Standard financial tools are also introduced, and participants explore how to assess financial status and to make sound business decisions. Practical exercises allow participants to familiarize themselves with standard financial documents and to calculate common values. Participants will review and discuss commonly used financial metrics to not only understand the numbers, but to explore the not-so-obvious financial impacts of typical operating decisions and actions. This course also examines global business trends that are affecting the business environment and how to consider them when developing effective business strategies.

By the end of the course, you will be able to —

• Consider current strategic drivers and business trends and how they affect an organization’s financial and operating processes
• Use a balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flow as business tools for high-level analysis
• Use the most common methods and tools for budgeting and estimating to develop effective cost estimates
• Manage and control a budget
• Communicate financial information and results to stakeholders

PDUs: 22.5

Introduction

• Welcome
• Course objectives, logistics, and scope
• ESI’s Mindset Model

1. Strategic Focus and Drivers

• Impacts of budgeting, accounting, and financial techniques on professionals
• SWOT Analysis
• Business trends
  • Business recombination
  • Asset management 
  • Outsourcing
  • Enforcing accountability
     • Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act
     • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
  • Balanced scorecard

2. Managing Stakeholder Expectations

• Stakeholder identification
• Stakeholder analysis
• Using stakeholder information
  • Go/no-go decisions
  • Sourcing decisions
  • "Make or buy" decisions

3. Accounting for Results: Basics of Finance

• Cash flow cycle
• Types of accounting
• Types of costs
• Types of profit Financial statements and measures of profitability
   • Interpreting income statements
   • Interpreting balance sheets
   • Interpreting cash flow statements

4. Planning: Budgeting Skills

• Budget cycles
• ESI’s Business Budgeting Model — planning, approving, managing, and reporting
• Typical budget elements
• Budget planning process
   • Gather information
   • Prioritize elements 
   • Develop initial estimates (Forecasting, Top-Down, Bottom-Up, Program Evaluation and Review Technique,Three-point Average, Cost-Benefit                            
   • Analysis, Return on investment, Payback period)
   • Compile and total estimates
   • Refine budget and perform trade-offs
   • Finalize initial budget for approval   

5. Approving: Presenting the Budget

• ESI’s Communication Model
• ESI’s Communication Planning Process
• Structuring a budget presentation with the TREOA™
  (Topic, Recommendation, Evidence, Outcome, Action
  method
• Budget presentation tips
• Competitive and collaborative budget negotiation

6. Managing and Reporting: Improving Financial Results 

 • Managing the budget
 • Identifying and analyzing variances
 • Earned value technique
 • Taking corrective action
 • Reporting budget status to stakeholders
 • Budget best practices

7. Wrap-Up Revisit course objectives