Finance for non finance managers training – ITD

Finance for non finance managers training is often needed for those people with budgetary responsibility in the organisation. Typically we get promoted based on our functional expertise, or people management skills and then find ourselves in a job where we have to do budgets. Finance for non finance managers training helps those who do not have a finance background to understand the fundamentals of finance, why certain things matter and how to succeed at the finance part of the job

Finance for non finance managers training

Managers with budget responsibility need to be aware of the impact of their budgeting and how it fits into the wider organisation. This may be in better budgeting or accurate forecasts; it could be in the appreciation of accruals, or understanding balance sheets and income statements / profit and loss statements. The specific focus of finance for non finance manager training depends on the organisational and individual needs.

Finance for non finance managers training with ITD

The ITD approach to finance for non finance manager training is to make it highly relevant and fun. Relevant by designing the training around the financial issues and technology in your business. Fun by making the mechanics engaging and lively.

Finance for non finance manager training at ITD is facilitated by consultants who not only have financial knowledge, but also a broad business background and a flair for training.

We use a variety of techniques including the ITD Finance board game, quizzes and an engaging style to bring the finance for non finance manager training to life.

We get consistently high feedback for this training, perhaps because we take a potentially dry subject and make the learning relevant and fun.

Typical challenges of participants on our finance for non finance managers training

1. “I need to know how to budget better and more accurately.”
2. “My challenge is to understand how my budgets affect the rest of the business.”
3. “I don’t know what a Profit & Loss statement is.”
4. “I need to know what a balance sheet is for.”
5. “I have to get an overview of all the basic accounting reports if I am to get to the next level of management.”
6. “What are accruals and how do they work?”

What is finance for non finance manager training?

Finance for non finance manager training is designed for those managers who are not in the finance department. They typically have budgetary responsibility. They need to understand how the budgeting process works and the impact their team’s finance has on the wider organisation. Finance for non finance manager training gives participants the knowledge they need tailored the context of their role.

Typical participants on finance for non finance training from ITD

• Marketing managers
• HR managers
• Sales managers
• IT managers
• Safety managers
• Regulatory managers
• Procurement managers
• Senior account managers
• Lawyers
• Business service managers

How do we tailor our finance for non finance manager training to your needs?

1. We will discuss the business objectives for the training and then tailor the agenda to address these.
2. We will design the sessions around your organisation, so if you work on a monthly or quarterly cycle the training will mirror this.
3. We will use our finance business game to illustrate the key learning points you want the participants to get out of the finance for non finance managers training.

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Finance for non finance training workshop overview

The following gives more detail on our approach to finance for non finance managers training, but please call us to discuss your specific needs.

Pre workshop activity

• Meeting to discuss the participant’s needs and those of the organisation.
• Draft workshop outline tailored to your needs.
• Agreement of agenda.
• Participants complete a short questionnaire on their challenges with finance.

Typical Agenda

• Introduction & objectives

Understanding Financial Statements

• Profit & Loss statements
• The importance of invoice coding
• Flow chart of the purchasing process from order to payment
• Monitoring of actual costs v budget
• Finance game in teams
• review of learning

Understanding Financial Statements II

• Balance sheet & cash flow
• Finance game & review of learning

Budgets and organisation procedures

• Implications of budget shortfalls & overspends
• Finance game & review of learning

Role of the finance department

• Working with the finance department
• Accurate completion of purchase orders
• Notification of commitments / accruals
• Finance game & review of learning

Results of finance game & summary of workshop

• Personal Actions 

Post workshop activity

• Participants leave with individual actions
• Email follow up of personal action plans
• Suggested conversation with their line manager on their actions
• Optional WebEx conference call follow up on these actions
• Optional 121 coaching
• ITD blog with further tips and suggestions

Typical outcomes

• Participants gain an understanding of what income statements / P&L statements and balance sheets are and what they do.
• An appreciation of budgeting, why accuracy is important and how budgeting works for their team and the wider organisation.
• A better understanding of accruals, what they are and why they are important.
• How different departments interact financially and the interdependencies; finance with sales, finance with marketing, finance with HR, sales and marketing.

Client feedback

• Very different from what they expected, much more interactive and engaging.
• Our people learn whilst having fun, so that they actually have forgotten they are learning, and that they thought the training would be dull.
• We achieve our objectives with this training, so it has now become a regular in our yearly training calendar.

