Certificate Course in Accounting for Non-Finance Managers

Participants can trace routine transactions through journals, ledgers and period-end adjustments.

• Source documents, audit trails, authorisation evidence and transaction completeness
• Journal entries using debits, credits and balanced posting rules
• Posting entries from journals to general ledger control accounts
• Trial balance preparation and identification of common posting errors
• Adjusting entries for accruals, prepayments, depreciation and unearned revenue
• Period-end close sequence from cut-off through financial statement production

Participants can interpret income statement structure and explain the drivers of reported profit.

• Income statement structure: revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses and profit
• Gross margin, operating margin and net margin calculations
• Revenue recognition principles: performance obligations, timing and variable consideration
• Matching principle linking period revenues with related costs
• Classifying recurring, non-recurring, operating and finance income items
• Comparing actual results with prior periods and budget expectations

Participants can assess assets, liabilities and equity to understand financial position and risk.

• Balance sheet structure: current, non-current, debt and equity classifications
• Working capital accounts: receivables, inventory, payables and short-term funding
• Property, plant and equipment recognition, depreciation and carrying values
• Intangible assets, impairment indicators and amortisation principles
• Provisions, contingencies and obligations requiring management judgement
• Equity movements from profit retention, distributions and owner contributions

Participants can reconcile profit to cash flow and identify immediate liquidity pressures.

• Operating, investing and financing cash flows under IAS 7
• Indirect cash flow reconciliation from profit to operating cash
• Non-cash items: depreciation, provisions, impairments and unrealised gains
• Cash conversion cycle measured through receivable, inventory and payable days
• Free cash flow as a measure of funding capacity
• Early warning signs of liquidity stress despite reported profitability

Participants can use financial statement analysis to identify performance questions requiring management action.

• Horizontal analysis measuring period-on-period financial statement movements
• Vertical analysis expressing statement items as revenue or asset percentages
• Profitability ratios: gross margin, operating margin, ROA and ROE
• Liquidity ratios: current ratio, quick ratio and operating cash coverage
• Efficiency ratios: inventory turnover, receivable days and asset turnover
• DuPont analysis separating return on equity into operating drivers

Participants can interpret management reports and communicate the financial drivers behind performance.

• Management accounts compared with external financial reporting requirements
• Actual, budget, forecast and prior-year comparison columns
• Materiality thresholds for focusing management attention on significant movements
• Waterfall analysis explaining revenue, cost and profit bridges
• Leading indicators linked to financial outcomes and operational activity
• Management commentary separating facts, assumptions, risks and required decisions

Participants can classify costs and calculate unit economics for products, services and activities.

• Fixed, variable, semi-variable and step costs within relevant ranges
• Contribution margin calculation for products, services and customer segments
• Break-even analysis using contribution, fixed costs and sales volume
• Cost drivers linking resource consumption to operational activity levels
• Relevant costs for short-term decisions and special-order evaluation
• Sunk costs, opportunity costs and avoidable costs in decisions

Participants can select and apply appropriate costing methods for managerial decisions.

• Absorption costing allocating production overheads to cost objects
• Activity-based costing using activities, pools and cost-driver rates
• Direct costing for contribution analysis and short-term operating choices
• Job costing for contracts, projects and customised client work
• Process costing for high-volume, standardised production or service delivery
• Transfer pricing principles for internal transactions between business units

Participants can construct an operational budget from volume, price, cost and staffing assumptions.

• Budget purpose: planning, coordination, authorisation and performance evaluation
• Driver-based budgeting built from demand, capacity, price and productivity
• Revenue budgets using volume assumptions, pricing and sales mix
• Operating expense budgets for payroll, procurement and service delivery
• Capital budgets separating asset purchases from recurring operating costs
• Rolling forecasts updating assumptions, timing and expected year-end results

Participants can investigate budget variances and recommend corrective management actions.

• Flexible budgets adjusted for actual activity volumes and output levels
• Price and volume variances for revenue performance diagnosis
• Material price, usage and yield variances in operating environments
• Labour rate and efficiency variances linked to workforce decisions
• Spend, volume and mix variances within indirect cost budgets
• Root-cause analysis distinguishing timing, coding, scope and performance effects

Participants can improve working capital decisions through receivables, inventory and payables analysis.

• Working capital policy balancing liquidity, service levels and funding costs
• Credit control stages from customer onboarding to collections escalation
• Ageing analysis identifying overdue receivables and collection priorities
• Inventory controls: reorder points, safety stock and obsolete stock review
• Supplier payment terms, early-settlement discounts and cash preservation
• Thirteen-week cash forecasts built from receipts, payroll and supplier payments

Participants can evaluate capital expenditure proposals using cash-based investment appraisal methods.

• Capital versus revenue expenditure and their accounting treatment differences
• Incremental cash flows identified from investment proposal assumptions
• Payback period calculation and its liquidity-focused decision use
• Net present value using discount rates and forecast cash flows
• Internal rate of return compared with required return thresholds
• Sensitivity analysis testing volume, price, cost and timing assumptions

Participants can identify key financial controls and respond appropriately to control weaknesses.

• COSO control components: environment, risk assessment, activities, information and monitoring
• Segregation of duties across requesting, approving, receiving and paying
• Preventive, detective and corrective controls within transaction processes
• Delegated authority limits for expenditure, contracts and payment approvals
• Fraud red flags involving vendors, expenses, payroll and revenue
• Control evidence retained for audit, investigation and management review

Participants can recognise accounting judgement areas and challenge financial information responsibly.

• Management estimates affecting provisions, useful lives, impairments and expected losses
• Materiality judgements and their effect on reporting decisions
• Earnings management warning signs in revenue, expenses and reserves
• Ethical decision-making using consequences, duties and stakeholder impact
• Questioning assumptions without substituting management preference for evidence
• Escalation routes for suspected errors, misconduct and control breaches

Participants can build, review and present a complete management finance pack supporting a business decision.

• Financial statement diagnostic identifying profitability, liquidity and efficiency concerns
• Driver-based budget and rolling forecast for the selected operating scenario
• Cost and contribution analysis supporting pricing or service-delivery choices
• Thirteen-week cash forecast identifying funding and working-capital actions
• Capital appraisal comparing options through NPV, IRR and sensitivity analysis
• Management recommendation supported by controls, risks, assumptions and financial evidence