371 Professional Development courses in Reading

Overview This course will provide you with the skills and knowledge required by Non-Accounts Managers to understand Finance and Accounting processes they face in their daily work schedule. The main objective of this course is to highlight accounting, understand the framework of accounting, and stages of accounts and also to elaborate rules and principles of accounting. With a lot of Case studies and open discussions with live examples, participants will gain detailed knowledge to understand their company from a financial perspective and also to help manage financial matters. At the end of the course, you will learn how to apply financial techniques, understand financial reports and annual reports, the relationship between accounting and finance thereby gaining knowledge of the use of debits and credits and last but not least to identify limitations of financial statements.  At the end of this training course, participants will: Be able to Record Transactions in the Accounting System Understand the Format and Contents of Financial Statements Use Accounting Information to Interpret and Evaluate a Business Make Efficient and Profitable Decisions, based on Cost Information Apply Budgetary Control Techniques to ensure that Targets are Achieved

Overview Corporate frauds have the inherent power to bring large organizations to their knees, cause huge monetary loss, prompt lawsuits followed by significant legal expenses, lead to the imprisonment of employees and deteriorate confidence in the market, governments, and institutions. In response, corporations and governments across the globe have stepped up their effort to inspect, prevent and penalize fraudulent practices; resulting in a greater emphasis on the domains of forensic auditing and accounting in the current economy. This training course will empower you to recognize the root causes of fraud and white-collar crime in the current economy, understand the categories of fraud, equip you with methodologies of fraud detection and prevention, and heighten your ability to detect potential fraudulent situations. In addition to the fundamentals of fraud investigation and detection in a digital environment; profit-loss evaluation, analysis of accounting books, legal concepts, and quantification of financial damages are also examined in this course

Overview It is very important to analyse financial operations within financial functions or outside financial functions. If they are utilized and implemented properly it will contribute towards the success of the business. This program will give you in-depth knowledge of financial operations and reporting supported by important aspects of theory together with practical methods and techniques.  This course is specially designed by experts who have a wealth of experience in the related field. In this course, you'll gain knowledge in financial operations and reporting as well as its foundations, methods and techniques. 

Overview Accounting is the methodical approach of updating and keeping track of all the required information related to financial transactions. This course is designed to gain knowledge of how to interpret and analyse financial statements effectively. This course will emphasize in-depth knowledge of financial reporting elements used in Advance Accounting highlighting transactions recognizing, differentiating and efficiently recording information.  Advanced Accounting Techniques course covers difficult complex accounting topics like forecasting, hedging, data aggregation, interval accounting, segment reporting and many more including deeply understanding the financial statement Advanced accounting techniques were developed to provide information appropriate for decision-making in changing internal and external environments. 

Overview This training will give you the platform to learn everything you need to carry out effective cost-benefit analyses, the risk and uncertainty involved, and how to handle the various different types of information available. The skills you will gain will allow the administration of more accurate and reflective cost-benefit analyses through improved methods and processes. 

Overview Understanding the grants coming in and their monitoring, spending and many other factors are directly proportionate to effecting Grant Accounting and Grant Management. Many different funding entities give grants to so many companies, the government sector, and private sectors with the aim to encourage growth and employment and economic viability. It is important to recognise the government grants in the profit and loss account, so at the end, it can match the costs to which they relate. Considering these grants efficiently in the accounts is very important, as many entities (including the grant-making body) may closely monitor the accounts; and any errors will reflect badly on the accountant. Many development projects are funded through grants from donors. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the project management team to safeguard that the limited resources are used efficiently to achieve maximum impact.  This course is planned to train the participants with best practices and essential skills in effective grants management.

Presentation Skills 101 is a course designed for those who want to improve their public speaking skills by learning basic skills of persuasion and developing more confidence, credibility and composure when presenting.

Overview Networking has become a crucial factor in the modern workplace. It is the most effective method of developing your business or career and is a key component of your personal brand. This one day course will teach you how to be able to build strong business relationships, develop a level of personal credibility and increase your network of contacts in order to enhance your visibility and create opportunities for yourself and your organisation. Description This training course will help your participants build a professional reputation and develop a network of connections through the two key methods available to them; face-to-face and online. Attendees will discover how to effectively combine these two approaches and create a strategy for networking success that will generate their own community and actively grow their personal network. This will result in an improved performance in their approach to networking and consequently provide opportunities and prospects that will increase their business success. The training provides them with the tools and techniques to both plan a successful, strategic approach to networking and develop their personal communication skills, which will ensure they build effective business relationships. Topics covered: Why Network? – Establishing the importance of networking with some shocking statistics and an activity that defines the importance of networking to the individual. This is followed by some insight into the key aims of a networking strategy, what puts people off, as well as some personal revelations about networking. Increase Your Business Presence – Looking at the components of a strong business presence, including; credibility, personal brand, visibility and social capital. Developing a Networkers Attitude – An exercise that clarifies the perfect attitudes and behaviours of great networkers and comparing the participants against this. Thus identifying areas for development. Face to Face Networking – An overview and insight into the main types of face to face networking opportunities available with the benefits and pitfalls of each. Online Networking – An overview of the different social media and online networking tools and how to get the best out of them. Includes; LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online forums. Communication Skills for Networking Success – Ensuring a good first impression, creating an opening sound bite and writing an online profile that promotes and engages. Developing a Conversation – Building on the opening sound bite and developing a conversation through good questioning techniques and following a selection of key networking rules. Including an activity to test and practice the skills. Working a Room – A fun activity that embeds and develops learning while encouraging practice and communication. This activity covers 10 of the main skills required to work a room. Breaking into a Group – Identifying body language to spot when a group or pair is open to new people entering the conversation or would rather not encourage participation. Knowing how to break into a group, what to say and how to remain professional. Exiting a Conversation – Developing some techniques to extricate oneself from a conversation without causing embarrassment or rudeness. The Follow-Up – Using a structure to identify the most important contacts created and establishing when and how to follow up with each group. Includes example follow-up email and a chance to develop their own. Creating a Network Plan – Participants are provided with a networking action plan to review and complete. This sets them on the journey of developing their networking skills and ensures they have a strategy and goals to target. Who should attend Anyone who is looking to improve their networking performance, or the networking performance of a management or sales team. Requirements for Attendees No pre-requisites required.

