Full-Day Classroom Seminar
Finance for Non-Finance Managers
Understanding financial numbers, improving business decisions and managing profitability.
A practical programme to help non-finance professionals read financial statements, understand costs and margins, manage budgets, improve cash flow and communicate confidently with finance teams.
The Programme
Programme Overview
Introduction
Course Overview
Managers and functional leaders make decisions every day that affect revenue, cost, cash flow and profitability. However, many non-finance professionals find financial statements, budgets, ratios, margins and financial terminology difficult to interpret because they are often presented in accounting language.
This programme simplifies finance for non-finance professionals by explaining financial numbers in a practical, business-focused manner. Participants learn to understand financial statements, analyse costs and margins, prepare and review budgets, manage working capital, evaluate business decisions and communicate more effectively with finance teams and senior management.
Outcomes
What You Will Learn
- Understand the language of finance without accounting jargon.
- Read and interpret Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account and Cash Flow Statement.
- Understand assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses practically.
- Understand revenue, gross profit, EBITDA, EBIT and net profit.
- Analyse fixed, variable, direct and indirect costs.
- Understand contribution margin, break-even analysis and margin of safety.
- Prepare operating and departmental budgets.
- Analyse Budget versus Actual and identify unfavorable variances.
- Understand the difference between profit and cash.
- Use financial ratios, KPIs, ROI and Payback for better business decisions.
Methodology
How We Teach
- Practical explanation of finance concepts without unnecessary accounting jargon.
- Hands-on interpretation of company financial statements.
- Break-even and profitability calculations using business scenarios.
- Departmental budget analysis with corrective action recommendations.
- Working capital and cash flow improvement exercises.
- Business proposal evaluation from a financial perspective.
- Case-based recommendations using financial data.
The Outcome
Impact & Audience
For the Organization
Organizational Impact
- Improve financial understanding across non-finance functions.
- Enable managers to take better decisions related to revenue, cost, cash and profitability.
- Strengthen budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis practices.
- Improve working capital awareness through better management of receivables, payables and inventory.
- Support more financially sound pricing, cost and investment decisions.
- Improve communication between business teams, finance teams, CFOs and senior management.
For the Individual
Personal Impact
- Build confidence in reading and interpreting financial statements.
- Understand how your operational decisions impact business profitability.
- Improve your ability to manage budgets and control unfavorable variances.
- Learn how to improve cash flow through better business decisions.
- Develop the ability to evaluate proposals using financial information.
- Communicate more confidently with finance teams and senior management.
Audience
Who Should Attend
- Managers: To understand financial numbers and make better business decisions.
- Department Heads: To manage departmental budgets, costs, profitability and performance.
- Functional Leaders: To link operational decisions with revenue, cost, cash and profitability.
- Project Managers: To evaluate project costs, budgets, variances and financial impact.
- Sales & Marketing Professionals: To understand pricing, margins, profitability and business proposals.
- HR Managers: To understand budgets, cost impact and financial communication.
- Operations Managers: To improve cost control, working capital and operational profitability.
- Non-Finance Professionals: To gain financial confidence without requiring prior accounting or finance background.
Curriculum
Course Outline
Session 1: Understanding Finance & Financial Statements
- Understand the language of finance without accounting jargon.
- Read Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account and Cash Flow Statement.
- Understand assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses practically.
- Understand revenue, gross profit, EBITDA, EBIT and net profit.
- Review how business decisions impact financial statements.
- Read and interpret a company’s financial statements through a hands-on exercise.
Session 2: Understanding Costs, Margins & Profitability
- Understand fixed, variable, direct and indirect costs.
- Understand contribution margin and its importance in decision-making.
- Apply break-even analysis for business decisions.
- Understand Margin of Safety.
- Differentiate between gross margin and net margin.
- Calculate break-even and profitability for a business scenario.
Session 3: Budgeting, Forecasting & Financial Planning
- Understand the budgeting process and its business relevance.
- Prepare operating and departmental budgets.
- Apply revenue and expense forecasting techniques.
- Analyse Budget versus Actual performance.
- Identify and control unfavorable variances.
- Analyse a departmental budget and recommend corrective actions.
Session 4: Cash Flow & Working Capital Management
- Understand the difference between profit and cash.
- Understand working capital and its impact on business performance.
- Manage receivables effectively.
- Manage payables and inventory effectively.
- Understand the Cash Conversion Cycle.
- Identify opportunities to improve working capital and cash flow.
Session 5: Financial Analysis for Better Business Decisions
- Understand important financial ratios and KPIs.
- Review profitability, liquidity, efficiency and leverage ratios.
- Evaluate pricing decisions using financial information.
- Evaluate cost and investment decisions.
- Understand ROI, Payback and basic investment evaluation.
- Evaluate a business proposal from a financial perspective.
Session 6: Building Financial Acumen for Managers
- Link operational decisions to revenue, cost, cash and profitability.
- Understand the financial impact of everyday managerial decisions.
- Ask the right financial questions before approving expenditures.
- Identify financial risks and improvement opportunities.
- Communicate effectively with Finance, CFOs and senior management.
- Solve a business case and present recommendations using financial data.
Faculty & Inclusions
Your Trainer
Faculty
Instructors Details
The programme is designed to be led by instructors with practical knowledge of financial statements, cost analysis, margins, profitability, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, working capital, cash flow, financial ratios, ROI, Payback and managerial decision-making.
What's Included
Certificates & Inclusions
- Certificate and inclusions to be confirmed as per programme format.
- Practical exercises on financial statements, budgeting, break-even and profitability.
- Business scenarios for cash flow, working capital and financial decision-making.
- Case-based learning to help participants present recommendations using financial data.
Need Assistance?
Talk to a Programme Advisor
Have questions about your specific industry, or want to enquire about group discounts? Reach out to our programme coordinators directly.
Or register by e-mail
register@princetonacademy.co.inFor Teams
Corporate In-House Training
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Upcoming Finance for Non-Finance Managers Sessions
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Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
This programme is designed for Managers, Department Heads, Functional Leaders, Project Managers, Sales & Marketing Professionals, HR Managers, Operations Managers and other non-finance professionals.
No. The programme is designed for non-finance professionals and explains financial concepts in a practical manner without requiring a prior accounting or finance background.
Yes. Participants learn to read and interpret Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss Account and Cash Flow Statement.
Yes. The programme covers budgeting, forecasting, Budget versus Actual, variance analysis, profit versus cash, working capital and cash flow improvement.
Yes. Participants learn to use financial ratios, KPIs, ROI, Payback, cost analysis, margins and financial information for managerial decision-making.
