Business Finance Professional Course

Business Finance deals with the raising and managing of funds. Irrespective of the organisation's size, at some point in time, management will need to address the issues raised when attempting to secure funds for the organisation.

Fund management activities require financial forecasting. This forecasting allows the organisation to develop long term strategic plans for the organisation. Short-term budgets can then devised to meet the organisation's strategic goals.

Unit 1 - Cost and Management Accounting

In this unit, you review the important role played by management accounting in the business world, for example, helping management in decision-making, policy formulation and the achievement of objectives. We contrast historical costing with predetermined costing and look at how costs are classified. This unit provides you with a brief introduction to cost and management accounting with particular attention being paid to absorption costing and marginal costing.

By the end of this unit you will have:

Explored costs and historical costs.
Investigated the methods employed by management to control costs.
Discussed the principles of marginal costing.
Defined the marginal cost equation.
Described the uses and limitations of break-even analysis.

Unit 2 - Budgetary Control

Budgetary control is a technique that is essential to the success and survival of any organisation, large or small. In this unit, we illustrate the principles, and what is considered to be good practice. We then consider the benefits of budgeting and follow with a concise appraisal of the rules for effective budgeting. We also produce budgeted profit and loss accounts and budgeted balance sheets, which, together with the cash budget, make up what many companies call the master budget.

By the end of this unit you will have:

Introduced the household budget.
Explored the benefits of budgeting.
Identified the rules for budgeting and budgetary control.
Examined cash budgets.
Discussed the behavioural implications of budgets.

Unit 3 - Introduction to Accounting

In this unit, we begin by looking at the background to accounting. We identify different types of business and organisations, and how accounting can serve their needs. We clarify the different areas of financial accounting, management or managerial accounting, and financial management. We consider the basic concepts, conventions and policies adopted when preparing financial statements. We explore the vital differences between profit, profitability and cash flow.

By the end of this unit you will have:

Introduced the accounting concept.
Explored the differences between financial and managerial accounting.
Identified the characteristics of accounting information.
Investigated the relationship between profit, profitability and cash.
Examined the fundamental accounting conventions and concepts.
Described the capital structure of a limited liability company.

Unit 4 - Working Capital Management

In this unit we look at the structure of working capital, the role of working capital management within corporate financial objectives. The significance of the production cycle and the financing cycle and their roles in the working capital cycle are investigated. We look critically at the traditional accounting approach to working capital management and specifically the concepts of solvency and liquidity.

This course is suitable for anybody who is interested in the financial aspects of an organisation and covers a broad range of relevant financial and managerial issues.

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.