Delivery Team: Abdulkader Thomas & Shabnam Mokhtar A seasoned NED, Abdulkader has served on and chaired audit committees in the UK and Saudi Arabia. He also has extensive board experience relating to governance, compliance and risk. Prior to setting up his consulting business, Abdulkader held a number of senior management roles in the banking industry including with financial start-ups. He has delivered financial training programs globally and taught finance for DePaul University (Chicago) and IE Business School (Madrid).

Shabnam has delivered financial training programs with Abdulkader for more than a decade and, like Abdulkader, she has taught finance at DePaul University (Chicago) and IE Business School (Madrid). Shabnam holds a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois and serves on an advisory board for a leading Malaysian bank.

In this course, Abdulkader and Shabnam will:

• Cover the fundamental practicalities and skills that you need to understand, analyse and advise on the performance and strategy of a company
• Give you the knowledge and confidence to challenge the executive team effectively over financial planning, remuneration or financial reporting
• Ensure you know what your liabilities are and how to avoid falling foul of the law.

This course is structured to provide executive directors with a simple understanding of key accounting terms using non-technical explanations.

Upon completion of the course, the delegates will be able to:

• Explain key accounting concepts and financial ratios, their benefits and limitations
• Interpret budgets and management accounts.
• Evaluate elements of the financial statements of different companies - profit & loss statements, balance sheet, cash flow statement, the notes, and their relationships.
• Analyse how finance affects decision making.
• Discuss the importance of cash and how it relates within a business.

Introduction: what do you need to know about finance

• Duties and risks of being a director
• Financial accounting concepts - foundations for every Director
• The importance of working capital case analysis

Dissecting financial statements: Exercise based

• Income statement
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow statement
• What do financial ratios mean
• How to interpret internal management accounting information, board reports, budgets
• What questions to ask