We will delve into the functions and activities to provide you with a better understanding of what happens when you interact with finance. We will employ our well-known SEED practical, ‘DO-HOW focused’ approach for this.

Our objective is to improve awareness and understanding and provide you with better skills to manage your business in relation to finance.

We shall cover several topics during the program, from basics to details tailored to your specific needs, within the framework of the following major building blocks:

YOU and FINANCE

• What are the drivers that you bring here?
• What is your relationship with finance and what do you want to take away from here?
• What are your specific personal needs to better understand finance?
• What are your cases to discuss and explore?

WHERE FINANCE STARTS

• Walk through of major building blocks of finance, such as the triangle of profit and loss / balance sheet / cash flow statements; the world of plans, forecasts, reports and other forms; the way how controllers control.
• Insights of the details and relations of famous abbreviations, as OPEX, CAPEX, EBIT and EBITDA, etc.
• In- and out: what is the importance of internal and external reports, how do we comply with the tax environment and other important finance relations.

CASH IS KING !/?

• Cash is the one that you may understand. It is with you all the time, physically or virtually. But do you really understand the importance of cash?
• If cash is so obvious measure and so important, why do we need more complex structures?
• Through cash, you can gain a real understanding of how business and finance relate in many day-to-day decisions.

FINANCE IN DECISION MAKING

• How can finance support you in day-to-day business?
• Why do we form a business case for ‘almost’ every business matter? Are probability and expected value magic or typical business sense to support decisions?
• Why do figures are adjusted for the future? Meaning and importance of NPV.
• What is the relevance and importance of risk management?
• How does an acquisition/merger/purchase of assets/company take place? What does finance do in such process?

FINANCE ROLE IN CONSTANT CHANGES, TRANSFORMATIONS

• Today, every business is stretched by constant and often unforeseen changes.
• How can finance support to improve reaction to the challenges?
• Do we need to change structures to improve reaction time, or can we simply do it by process improvements?

By the end of the course you will be a better navigator of financial matters without having to become a finance expert!

 

The program is a combination of intensive team days (“Camps”) and options for individual discussions  with the Program Instructors. During the Camps, you will work in the combination of plenary sessions and small teams of maximum 6 participants, each small team supported by one of the Program Instructors.

The Camps will focus on the most important financial principles through simple explanations and handsome examples and exercises. You will be able to bring your  financial topics for discussion with the instructors or fellow colleagues.

The individual discussions will support you with your  personal needs, to better understand structures, cases in general related to finance activities.

CAMP 1

(Two days)

YOU and FINANCE (Part 1):

• After the introduction, you will have the chance to discuss your specific reasons for attending the course and also your expectations.

WHERE FINANCE STARTS:

• Understanding the reasons for double-entry bookkeeping.
• Details and relationships among the famous trio of the profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow report.
• Are accountants the magicians of figures or are they simply factories producing sheets?
• What is the controller’s real job?
• Your first-tier relation to finance: translate business into numbers and vica-versa.
• Monitoring your business through planning, reporting and various other forms.
• What is OPEX, CAPEX, EBIT, EBITDA, and other mysterious expressions, and how are they related? What is their link to profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow?

CASH IS KING !/?:

• Nothing else matters but CASH! Is this right or wrong?
• What are the most relevant insights and specific focuses from finance to managing your business?
• A special case to examine the relationships and impacts of different financial aspects of a business.

CAMP 2

(Two days) 

FINANCE IN DECISION MAKING:

• Reports, planning and forecasting activities, business cases. How these support us in making the best decisions? Do we need all of them?
• Do you really need to understand major financial principles to manage your day-to-day business and make informed decisions?
• What is the real role of finance in decision-making?
• How to deal with capital expenditures/investments (CAPEX), business valuations and company values?
• How can number crunching support you? What are those valuation methods, like NPV, IRR, expected value, that are needed to decide?
• Is risk assessment a glimpse into the crystal ball or an integral part of business assessments?

FINANCE’S ROLE IN CONSTANT CHANGES, TRANSFORMATION:

• Undoubted that we live a world of constant rapid changes and challenges, many of them are unpredictable. Every business strives to find the best fit for these challenges and identify the right forms to use for the purpose. How can finance help you? What about finance and agility?
• How can finance improve the reaction time of businesses? How can it create an environment where the right decisions are made and they are made on time?
• How can finance help you deciding between process changes and structural reforms?

YOU and FINANCE (Part 2):

• What are your challenges? How do the discussed aspects support that? What is missing?
• What are your key take aways?

IN BETWEEN AND IN THE CAMPS

Individual discussions with the Program Instructors can be asked to discuss your topics in relation to finance activities and structures in general.