Participant comments

• “Much more interesting and dynamic than we thought it was going to be.”
•  “I thought it would be mega dull, but it was actually ok.”
• “I learnt a lot and really had no idea how straight forward finance was. No wonder the guys in finance get frustrated with us.”
• “I now know what an accrual is and why it is important.”

 

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Finance for Non Finance training case study

This Pharma company has offices throughout Europe including; France, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy & UK.

Background

The European VP of finance and his team met with ITD to discuss the objectives, challenges and differences in each country. Whilst some common laws apply in each EU country there are also anomalies that needed to be allowed for in the solution.
An ITD business game centring on a board game was used as the learning vehicle, with the game designed & reprinted to suit the client’s needs.

To design and deliver an engaging one day training workshop that would result in middle managers and above understanding the companies finance processes and implementing them consistently. The secondary objective was to raise the profile of the finance team in the business and build bridges with other departments.

Need

The initial phase of the training was targeted at managers and those with budgetary responsibility.
The objectives for the training are;
1. To leave with a better understanding of the budget process and the role of the finance department.
2. To be better equipped to produce more timely and accurate budgets.
3. To have a deeper understanding of the internal processes and how to work within them.
4. To better understand the needs of the finance department and how to work more effectively together.

Activity

The choice of mechanic was vital. That is, how to get the message across in what is typically perceived as a dry subject. As the subject matter is often delivered in a much more dry manner than say presentation skills or team working we needed to find a more engaging mechanic.

The consultant working on the project had designed a business game that would do just that. Short presentations and discussion on a subject matter such as budgeting or accruals, are followed by playing a session of the business game.

The game is split into four quarters and has the participants split into four teams or companies. Each quarter the companies travel around the board making financial decisions. To end the quarter they must produce a P&L account or say where they are against budget. Teams across Europe have been trying to manage their companies to achieve budget.

 

 

Client feedback

The client was delighted that the target audience enjoyed their finance training and learnt a great deal. They also commented that processes are much more consistently adhered to based on understanding rather than just rule following. The profile of the finance department has also been enhanced.

“The guys at ITD spent a lot of time and effort working with us to understand the financial situation. We not only have the demands of Sarbanes Oxley these days, but many other financial measures and demands to adhere to. With their financial experience they designed training which achieves our requirements but not in a dull, or demanding way. Their training is interesting and engaging, and always gets great feedback”

Participant comments

• “Excellent session, I thought a day on this would be dreadful but it was great.”
• “Very good. I enjoyed working with managers from different departments less important than my own (only joking!)”
• “It was good that the training was tailored to our business rather than just generic, so it was all relevant.”

1. Our training is interactive, engaging and works, because it shows participants that learning finance principles can be fun.

2. We will tailor the training to suit your needs and your objectives whether this be better budgeting, understanding accruals, why accurate forecasting is crucial, or whatever your focus.

3. We get great results with our training in that the participants gain what the client wants them to.

4. Our flexible approach to fees means we can deliver training to suit your budget. Talk to us about what you would like to achieve and the budgetary restraints.

5. The training is practical and is designed around your financials with case studies from your market, or your business.

6. We support learning with follow up including post training email reminders of actions, access to our blog with ideas and tips, one to one coaching where appropriate.

 

ITD training workshops which you may find interesting and related to finance for non finance training:

 

People management training

 

Project management training

 

Time management training

 

 

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Financial definitions

 

Revenue – Income from the sale of products, or services.

 

Expenses – Costs including employees, office costs and supplier costs.

 

Cash flow statement – A statement of the cash position of a business, showing how much cash the business has.

 

Cash flow – Usually means the cash the business has, which it needs to operate from day to day.

 

Profit – When sales revenue less expenses gives a positive number.

 

Loss – When sales revenue less expenses gives a negative number.

 

Suppliers – Those who sell their products and services to the business.

 

Debtors – A third party who has taken delivery of a businesses products or services, but which has yet to pay for them.

 

Creditors – A supplier who has delivered products or services to the business but which has not yet been paid.

 

Profit & loss statement (income statement in US) – A summary of sales revenue and expenses which determines the profit or loss for set period of time, usually the period just ended.

 

Balance sheet – A snapshot, or statement at a moment in time, of the businesses financial position showing what it owns and what it owes.

 

Assets – Those things the company owns.

 

Fixed assets – The things the company owns but does not sell, such as machinery and buildings.

 

Current assets – The things the business owns and will sell such as stock or work in progress.

 

Liabilities – Those things which the business has in its possession, but which it has not yet paid for. Also includes tax and loans.

 

Accrual – A product or service which the business has received but has yet to be invoiced for.

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