ΠΕΡΙΓΡΑΦΗ

Non-financial leaders make financial decisions every day.

Pricing, discounts, hiring, overtime, stock levels, customer-payment terms, supplier choices, service changes, projects and investment requests all affect profit, cash, margins, budgets and business resilience.

This workshop gives leaders the confidence to understand and use financial information without needing to become accountants.

Participants learn to move from:

Operational activity → financial impact → informed decision → accountable action

The workshop uses plain English, practical management examples, simple calculations and realistic decision scenarios. Financial terminology is explained accurately, but participants are never expected to memorise technical accounting language.

The course builds confidence in three areas:

1. Understanding financial performance — profit, cash, costs, margins, budgets and financial position.

2. Making stronger decisions — assessing pricing, staffing, spending, customer, supplier and investment choices.

3. Communicating with confidence — explaining what changed, why it matters, what is uncertain and what action is required.

ΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΣΕΜΙΝΑΡΙΟΥ

By the end of the programme, participants will be able to

• Acknowledge the difference between profit, cash flow and financial position.

• Identify how revenue, direct costs, variable costs, fixed costs, gross margin, contribution and operating profit are connected.

• Recognise why revenue growth and reported profit do not automatically improve cash flow or financial resilience.

• Identify how receivables, inventory, payables, capital expenditure, loans and contractual commitments affect cash and financial position.

• The difference between budgets, forecasts, targets, actual results and variances.

• How everyday decisions affect profit, cash, customer value, capacity, risk and investment requirements.

• Why assumptions, delegated authority and finance involvement matter in management decision-making.

• Read and interpret a simple profit-and-loss summary, cash-flow view and financial-position snapshot.

• Identify the main drivers behind changes in revenue, cost, margin, contribution and cash.

• Calculate and interpret basic gross-margin, contribution, break-even and working-capital information.

• Recognise when a decision improves revenue but may weaken profit, cash, capacity or resilience.

• Compare options, including doing nothing, using financial and non-financial criteria.

• Challenge assumptions behind budgets, forecasts, discounts, staffing plans, investment requests and cost-saving proposals.

• Communicate a concise financial story: what changed, why it matters, what is uncertain and what action is required.

• Escalate decisions appropriately where expenditure, risk, authority, funding, contractual commitment or business impact requires further review.

ΣΕ ΠΟΙΟΥΣ ΑΠΕΥΘΥΝΕΤΑΙ

This course is designed for:

• Operations managers and team leaders.

• Sales, commercial and customer-service managers.

• HR and people managers.

• Project, programme and transformation managers.

• Procurement, logistics and inventory managers.

• Marketing and business-development leaders.

• Department heads and budget holders.

• Entrepreneurs, small-business owners and business-unit managers.

• Technical and service-delivery professionals moving into management roles.

• New managers requiring practical financial confidence.

Recommended prior knowledge: None beyond basic workplace numeracy.

ΠΕΡΙΣΣΟΤΕΡΕΣ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΙΕΣ

Training Outline

Finance Is Part of Every Leadership Decision

• Financial-confidence mindset, common misconceptions, course boundaries and accountability.

• Financial-confidence diagnostic: distinguish financial myths from sound management thinking.

Financial Foundations in Plain English

• Profit and loss, cash flow, financial position, resilience and the connection between all three views.

• Three-financial-views journey exercise.

Revenue, Costs, Margins and Contribution

• Direct versus variable cost, fixed commitments, gross margin, contribution, relevant cost and break-even conditions.

• Margin-and-discount calculation exercise using product and service examples.

Cash Flow, Working Capital and Financial Resilience

• Cash conversion, collection risk, inventory, supplier terms, loans, leases, customer concentration and commitments.

• Cash-flow challenge: explain why a profitable organisation can face cash pressure.

Budgets, Forecasts and Variances

• Budget versus forecast, actuals, controllability, assumptions, cash impact and variance-to-action discipline.

• Convert a management report into a practical variance-to-action plan.

Making Better Day-to-Day Financial Decisions

• CLEAR framework, relevant cost, do-nothing option, reversibility, materiality and authority.

• Compare two operational options using profit, cash, capacity, customer value and risk criteria.

Investment, Staffing and Commitment Decisions

• SIMPLE, cash requirement, payback, total cost of ownership, downside, compliance and approval.

• Assess a proposal: approve, revise, pilot, defer, decline or escalate.

Role-Based Finance Labs

• Role-specific mini-cases for commercial, operational, people, procurement, project and business-unit decisions.

• Role-based worksheet, peer challenge and structured gallery review.

Integrated Business Case — LumaWorks

• Growth, falling margin, slower collections, stock build-up, forecast weaknesses and pending management decisions.

• Group financial diagnosis and management recommendation.

Communicating Financial Performance

• 4Q financial story, evidence, uncertainty, decision request and accountability.

• Draft and deliver a concise management update.

Individual Financial-Judgement Assessment

• Individual application of profit, cash, margin, budget, decision and authority reasoning.

• Evidence-led individual recommendation.

Training Style

The programme is designed to equip participants with practical knowledge and strengthen their professional capabilities through a highly interactive and application-focused learning approach. Delivery combines short, targeted lectures with case studies, practical examples, facilitated discussions, and realistic workplace simulations.

Through structured discussion, peer exchange, and facilitator feedback, participants will apply the concepts, tools, and techniques introduced throughout the programme while strengthening their analytical thinking, problem-solving, professional judgement, and decision-making skills. By the end of the programme, they will be better equipped to respond confidently and effectively to comparable workplace challenges.

CPD Recognition

This programme may be approved for up to 5 CPD units in Accounting & Auditing. Eligibility criteria and CPD Units are verified directly by your association, regulator or other bodies which you hold membership.