42 Courses in Edinburgh

Understanding how to plan for capacity, be able to forecast and manage budgets is a critical skill in today's leadership and management environment. This programme will not only support your understanding but will also help you to practically put the learning into practice.

No-one in business will succeed if they are not financially literate - and no business will succeed without financially-literate people. This is the ideal programme for managers and others who don't have a financial qualification or background but who nonetheless need a greater understanding of the financial management disciplines essential to your organisation. This course will give the participants a sound understanding of financial reports, measures and techniques to make them even more effective in their roles. It will enable participants to: Overcome the barrier of the accountants' strange language Deal confidently with financial colleagues Improve their understanding of your organisation's finance function Radically improve their planning and budgeting skills Be much more aware of the impact of their decisions on the profitability of your organisation Enhance their role in the organisation Boost their confidence and career development 1 Review of the principal financial statements What each statement containsOutlineDetail Not just what the statements contain but what they mean Balance sheets and P&L accounts (income statements) Cash flow statements Detailed terminology and interpretation Types of fixed asset - tangible, etc. Working capital, equity, gearing 2 The 'rules' - Accounting Standards, concepts and conventions Fundamental or 'bedrock' accounting concepts Detailed accounting concepts and conventions What depreciation means The importance of stock, inventory and work in progress values Accounting policies that most affect reporting and results The importance of accounting standards and IFRS 3 Where the figures come from Accounting records Assets / liabilities, Income / expenditure General / nominal ledgers Need for internal controls 'Sarbox' and related issues 4 Managing the budget process Have clear objectives, remit, responsibilities and time schedule The business plan Links with corporate strategy The budget cycle Links with company culture Budgeting methods'New' budgetingZero-based budgets Reviewing budgets Responding to the figures The need for appropriate accounting and reporting systems 5 What are costs? How to account for them Cost definitions Full / absorption costing Overheads - overhead allocation or absorption Activity based costing Marginal costing / break-even - use in planning 6 Who does what? A review of what different types of accountant do Financial accounting Management accounting Treasury function Activities and terms 7 How the statements can be interpreted What published accounts contain Analytical review (ratio analysis) Return on capital employed, margins and profitability Making assets work - asset turnover Fixed assets, debtor, stock turnover Responding to figures EBIT, EBITEDIA, eps and other analysts' measure 8 Other key issues Creative accounting Accounting for groups Intangible assets - brand names Company valuations Fixed assets / leased assets / off-balance sheet finance

Overview This 2 day course focuses on best practice bank ALM in today’s environment of a multiplicity of regulatory constraints on the balance sheet Who the course is for Asset Liability Committee (ALCO) members Treasury Risk Finance and internal audit capital management Funding management Liquidity buffer investment team Derivative structurers and salespeople; IT software providers Regulators Course Content To learn more about the day by day course content please request a brochure To learn more about schedule, pricing & delivery options, book a meeting with a course specialist now

Overview Learn how to price equity options and the features that make them different from other asset classes. Explore how to use these products for taking equity risk, yield enhancement and portfolio protection Who the course is for Risk managers Bank treasury professionals Finance Internal Audit Senior management Fixed Income, FX, Credit and Equities traders Course Content To learn more about the day by day course content please request a brochure To learn more about schedule, pricing & delivery options, book a meeting with a course specialist now

Overview This is a 2 day course to learn ALM tools to achieve strong and market-resilient, actuarially-resilient Solvency 2 (S2) ratios at Group consolidated level and at key cash-remitting entities to ensure dividend stability. For those not fully familiar with Solvency 2, this course is best taken in conjunction with “Solvency 2” Who the course is for Capital management / ALM / risk management staff within insurance company Investors in insurance company securities – equity, subordinated bonds, insurance-linked securities Salespeople covering insurance companies Course Content To learn more about the day by day course content please request a brochure To learn more about schedule, pricing & delivery options, book a meeting with a course specialist now

