Essentials of Corporate Finance

You contribute daily to your organisation's success and play a role in its financial performance. This course is designed to help you understand financial indicators and the impact of your actions on your organisation's financial performance. It enables you to master essential financial concepts, identify how you contribute to overall performance, and give meaning to your daily efforts in driving financial success.

1 - Applying Financial Logic

• Selling to make a profit requires investment, cash advances, and thus, financing.
• The income statement: a snapshot of business activity over a specific period.
• The balance sheet: an overview of employed capital and sources of financing.
• Assets: fixed assets, inventory and work-in-progress, trade receivables, cash.
• Liabilities: capital, reserves, loans, suppliers.
• Understanding depreciation and provisions.

2 - Decoding Key Financial Indicators

• Financial balances: Working capital, Working capital requirement (WCR), Cash position
• Profitability indicators: EBITDA, Net profit
• Cash indicators: EBITDA/Gross operating surplus (GOS), Cash flow

3 - Understanding Contributions Across the Organisation

• Actions to improve profitability.
• The break-even point and fixed cost absorption.
• Optimising working capital management: Managing inventory and Managing payment terms
• Improving investment.
• Operational decisions and their impact on cash flow.

4 -  Analysing a Financial Press Release

• Applying knowledge by reading and interpreting a real financial communication.