Blair & Jen – Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Directors
When You Speak Dollars in the Boardroom, You Make Sense (4 CPD)
Great entrepreneurs, executives and directors know when they are talking dollars, they are making sense. When they look at a set of financial statement, they can immediately evaluate performance, identify issues, and probe for insight. Whether they are in the boardroom, a conference, or a meeting for dinner, they are comfortable talking about the numbers to raise money, negotiate deals, or make investment decisions. Financial intelligence gives these senior people their swagger.
This course is uniquely designed to show you how seasoned executives act and sound like financial experts without dwelling on the details of how one prepares financial reports and analysis. The emphasis of this course is on the users of financial information and serving their needs to make better decisions. In this course, you will learn to look at financial statements through the eyes of a seasoned executive. You will learn how to probe into issues of performance and identify root cause.
You will learn to rise above the preparation aspects of accounting and finance that bog down many new financial professionals and scare most non-financial professionals. The insights will help you negotiate your next financing or make your next investment decision. Regardless of whether you have a financial background or not, you will benefit from taking this course to hone your financial intelligence.
What You’ll Learn In Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Directors
Credibility and Quality of Financial Information
- Course Slides and Script – For Reference Throughout Course
- Who Uses Financial Information and For What Purpose (7:46)
- Where Does Financial Information Come From? (10:38)
- Internal Controls and Why You Care (9:04)
Reading the Income Statement
- Understanding Accounting Rules (7:37)
- Reading the Income Statement…The Right Way (10:31)
- Analyzing Income to Evaluate Performance (15:09)
- You Do It: Analyze This Income Statement (7:32)
Reading the Balance Sheet
- Sorting Good Assets From Bad (12:08)
- Assessing the Money You Owe to Others (11:26)
- Thinking About Equity (8:37)
- Setting Financing Strategy (8:58)
- You Do It: Analyze This Balance Sheet (7:16)
Reading the Statement of Cash Flows & Accompanying Notes
- Evaluating Cash Flow and Capital Allocation Decisions (9:56)
- You Do It: Analyze This Cash Flow Statement (6:51)
- What to Watch For in the Notes to the Financial Statements (3:27)
Useful Management Accounting Tools
- Drilling Into Performance Issues With Variance Analysis (13:26)
- Understanding Cost Behavior to Predict Profitability (11:26)
- Managing The Budget Process (7:47)
Finance and Capital Investment Decisions
- Evaluating Capital Budgeting Analysis to Determine Whether to Invest (13:05)
Finance Function Maturity
- Assessing Your Finance Function (11:29)
Wrapping up: Course Resources, Course Quiz, Feedback Form
- Course Resources
- Final Quiz To Earn Your Badge
- Course Feedback Form
About Authors
Blair is a many-time corporate director, CFO, educator, innovator, thought leader, presenter, and curiosity generalist. As an academic-practitioner, he’s a perpetual learner who observes and experiments with various financial and management theories in real world context. He shares stories of his successes, failures, and lessons learned to all those who share a passion for further developing their own financial leadership qualities.
His focus is on defining and developing a career path for financial professionals aspiring to the Office of the CFO and the Board of Directors. Blair has worked extensively with CPA Canada in recent years to design, develop, and launch the professional certification program.
Jen is a dynamic, versatile financial professional with over 20 years of leadership experience. Jen brings to the classroom a broad skill set and experience in all key facets of an organization including operations management, strategic planning, business development, finance, accounting, investor relations, human resources, and project management.
Jen has a passion for making finance more attainable, whether its working to articulate strategy in a financial context or bringing clarity to financial communication. Jen’s career epitomizes the diverse experiences and roles that CPAs play in industry – from financial to operational leadership.
Sale Page: Blair & Jen – Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Directors