Budgeting is more than mere vague oversight. Budgeting should deliver the corporate strategy, add shareholder value and lead to a well-run business - for the benefit of all involved in it. Effective budgeting leads to real control - effective day-to-day operational control and more. This course demonstrates what proper budgeting and operational control can do. This course will help ensure that participants: Appreciate the importance of the budgeting process Take ownership of it Use it as a daily working tool - not an annual exercise - to help run their part of the operation Improve their reporting against budget Ensure their delivery against budget 1 Objectives of budgets The budget process Stages - what is the prime aim of a budget? What is forecasting? ObjectivesPlanningImplementation 2 Budget and cost control focus Choosing objectives Links with corporate strategy Links with resource management Can the accounting systems cope? 3 Traditional budgeting and control Benefits and drawbacks The process Control and feedback Reporting - what can be expected? 4 Advanced budgeting and control Understanding the business process Taking out costs Cost awareness ZBB - as valid as ever 5 Reports Reports for action The purpose of a report Content - deliverables and feedback Culture is so important

This course will move a manager’s focus away from simply reviewing last year’s financial performance, toward the development of an interactive approach, designed to really understand financial performance and the consequence of inaction. PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN HOW TO: • The confidence to use budgeting tools and techniques • An understanding of the demands of financial management • The ability to analyse and challenge financial and accounting • Information • An understanding of fixed and variable costs and how these affect the sales price and profitability • Understanding the challenges of overhead allocation • Understanding the P&L • Developing awareness of fundamental investment appraisal techniques COURSE TOPICS INCLUDE: • Budget Definitions & Planning • Designing and developing a budget • Performance reporting systems & cost control • Zero-based budgeting systems • Understanding business costs (FC & VC) • Understanding variance analysis • Profit and Loss & Balance Sheet

Overview This 2-day programme covers the latest techniques used for fixed income attribution. This hands-on course enables participants to get a practical working experience of fixed income attribution, from planning to implementation and analysis. After completing the course you will have developed the skills to: Understand how attribution works and the value it adds to the investment process Interpret attribution reports from commercial systems Assess the strengths and weaknesses of commercially available attribution software Make informed decisions about the build vs. buy decision Present results in terms accessible to all parts of the business Who the course is for Performance analysts Fund and portfolio managers Investment officers Fixed Income professionals (marketing/sales) Auditors and compliance Quants and IT developers Course Content To learn more about the day by day course content please request a brochure To learn more about schedule, pricing & delivery options, book a meeting with a course specialist now

Where should management effort be directed? In controlling costs and ensuring proper engineering in live projects? - yes, of course, but true cost control comes by understanding, eliminating and minimising risk prior to a business committing any funds. This course studies the stages required for practical financial and business appraisals of projects and capital expenditure. This course has two primary objectives: To impart the knowledge and skills required to ensure as risk-free as possible expenditure of that scarce resource, cash - the investors', governments' or shareholders' money must not be squandered To improve the quality of the appraisal process in the widest sense - demonstrating how the process of project and capital expenditure appraisal can be used to dramatically improve cost control and deliver as risk-free as possible expenditure As a result of the course, participants will be able to: Understand the economics of appraisal Be in control of their projects from the start Understand the economics of their projects - and devise the most appropriate mode Carry out sensitivity analysis and identify risk Improve their methods of appraisal and approach Focus on the risk areas and take out risk and control costs before they over-run The benefits of attending this course will be demonstrable from day one. Thorough appraisals and risk assessment follow through to success in project management and detailed cost control and project management. 1 Introduction Why appraise? Taking risk out of investment The short- and long-term results of not appraising business expenditure 2 Developing an appraisal process The process - overall and stage-by-stage objectives Understand business and technical risks Manage resources and time Do you invest enough time and effort at this stage? Take out the risks - control costs before you are committed to contracts and action Checklists 3 Appraisal arithmetic Review of the arithmetic of appraisalThe time value of moneyThe effects of different interest or required ratesThe effects of inflation (or deflation) in prices and costs Understanding the economics of appraisal is essential 4 Appraisal measures Meaning and use of appraisal measures Identifying the most appropriate measures for your particular business Payback Discounted cash flow measures - NPV and IRR Other measures - FW, AW, Profitability Index The meaning of the measures and their application in practice 5 Cost benefit analysis The effect on decision-making of more intangible benefits Cost benefit analysis Ensuring costs are genuine Measuring intangible benefits Environmental issues Consideration of intangible benefits in the appraisal decision-making process 6 Developing appropriate models Developing models - examples of spreadsheet models and measures for many different situations Modelling investment opportunities - summarising outcomes Sensitivity analysis - identifying, quantifying and taking out risk 7 Developing an appraisal process The process - managing risk from the outset Using the process in risk management, negotiating and project management Take out risk by thoroughly knowing your project - developing your own process

