Accounting for Decision-Making

Overview

In order for a manager to effectively perform their role they must have an understanding of accounting information, as accounting systems generate information that is used by both internal and external stakeholders

Having a good understanding of accounting allows managers to communicate with the finance department, bankers, suppliers and even tax authorities.

In this finance course, you will learn how to read and understand financial statements. You will learn all relevant and important terms as they relate to the three financial statements - balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. Subsequently, you will develop the capability to analyze business performance through financial statements. You will see how the performance of any organization is impacted by four fundamental drivers of profitability - asset management, cost management, leverage management and tax management.

In the second part of the course, you will learn how to manage costs. We will cover product costing, budgeting , budgetary control and cost analysis for decision making.

Successfully completing this course will transform you into a manager who is confident while discussing and handling accounting and financial matters in the workplace, and help you as you move forward in your managerial career and take on senior roles.

Syllabus

Week 1: Mechanics of Financial Accounting
Introduction to financial accounting; Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; fundamental accounting equation; recording of financial transactions and preparation of accounting statements through accounting equation.

Week 2: Reading Financial Statements
Reading and understanding balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement;Familiarizing all accounting terms that normally appear in financial statements.

Week 3: Financial Statement Analysis
Ratio analysis; Understanding relationship between four profitability drivers; Assessing financial health through credit scoring model.

Week 4: Product Costing
Preparation of Cost Sheet in manufacturing and service industry; Job and process costing; Activity-based costing.

Week 5: Cost Analysis for Decision Making
Behaviour of costs; Break-even analysis; Relevant costing approach for different decision making scenarios.

Week 6: Budgeting and variance analysis
Preparation of operational and financial budgets; Comparing actual performance against budgets; Price and quantity variance; Controllable and non-controllable variance; Revenue and contribution variances.