Overview This one day Building Better Work Habits training course has been developed for everyone in your organisation who may struggle with their own personal effectiveness. They may not have control of their own workload or blame others as to why they’re not achieving certain tasks and projects. Alternatively, it might be that high performers want to understand how they can organise themselves in a new way to give themselves more stretch in their roles. The training course will help the learners build self-awareness and will highlight the important parts of working smarter to achieve end goals. Description We are all busy, and sometimes it seems we do not have enough hours in the day to complete deadlines and projects. It can then eat into our home life, meaning we often end up stressed, or in worst-case scenarios, unwell (both physically and mentally). The reason behind this is often how we work day to day, as opposed to others giving us work at the last minute. These training course materials have been designed to help your participants work more effectively for the long term. This isn’t about how to manage a diary or emails, but rather look closely to see what are the blockers which get in the way of success. These small changes in day to day work will have a dramatic impact in both productivity and personal effectiveness. Topics covered: Productivity: the science bit – A chance to explore what we mean by being productive and how that helps us build better work habits, as well as the opportunity to look at some of the science behind myths and bad habits we’ve probably already formed. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Procrastination, why put off to tomorrow what we can do today! – Participants will explore what we procrastinate about, how we procrastinate in our own lives, and what we can do about it! Eat That Frog – An introduction to Brian Tracy’s book “Eat that frog” and how it can help us improve our working habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. Eat That Frog: Thinking on Paper – A chance to put into practice some of Brian Tracy’s methods and how to use them in our real lives Eat That Frog: Rocks, Pebbles and Sand – Taking our goal setting further, we explore Covey’s methodology around prioritising our tasks. Eat That Frog: The Pareto Principle – The final part of the “Eat that Frog” section looks at how effective we in terms of how we spend our day Prioritising: how do we spend our day? – Participants explore how proactive they are, and what the danger might be in letting a situation rule their time Prioritising: The Priority Matrix – Taking the Rock, Pebbles and Sand methodology further, participants explore what truly is urgent and what is important in our day to day Prioritising: Company Performance Tensions – We may know what our own personal objectives are, however, our business objectives have certain tensions that could impact these. How can we balance these two different objectives to ensure we’re successful day to day? What’s my mindset? – Sometimes we can get in the way of our own successes and plans due to our mindset; utilising Carol Dweck’s work, it is a chance to reflect on our own mindsets when we’re building new work habits. Includes a link to a YouTube video. What’s my mindset? Energy Cycles – Our energy can impact our mindset and how productive we are. A chance to look at what gives us energy, and how we can work more effectively depending on where our energy levels might be Who should attend Anyone interested in understanding in being more effective at work. Requirements for Attendees None.

Overview This one day course will provide guidance on how to become more assertive and build self-confidence, which in-turn will help your attendees to achieve greater work effectiveness and productivity, whilst putting them in control of their daily activities and making them more able to overcome stressful work and life situations. Description Being assertive is being able to express yourself with confidence without having to resort to passive, aggressive or manipulative behaviour. By developing assertiveness and becoming aware of our own strengths and weaknesses, we can modify our behaviour for greater effectiveness in social and business interactions. Topics covered: What is Assertiveness? – A series of activities relating to what assertiveness means and, perhaps more importantly, what it means to the participants. My Assertiveness Goals – A chance for the participants to review what they want to get out of the session and where they would like to end up with regard to their approach to assertiveness. How Assertiveness Works – A look at human reactions and the reasoning behind them culminating in an activity that looks at the participants own observations in relation to assertive behaviour. My Assertive Rights – A review of the rights we have as individuals followed by a commitment to the rights by the participants. Taking a Positive Approach – Looking at key methodology, including: – Giving and Receiving Compliments A review of typical responses to compliments and their negative consequences, followed by an opportunity to develop new, positive responses. – Improving Self-Esteem An in-depth review of each individual’s positive aspects. – New Challenges A set of challenges to take participants out of their comfort-zone and into the realm of possibilities. – Effective Communication A look at what makes effective communication, with some modelling of behaviours. Approaching Assertiveness – A look at the four cornerstones of being assertive with an opportunity to practice these behaviours. The Words You Use – Understanding the key areas of effective communication. Covering the areas of; Disclosing Your Feelings, Being Clear, Being Persistent, Empathising and Working Towards a Wise Outcome. Preparing to Be Assertive – A chance to understand and practice a set process of ‘scripting’ in order to develop an effective and natural approach to assertive interactions. Assertive Review – An activity that solidifies the reasoning behind wanting to become assertive, whilst demonstrating that it is not an unachievable outcome. Who should attend Anyone that needs to develop their assertiveness skills and improve communication with others Requirements for Attendees None.