Businesses that don't control their costs don't stay in business. How well are you doing? Is everyone in your organisation sufficiently aware of costs, managing them effectively and maximising opportunities to reduce them? If there is scope for improvement, this course will help get you back on track. It will demonstrate that cost reduction is so much more than cost control and cost cutting. True cost management is about being aware of costs, seeking to reduce them through good design and efficient operating practices whilst taking continuing action on overspending. This course will develop the participants' skills in: Being aware of costs at all times Seeking cost reduction from the start (including life-cycle costing) Appraising projects / production to identify and take out risk Understanding real budgeting Using techniques such as ZBB and ABC where appropriate Ensuring cost reports lead to action Managing a cost reduction process that delivers Benefits to the organisation will include: Identification of cost reduction and business improvement opportunities Better reporting and ownership of costs Greater awareness and control of everyday costs 1 Introduction - the cost management process The risks of poor cost control Capital and revenue costs The importance of cost awareness The importance of cost reduction Cost management - the key aspects How to build a cost management and control process checklist for your areas of responsibility 2 Cost removal - taking out costs Cost awareness Costs of poor design / poor processes Value engineering Removing redundant costs 3 The need for commercial, technical and financial appraisals Understand the problems before cash is committed and costs incurred Making the effort to identify commercial and technical risk The time value of money - DCF techniques for long term projects Cost models for production processes and projects Costing models - project appraisals The use of spreadsheets to identify sensitivity and risk How to focus on risk management 4 Budgeting - proper budgeting challenges costs The philosophy of the business - are costs an issue? The importance of having the right culture The need for detailed business objectives Budgetary control measures Designing budget reports - for action 5 Zero-based budgeting (ZBB) - the principles Much more than starting with a clean sheet of paper What ZBB can achieve The concept of decision packages - to challenge business methods and costs Only necessary costs should be incurred A review of an operating budget - demonstrating what ZBB challenges and the costs it may lead to being taken out 6 Awareness of overheads and other costs Definitions of cost - direct and indirect Dealing with overheads - what is meant by allocation, absorption or apportionment? The apparent and real problems with overheads Different ways of dealing with overheads Review of overhead allocation methods and accounting and reporting issues 7 Overheads and product costing Activity-based costing (ABC) - the principles Where and how the ABC approach may be helpful Know the 'true' cost of a product or a project Should you be in business? Will you stay in business? Identifying weaknesses in a traditional overhead allocation How ABC will help improve product or service costing Identifying which products and activities should be developed and which abandoned 8 Cost reduction culture The need for cost reports What measures can be used to identify over-spends as early as possible Cost control performance measures and ratios 9 Design of cost control reports Reports should lead to action and deliver Selecting cost control measures which can be acted upon Practice in designing action reports 10 Course summary - developing your own cost action plan Group and individual action plans will be prepared with a view to participants identifying their cost risks areas and the techniques which can be immediately applied to improve costing and reduce costs