios, P/B, dividend yield and ratios using enterprise value.
Approximately 60 minutes.
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Evaluating M&A from a Financial Point of View – Specialist Short Online Course
Specialist Short Online CourseThis course will explain how deals are evaluated from a financial point of view.
Approximately 60 minutes.
If you work in a listed company environment you may also be interested in the following courses:
Introduction to Companies, Funding & the Capital Markets – Essentials Online Course
2-3 Hours Introductory SkillsThis course covers the basics of financial markets and instruments; how the capital markets work and the role of key participants; how companies access the capital markets and what it means to be a listed company.
- Understand capital markets, how companies issue shares and bonds and how they are traded
- Appreciate the role of investment banks
- See the perspectives of key participants such as sell-side analysts, ratings agencies and investors
- Learn lots of financial jargon and concepts
We offer certificates for all our courses, including the online courses that we include to enable you to consolidate your learning.
Most CPD is now self-certified (e.g. accountancy, law etc) so we don’t offer CPD “points” for particular organisations. However, our courses would certainly meet most organisations’ CPD requirements.