Strategic Financial Management

Course Overview

"Strategic Financial Management" refers to both - the financial implications and aspects of various business strategies and the strategic management of finance. If a company wants to be a blue-chip enterprise or a great enterprise for an all-time investment, it will have to adopt strategic approaches to cost management, sales and revenue management, fund-raising and fund-development and cost-benefit analysis for every prime decision of expansion, diversification, downsizing and renovation

Course Objectives:

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the limitations of traditional accounting models in an increasingly dynamic and fast changing world
• Contribute more effectively to corporate strategy by taking a more proactive and forward looking approach
• React to conditions of rapid change through enhanced awareness, anticipation and adaptation
• Understand and use alternative expressions of profit that start with a recognition of the impact on cash flow of the various stakeholders in a company
• Monitor the success of projects, strategies and even total businesses by articulating NPVs over time
• Be more confident in  decision making and dealing with accountants and other specialists
• Assess the strategic financial performance of the company and compare it with that of competitors 
• Understand the significance of cash flow and working capital management 
• Understand the concepts of strategic price setting 
• Understand how strategic financial management fits together in an integrative model

Course Outline

Introduction to Accounts  

• Why are accounts needed?
• Key conventions and rules
• Financial accounts
• Management accounts
• Analyzing key financial statements

Strategic analysis of financial performance

• Ratio analysis
• The "Weinstock" performance ratios
• Competitor analysis
• Benchmarking

Analyzing the cost structure

• Different types of cost - fixed, variable
• Marginal costing
• Full costing
• Cost drivers and activity based costing
• Breakeven and contribution analysis
• Margin analysis

Cash flow and working capital control

• The cash flow cycle-Measures of solvency
• Capital investment budgeting

Financial control of the business

• The whole company budget process
• Integrating forecasting planning and budgeting
• Driving performance improvement through the budget
• Setting appropriate KPI's-Performance review process
• Multi -year budgeting

Pricing issues

• Price differentiation
• The supply and demand relationship
• The significance of volume and the experience curve
• Continuous improvement
• Dealing with competition
• Investment appraisal
• Cash versus profit measures
• Forms of appraisal
• payback, DCF, IRR-Allocating scarce funds

Funding growth

• Sources of additional funds
• The significance of gearing