Accounting for Management Decision Making Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Finance Managers, Management Accountants and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-A-115

Before you join: Participants should understand basic accounting terminology, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, profit and cash flow.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Managers and investment decision makers must turn accounting data into choices about pricing, product mix, capital spending, cash, performance and risk. Financial statements can report a profit while receivables, inventory or debt terms create a funding problem; a seemingly profitable product can consume scarce capacity; and a project can appear attractive before timing, tax and risk are tested. This course addresses those recurring decisions with disciplined analysis rather than headline numbers.

Participants examine how financial statements connect, assess profitability and financial position using ratios and DuPont analysis, and distinguish accounting profit from cash generation. They apply cost behaviour, activity-based costing, contribution analysis and relevant-cost methods to operational decisions. The course also covers budgeting, rolling forecasts, variance analysis, customer and product profitability, investment appraisal, working capital management and divisional performance measurement. By the end, participants can build and challenge decision models, identify critical assumptions and present financially sound recommendations.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with worked financial data, sector-based cases, group analysis and decision simulations. Cases reflect situations such as bank branch profitability, manufacturing make-or-buy choices, public-sector budget variances, NGO programme costing and corporate capital proposals. Participants leave with reusable analysis templates and a personal application plan for decisions they need to improve at work.

The course suits finance professionals who support management decisions and non-finance managers who own budgets, investments, products, operations or business-unit results. It is particularly useful where participants need to question reports confidently and translate accounting evidence into practical action.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret IFRS-based financial statements to identify profitability, liquidity and financial-position drivers
  • Construct ratio, trend and DuPont analyses for management and investment decisions
  • Apply cost behaviour, contribution and activity-based costing methods to product decisions
  • Prepare flexible budgets, rolling forecasts and variance analyses for performance control
  • Evaluate pricing, outsourcing, special-order and product discontinuation decisions using relevant costs
  • Appraise capital investments using net present value, internal rate of return and sensitivity analysis
  • Develop cash flow forecasts and working capital improvement actions from operating data
  • Present evidence-based decision papers with assumptions, risks, alternatives and recommendations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence challenging financial reports and management assumptions
  • Reusable methods for pricing, outsourcing and product mix decisions
  • Stronger investment proposal and business-case analysis
  • Ability to explain cash, profit and working capital differences
  • Clearer communication of financial recommendations to senior stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Better capital allocation through consistent investment appraisal methods
  • Improved budget accountability through flexible budgeting and variance investigation
  • More informed pricing, sourcing and product portfolio decisions
  • Earlier identification of cash pressure and working capital requirements
  • Decision papers supported by transparent assumptions and financial evidence

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can interpret the purpose, relationships and decision limits of core financial statements.

  • Decision users, stewardship needs and value drivers within management reports
  • IFRS-based financial statements: purpose, connections and management decision limits
  • Accrual accounting contrasted with cash movements and liquidity signals
  • Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement linkages
  • Accounting policies, estimates and materiality effects on reported performance
  • Reading notes for commitments, contingencies, related parties and accounting judgments

Participants can diagnose financial performance and risk using structured comparative analysis.

  • Common-size statements reveal structural changes in revenue, margins and assets
  • Ratio analysis covers liquidity, gearing, profitability, efficiency and market measures
  • DuPont analysis separates margin, asset turnover and financing effects
  • Trend analysis distinguishes recurring performance from one-off accounting movements
  • Peer benchmarking adjusts for business models, accounting policies and seasonality
  • Red flags identify earnings management, weak cash conversion and distress

Participants can classify costs and select appropriate costing methods for management decisions.

  • Cost objects, cost drivers and cost behaviour classifications for decisions
  • High-low method estimates fixed and variable cost components
  • Contribution format income statements separate variable costs from fixed costs
  • Activity-based costing assigns overhead using resource and activity cost drivers
  • Traditional absorption costing compared with activity-based costing for product profitability
  • Relevant range assumptions and step costs tested against operating capacity

Participants can use contribution and relevant-cost analysis to evaluate short-term operating choices.

  • Cost-volume-profit analysis calculates break-even sales, target profit and margin safety
  • Contribution margin ratios support pricing, mix and capacity decisions
  • Multi-product break-even analysis uses weighted average contribution margins
  • Operating gearing quantifies profit sensitivity to volume changes
  • Make-or-buy analysis isolates avoidable costs, capacity and qualitative constraints
  • Special-order decisions test incremental revenue against relevant costs and opportunity costs

Participants can build planning processes that connect operational assumptions with financial outcomes.

  • Master budgets connect sales, production, procurement, staffing and financing assumptions
  • Flexible budgets restate expected costs at actual activity levels
  • Rolling forecasts update assumptions, risks and resource requirements
  • Zero-based budgeting challenges spending through decision packages and justification
  • Scenario analysis tests base, downside and upside planning cases
  • Budget governance assigns owners, approval thresholds and revision controls

Participants can calculate, interpret and investigate material operational variances.

