Introduction

Management has been defined as “the art of asking significant questions.” The same applies to financial analysis, planning and control, which should be targeted toward finding meaningful answers to these significant questions—whether or not the results are fully quantifiable.

This seminar not only presents the key financial tools generally used, but also explains the broader context of how and where they are applied to obtain meaningful answers. It provides a conceptual backdrop both for the financial/economic dimensions of systematic business management and for understanding the nature of financial statements, analyzing data, planning and controlling.

Seminar Objectives

The seminar provides delegates with the tools required to find better answers to questions such as:

• What is the exact nature and scope of the issue to be analyzed?
• Which specific variables, relationships, and trends are likely to be helpful in analyzing the issue?
• Are there possible ways to obtain a quick “ballpark” estimate of the likely result?
• How precise an answer is necessary in relation to the importance of the issue itself?
• How reliable are the available data, and how is this uncertainty likely to affect the range of results?
• Are the input data to be used expressed in cash flow terms—essential for economic analysis—or are they to be applied within an accounting framework to test only the financial implications of a decision?
• What limitations are inherent in the tools to be applied, and how will these affect the range of results obtained?
• How important are qualitative judgments in the context of the issue, and what is the ranking of their significance?

Who Should Attend?

This seminar is a ‘must’ for Chief Financial Officers, Financial Controllers, Finance Managers and Executives, Accountants, General Managers, Directors, Treasurers, Corporate Planning and Business Development Managers, Sales and Marketing Managers.

Middle and junior personnel will also find this seminar highly useful in their career advancement. All participants will be able to offer their input, based on their individual experiences, and will find the seminar a forum for upgrading and enhancing their understanding of best corporate practices in the areas examined.

Competencies Emphasised

• Obtaining the relevant information, given the context of the situation
• Choosing the most appropriate tools
• Knowing the strengths and limitations of the available tools
• Viewing all analysis, planning and control decisions in the context of their impact on shareholder value

Personal Impact

Delegates will acquire the ability, when involved in decisions about business investment, operations, or financing, to choose the most appropriate tools from the wide variety of analytical techniques available to generate quantitative answers. Selecting the appropriate tools from these choices is clearly an important part of the analytical task. Yet, experience has shown again and again that first developing a proper perspective for the problem or issue is just as important as the choice of the tools themselves.

Organisational Impact

This seminar provides an integrated conceptual backdrop both for the financial/economic dimensions of systematic business management and for understanding the nature of financial statements.

All the topics on the seminar are viewed in the context of creating shareholder value—a fundamental concept that is consolidated on the final day of the seminar.

Training Methodology

The training methodology combines lectures, discussions, group exercises and individual exercises. Delegates will gain both a theoretical and a practical knowledge of the topics covered. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result delegates will return to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned, in carrying out their duties.

All delegates will receive a comprehensive set of notes to take back to the workplace, which will serve as a useful source of reference in the future. In addition, all delegates will receive a CD-ROM disk containing additional reference material and Excel templates, related to the seminar.

Delegates are requested to please bring a pocket calculator to the seminar.

Seminar Outline

Day 1 - The Challenge of Financial/Economic Decision-making

• The Practice of Financial/Economic Analysis
• The Value Creating Company
• A Dynamic Perspective of Business
• The Nature of Financial Statements
• The Context of Financial Analysis

Day 2 - Assessment of Business Performance

• Ratio Analysis and Performance
• Management’s Point of View
• Owners’ Point of View
• Lenders’ Point of View
• Ratios as a System
• Integration of Financial Performance Analysis
• Some Special Issues

Day 3 - Projection of Financial Requirements

• Pro Forma Financial Statements
• Cash Budgets
• Operating Budgets
• Interrelationship of Financial Projections
• Financial Modelling
• Sensitivity Analysis
• Dynamics and Growth of the Business System
• Leverage
• Financial Growth Plans

Day 4 - Analysis of Investment Decisions

• Cash Flows and the Time Value of Money
• Components of Analysis
• Methods of Analysis
• Applying Time-Adjusted Measures
• Strategic Perspective
• Decisional Framework
• Refinements of Investment Analysis
• Dealing with Risk and Changing Circumstances
• Cost of Capital and Business Decisions
• Weighted Cost of Capital
• Cost of Capital and Return Standards

Day 5 - Valuation and Business Performance

• Definitions of Value
• Value to the Investor
• Business Valuation
• Managing for Shareholder Value
• Shareholder Value Creation in Perspective
• Evolution of Value-Based Methodologies
• Creating Value in Restructuring and Combinations

Oxford Management Centre
John Eccles House
Robert Robinson Ave
Oxford Science Park
Oxford
OX4 4GP
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 1865 338088

Fax: +44 1865 338100

email info@oxford-management.com