24 Courses in Edinburgh

In today's competitive business world firms are under unprecedented pressure to deliver value to their shareholders and other key stakeholders. Senior executives in all parts of the organisation are finding that they need some degree of financial know how to cope with the responsibility placed on them as business managers and key decision-makers; monitoring and improving business performance, investing in capital projects, mergers and acquisitions: all require some degree of financial knowledge. The key financial skills are not as difficult to learn as many people believe and in the hands of an experienced senior executive they can provide a formidable competitive advantage. After completing this course delegates will be able to: Understand fundamental business finance concepts; understand, analyse and interpret financial statements: Profit Statement, Balance Sheet and Cashflow Statement Understand the vital difference between profit and cashflow; identify the key components of working capital and how they can be managed to generate strong cashflow Evaluate pricing decisions based on an understanding of the nature of business costs and their impact on gross margin and break-even sales; managing pricing, discounts and costs to generate strong business profits; understand how lean manufacturing methods improve profit Use powerful analytical tools to measure and improve the performance of their own company and assess the effectiveness of their competitors Apply and interpret techniques for assessing and comparing investment opportunities in capital projects, business acquisitions and other ventures; understand and apply common methods of business valuation Understand the role of business finance in formulating and implementing competitive business strategy; the role of budgeting as part of the planning process and the various approaches to budgeting and performance measurement 1 Basic principles Delivering value to key stakeholders Accounting concepts, GAAP, IFRS and common terms Understanding and using the balance sheet Understanding and using the profit statement Recognising the vital difference between profit and cashflow Understanding and using the cashflow statement What financial statements can and cannot tell us 2 Managing and improving cashflow Sources of finance and their advantages and disadvantages What is working capital and why is it so important? Managing stocks, debtors and creditors Understanding how working capital drives business growth Understanding and avoiding the over-trading trap Unlocking the funds tied up in fixed assets: asset backed loans and leasing 3 Managing and improving profit Understanding how profits generate cashflow The fundamental nature of costs: fixed and variable business costs Understanding gross margin and break-even How common pricing methods affect gross margin and profit Effective strategies to improve gross margin Using value chain analysis to reduce costs Lean manufacturing methodsUnderstanding Just-in-time, 6 Sigma and Kaizen methods Improving profitEffective and defective strategies 4 Measuring and managing business performance Measures of financial performance and strength Investor behaviour: the risk and reward relationship Return on investment (ROI): the ultimate measure of business performance How profit margin and net asset turnover drive return on net assets Why some companies are more profitable that others Understanding competitive advantage: cost and differentiation advantage Why great companies failWhat happened to Kodak? Using a 'Pyramid of Ratios' to improve business performance Using Critical Success Factors to develop Key Performance Indicators 5 Budgeting and forecasting methods Using budgets to support strategy Objectives and methods for effective budgets Using budgets to monitor and manage business performance Alternative approaches to budgeting Developing and implementing Balanced Scorecards Beyond Budgeting Forecasting methods and techniques Identifying key business drivers Using rolling forecasts and 'what-if' models to aid decision-making

Gain a deep understanding of Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) and related agreements through our expert-led course. Enroll now and excel in your field with EnergyEdge.

ADO.NET training course description This ADO.net training course is designed to enable developers to use the toolset provided with.NET for data access including ADO.net objects, data controls, designers and interoperability with earlier ADO objects. The course is applicable for those using C# or VB.NET with ADO.NET What will you learn Retrieve and manipulate data using Microsoft's ADO.NET library. Work with the ADO.NET object model. Update data, including handling stored procedures, parameters, and return value. Search, sort and filter data. Leverage the power of XML. ADO.NET training course details Who will benefit: Programmers working with ADO.Net. Prerequisites: Effective programming with VB.NET or Concise introduction to C# Duration 2 days ADO.NET training course contents Introducing ADO.Net Traditional Data Access Architecture. ADO.Net Disconnected Data Access Architecture. Different components of ADO.Net. A review of basic SQL queries SQL SELECT Statement. SQL INSERT Statement. SQL UPDATE Statement. SQL DELETE Statement. Common data access tasks with ADO.Net Accessing Data using ADO.Net. Defining the connection string. Defining a Connection. Defining the command or command string. Defining the Data Adapter. Creating and filling the DataSet. A Demonstration Application The Interface. Loading the table. Filling the controls on the Form. Navigating through the records. Updating Data Steps for updating the table. Building the Application. Loading the table and displaying data in the form's controls. Initialising Commands. Adding Parameters to the commands. The ToggleControls() method of our application. Editing (or Updating) Records. Event Handler for the Save Button. Event Handler for the Cancel Button. Inserting Records. Deleting a Record. Using Stored Procedures Sample Stored Procedures. UPDATE Stored Procedure. INSERT Stored Procedure. DELETE Stored Procedure. SELECT Stored Procedure. Using Stored Procedures with ADO.Net.

Finance doesn't have to be a puzzle. And if you want to get anywhere with your career, it had better not be! Whatever your role, you have an impact on the financial wellbeing of the organisation you work for, whether you've got specific financial responsibilities or not. This thoroughly practical, fun and enjoyable one-day workshop will help unpuzzle finance for you. It's an ideal opportunity to master the terminology, get to grips with the concepts, learn how 'the finance department' works and understand the part you play. This course will help participants: Appreciate the role and importance of Finance within organisations Be able to recognise and describe some of the common items and jargon used Identify the elements of the Profit & Loss and the Balance Sheet Understand cashflow Make better decisions Manage budgets 1 Introduction Expectations Terminology Key financial principlesAccrualsConsistencyPrudenceGoing concern 2 The three main financial statements Profit & Loss accountIncomeCost of salesGross profitAdministrative expenses ('overheads')Net profit/(loss) for the financial year (the 'bottom line')P&L format Balance SheetTerminologyFixed AssetsCurrent AssetsCurrent LiabilitiesLong-term LiabilitiesCapitalB/S format Cashflow Statement Financial and management information systems 3 Budgets and forecasts Why budget? Types of budget - incremental or zero-based Budgeting for costs - fixed and variable Budgeting for income An eight point plan for budgeting for your department Case study: Small Brother Ltd Problems and solutions 4 Accruals Accruals - what and why? Prepayments 5 Open forum