  • Standard costing defines material, labour and overhead benchmarks
  • Material price and usage variances identify purchasing and production causes
  • Labour rate and efficiency variances isolate workforce performance drivers
  • Variable overhead spending and efficiency variances support operational review
  • Fixed overhead expenditure and volume variances explain capacity absorption
  • Variance investigation thresholds distinguish actionable exceptions from normal fluctuation

Participants can evaluate alternative business actions using relevant costs and profitability evidence.

  • Relevant-cost analysis excludes sunk costs and includes opportunity costs
  • Outsourcing decisions compare supplier terms, avoidable costs and capacity consequences
  • Pricing decisions combine cost floors, demand elasticity and strategic positioning
  • Customer profitability analysis attributes service, channel and support costs
  • Product discontinuation analysis tests contribution, shared costs and released capacity
  • Transfer pricing methods align divisional incentives with company performance

Participants can assess investment proposals using discounted cash flow methods and risk testing.

  • Incremental cash flows distinguish investment appraisal from accounting profit
  • Net present value discounts forecast cash flows using required returns
  • Internal rate of return, payback and profitability index compared
  • After-tax cash flows incorporate depreciation tax shields and working capital
  • Sensitivity analysis tests volumes, prices, costs and discount rates
  • Risk-adjusted discount rates and scenario probabilities inform investment recommendations

Participants can forecast cash requirements and assess working capital improvement options.

  • Operating cash flow reconciles profit, non-cash charges and working capital
  • Working capital cycles quantify receivables, inventory and payables funding needs
  • 13-week rolling cash forecasts schedule receipts, payroll, taxes and supplier payments
  • Free cash flow distinguishes distributable cash from accounting earnings
  • Cash conversion cycle improvements evaluate service, stockout and supplier trade-offs
  • Financing choices compare interest, covenants, dilution and repayment profiles

Participants can select performance measures and present financially supported management recommendations.

  • Responsibility centres distinguish cost, revenue, profit and investment accountability
  • Return on investment and residual income evaluate divisional capital performance
  • Balanced Scorecard links financial measures with customer, process and capability indicators
  • Performance dashboards separate leading indicators from lagging financial measures
  • Decision papers state assumptions, alternatives, financial effects, risks and recommendation
  • Personal application plans define decisions, data sources, stakeholders and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Financial statement analysis worksheet
  2. DuPont and ratio analysis model
  3. Cost-volume-profit decision template
  4. Flexible budget and variance analysis template
  5. Investment appraisal cash flow model
  6. 13-week rolling cash forecast template

Who should attend

  • Finance Managers — need to convert reporting outputs into management recommendations
  • Management Accountants — need stronger methods for costing, planning and performance analysis
  • Financial Analysts — need to assess operating performance, cash generation and investment proposals
  • Business Unit Managers — need to make budget, pricing and resource allocation decisions
  • Project and Programme Managers — need to assess costs, funding requirements and project returns
  • Operations Managers — need to understand cost drivers, variances and capacity decisions

Skills and tools covered

Financial statement analysisManagement costingBudgetary controlInvestment appraisalCash flow forecastingDecision paper writing

Tools and standards

IFRS Accounting Standards, DuPont analysis, Balanced Scorecard, Net present value (NPV)

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by worked examples, financial case analysis, group exercises and facilitated discussion. Participants interpret statements, build cost and cash models, assess investment proposals and explain recommendations to decision makers. Cases can be adapted to participant sectors, including banking, government, manufacturing, services and NGOs. A final application-planning session helps participants identify where to use the methods, data sources and review points after the course.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic accounting terminology, including revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, profit and cash flow. Some experience reading management accounts, budgets or financial statements is expected, whether from a finance role or a budget-holding management role. Participants should be comfortable working with percentages, basic spreadsheet calculations and financial tables. Prior study of advanced financial accounting, corporate finance, valuation or statistics is not required. The course explains the decision methods used before applying them to realistic business cases.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic accounting terms and be able to read a simple income statement and balance sheet. Advanced accounting qualifications or prior corporate finance study are not required.

Bring a calculator and, if permitted by your employer, examples of decisions or reports you want to improve. Course materials and financial case data are provided.

It is designed for finance professionals, analysts and managers who use accounting information to make or support business decisions. It also suits budget holders who need to question financial reports and investment proposals.

Financial accounting courses focus mainly on recording transactions and producing compliant financial statements. This course uses financial and management accounting information to assess choices about operations, investments, cash and performance.

Participants can use the models for budget reviews, pricing discussions, sourcing decisions, business cases, cash forecasting and performance meetings. The application plan identifies immediate decisions where the methods can be used.

The programme contains approximately 32.5 contact hours, delivered from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, worked calculations, case analysis, group discussion and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

More courses in Accounting

Accounting Accounting Analytics with Excel and Power BI Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounting Fundamentals Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounting Operations Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounting Policies and Procedures Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounting and Financial Reporting Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounting and Financial Reporting for NGOs Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Accounts Receivable Management Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov Accounting Strategic Management Accounting Training Course 5 days · from USD 1,100 · next 16 Nov