Financial Strategy & Accounting Skills
Overview
How to create a Financial Strategy? Strategy is a set of guidelines devised to achieve stated future goals. Imagine walking on a busy street blindfolded without being guided. You’ll find yourself being pushed, shoved aside, stumbling on hurdles, taking wrong turns and ultimately being lost without reaching your desired destination. Even though you might be very efficient at promenading, having sharp senses but ultimately, you’ll fail because you have no guidance or vision. This same purpose of providing a framework for guiding choices is achieved through strategy in business. Management might be very resourceful, knowledgeable, and adept in doing business but without any concrete strategy the business will find itself struggling to survive. Strategy can be defined as an outline or framework a business draws out to gain clarity over future course of actions.
Objectives
On successful completion of Financial Strategy course, participants shall be able to: Understand the need for strategic management in the context of finance Evaluate the financial performance of various projects according to pre-determined business standards Make sound financial decisions while keeping in mind the dynamic business environment Devise adept financial strategies that are in coordination with the organizations’ long-term goals Make appropriate financial projection and forecasting Evaluate financial risks while undertaking a project Strive for balance among various stakeholders of the business and add value to the business
Audience
Finance managers Corporate managers Financial analysts, budget analysts Investors Departmental heads and executives Accountants
Methodology
Interactive lecture sessions Practical problem solving Case studies Management games Presentations Group discussions
Outline
Day 1 :Introduction to Concepts of Strategy and Strategic Management • Strategic intent • Strategy formulation • Corporate level strategy: expansion strategies, retrenchment • Business level strategy: cost leadership, differentiation strategy • Finance strategic management • Strategic cost management Day 2 : Finance Functions • Investment decision: Capital budgeting • Financing decision: Capital structure, debt-equity mix, operating and financial leverage • Dividend decision Day 3 : Financial Forecasting • Forecasting financial statement techniques • Projection of balance sheet, cash flow • Day sales method, percentage of sales method, simple linear regression method • Internal growth rate, sustainable growth rate Financial Planning • Types of financial plans • Process of financial planning • Budget preparation Day 4 Risk Evaluation and Management • Business risk, financial risk • Elements of risk: Systematic and unsystematic risk • Profitability analysis • Projected Beta • Mean-variance analysis: Standard deviation and coefficient of variation Day 5 : Working Capital Management • Working capital policies: levels of working capital investment • Profitability vs. risk trade off: conservation, matching, aggressive approach to asset financing • Managing liquidity and financial flexibility • Short term financing: factoring, bill discounting Business Restructuring • Corporate restructuring- mergers and acquisitions • Financial restructuring- debt restructuring, equity restructuring • Re-organization of shares • Buy-back of shares • Trading on equity Business Valuation • Shareholder value analysis • Business valuation methods: discounted cash flows, comparable market multiples method • Economic Value-added approach • Business model analysis