Finance Skills for Business Planning
Tuesday mornings: 10.00-13.00, 6th to 27th July 2010
Anyone who is setting up or managing an enterprise will benefit from this course. It will help you to demonstrate to others, such as potential investors or lenders, your directors or management committee, but above all to yourself, that the business will survive and be profitable, and how the cash will flow. Knowing how your business is going to perform will give you more confidence and enable you to manage better (and have fewer sleepless nights).
The course is arranged as four half-day sessions.
Managing your cash: You will learn how to create a cashflow forecast, considering what level of sales receipts and purchases will occur month by month, what money will be in the bank at any point, and what level of loan or overdraft you may need. The session will also look at ways of improving the cash position, through good credit control.
Making a profit: Many people struggle from day to day, just worrying about whether there is enough money coming in to pay the most urgent bills. The first session will have helped you to manage your cash better. But are you making a profit? If so, how much? You will learn the difference between cashflow and profit and loss, how to work out your real total costs, where the break-even point is for your business, and how much profit you will make. You will therefore be able to price your products properly.
The Balance Sheet: How will your business grow? The Balance Sheet shows you the value of your business. This session will help you to read a balance sheet and know what it is telling you about a business’s accounts, and why it important to potential funders. You will be able to create a balance sheet from the profit and loss and cashflow accounts.
Keeping the books: Planning your business’s finances is no good unless you are able to compare the plan with reality. This session will show you what records you need to keep that will form the basis of your accounts.
The course is free but there is a returnable deposit of £50 to ensure attendance so that places are not wasted - this will be refunded to those who attend the whole course.