Finance Data Analysis: Better Business Through Financial Management
Learn Path Description
Discover how data and financial analysis can be used to boost business How can financial data be used to help a company and its employees to make sound decisions that will supercharge the business? This ExpertTrack will show you how firms can create value through expert investment decisions and financial strategies. Whether you’re in a management or leadership role, or aspiring to one, you’ll have the chance to explore tools for assessing financial performance and the economic condition of an organization, using the financial reports of real-world organizations. You’ll also be introduced to the key concepts of managerial accounting and explore how to identify relevant costs for short and long-term decision making. Decipher financial reports from around your organization A strong understanding of your financial status is essential to running an effective and profitable organization. On this ExpertTrack, you’ll have the chance to explore the importance of financial statement analysis by looking at statements of income, financial position, and further analysis. You can also get to grips with financial ratio analysis, liquidity ratios, and break-even analysis to be able to manipulate the core numbers from your reports. As you work through the courses in this ExpertTrack, you’ll look at financial analysis examples from real businesses, helping you understand the importance of financial reporting and analysis. Make sound capital investments in your organization Recognizing good investment opportunities, avoiding the bad ones, and understanding financial risk management are all crucial business skills. With this ExpertTrack, you’ll learn how to review capital investment details, calculate the different rates of return, and make informed decisions on the right investments to make. FAQs Will this ExpertTrack cover what ROI (return on investment) is used for? Yes. Return on investment (ROI) is a widely used financial metric that measures the likelihood of gaining profit on an investment. You’ll learn about this metric in relation to evaluating the return potential of a standalone or several investments. Will I learn how to read a balance sheet? Yes. You’ll build your understanding of what’s on a balance sheet, how it relates to business interests, and how to use the data within it for business decision making. Does this ExpertTrack cover Financial Ratio Analysis? Yes. There is an entire course dedicated to learning how to assess the health of a business with financial ratios, exploring profitability ratios, and fixed asset turnover.
Skills You Will Gain
Courses In This Learning Path
Total Duration
2 weeks
Level
Advanced
Learn Type
Certifications
Financial Statements Unlocked: How to Understand Corporate Finance and Financial Management
Financial records are a vital part of every company's finances. They help you understand the company's financial health. How do you interpret this information to your advantage?
This course will teach you everything you need about understanding and reading financial statements. This course will allow you to examine a variety of financial statements including income statements, statements about financial position, and cash flow statements. They will be analyzed qualitatively and you'll learn about their reliability and relevance. By investigating different branches of accounting, you'll also learn about the other business users.
This course will teach you about the importance of the Cash Flow Statement, one of three important financial statements that reports cash generated and spent over a period of time. This course will show you how these statements are broken down into three sections: investment, financing and operating. The balance sheet (or statement of financial situation) will tell you if the company is in good health and worth your investment. This course will teach you the basics of a balancesheet, the importance of maintaining a balanced budget, and provide exercises that will increase your understanding and familiarity with these statements.
Total Duration
2 weeks
Level
Advanced
Learn Type
Certifications
How to Master Financial Statements: Financial Ratio Analysis and Interpretation
While financial statements are important, what do these data tell us about the company's health? You are now able to perform ratio analysis.
Ratios are used by stakeholders to help them identify trends, compare results with others and evaluate performance. This course will teach you how to use ratios in order to assess various aspects of a company, including profitability, liquidity and efficiency, as well as gearing, investment, and gearing.
What is a ratio? What are ratios? What does it mean? And what do the implications for your business? This course will allow you to answer these questions as well as many others.
This course will teach you how to calculate the return on capital employed ratio (ROCE) to determine the efficiency of a company's capital use to generate profits.
These ratios are described in terms such as EBIT (earning before interest and taxes), and you'll also learn how to calculate the net and gross profit margin.
How can efficiency ratios help companies better manage their assets and liabilities? This course will teach you how efficiency ratios can be used in conjunction with other key factors, such as inventory turnover, trade receivables, payables, overtrading and sales per employee.
Total Duration
2 weeks
Level
Beginner
Learn Type
Certifications
Break-Even Analysis Unlocked: How to Understand the Profit and Loss Statement
How can you predict when a company will be profitable? Can you predict potential business losses and risk? Before making any investment decision, every company is able to run different financial analyses. These companies can survive in the short-term by using break-even analysis.
This course will allow you to learn everything necessary for a complete break-even analysis. This course will teach you how to identify and understand cost classifications, as well as how they relate to stability in your business.
Learn how to calculate and apply the break-even point (or BEP) to assess the feasibility and potential success of business ideas.
Learn how to analyze a profit and loss statement (P&L). This course will cover everything you need to know about P&L statements, from seasonality and income sources to the important bottom line: net profitability.
What is the margin for safety? It's simply the maximum amount of sales that can be lost before break-even is reached, and the company makes no profit. This calculation shows a business the number of sales it has achieved over its BEP.
This course will explore the principles of margin safety and profit and examine the output to determine the required profit.
Additionally, you will be able to perform break-even analysis with formulas and templates. Finally, you will be introduced operational gearing (or operational lever) which is the relationship between fixed and variable costs in a company.
Total Duration
2 weeks
Level
Advanced
Learn Type
Certifications
How to Make Better Capital Investment Decisions and Recognise Investment Opportunities
Capital investment appraisal is an essential process for organizations looking to grow through project launches and investments in various industries. This course focuses on teaching individuals how to analyze and evaluate projects and investment opportunities based on economic, financial, and cost data. It explores different investment appraisal techniques, including the payback method, accounting rate return, and internal rate of return (IRR). These methods help assess the financial viability and profitability of potential investments.
One vital aspect covered in this course is compound interest. It explains why compound interest plays a crucial role in investment, saving, and borrowing. The concept of net present value (NPV), also known as the "time value of money," is introduced to unlock the power of compound interest. NPV highlights that money in the present is more valuable than in the future.
Overall, this course equips individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to make better investment decisions. It covers various techniques and metrics to evaluate investment potential, such as IRR and NPV. By understanding these concepts, individuals can compare different discounting methods and make informed investment choices. Whether you are interested in project investment decisions or simply want to improve your investment skills, this course offers valuable insights into capital investment decision-making.
Total Duration
2 weeks
Level
Beginner
Learn Type
Certifications
Divisional Performance Measurement: How to Achieve Operational Excellence
Large companies often have divisionalized structures. How can each sector's performance contribute to the achievement of the company's larger strategic goals? Both financial and operational measures are crucial to business objectives. This course will teach you about the various types of divisionalization and methods for measuring performance. This course will teach you how to compare and evaluate the performance of different business divisions in order to identify areas for improvement and chart success. This course will teach you how to critically analyze the roles and responsibilities for each operating segment. These goals will be achieved by you designing financial and operational performance metrics. One of the most well-known performance metrics an organisation can use is the balanced scorecard (BSC). This framework will be explained to you, along with how it connects a vision to strategic goals, targets, and initiatives to manage and implement strategy. How can a company compare the efficiency and effectiveness of various investments using ROI? ROI is an effective tool to evaluate a variety of business opportunities, including technology investments, marketing campaigns, business processes projects, and other. This article will explain how ROI is used for measuring profitability in investment centers, how to calculate return-on-investment, what constitutes a good return, and the issues with ROI.
