Finance for Non Financial Managers Programme

LEO Clare and ACE Training are proud to launch a dynamic new programme tailored for Managers & Line Managers seeking to boost their confidence and competence in financial management.

This programme is designed to deepen understanding of business accounts, budgeting, and financial reporting systems—empowering participants to make informed decisions that enhance financial health and resilience. Through practical training and expert guidance, trainees will strengthen their financial management capacity, learn to analyse key data, and implement systems that support stability and growth in the face of current and future business challenges.

Programme Objectives

Upon completion of the course participants will be able to:

• Understand financial terminology of finance & accountancy
• Understand cashflow & key factors affecting cashflow
• Read & interpret financial reports
• Use ratio analysis to track performance
• Costing & price for profit, sustainability & growth
• Use company financial information to manage your day to day operations – become as efficient as possible in providing useful financial information for decision making
• Improve financial management capability to stabilise and grow your business
• Gain greater control of their relationships with external financiers, accountants and their own internal management team
• Ascertain what they need to do to enable their business to grow profitably

Course Outline:

• Module 1: Financial Management – includes calculating margins

• Why is financial management important for your business?
• Key aspects to effective financial management
• Busting financial jargon
• Different types of accounting and accounting professionals
• Financial Statements explained:
➢ Balance Sheet: Investment and financing cycle - the balance sheet includes definitions of asset, liabilities, debtors, creditors
➢ Profit and Loss Account: The trading cycle - the trading, profit and loss account
➢ Cashflow Statement
• Capital versus revenue expenses – how we treat them differently and how they are treated by the Revenue and how they affect “profit”
• Concepts underlying the financial statements
• Maximising profit – key elements to improve the “bottom line”
• Difference between profit and cash
• Key ratios for financial management – gross and net profit margins, ROCE, debtor days
• Reading financial reports for your business
• Snapshot Reporting and using it in your business – key figures to monitor – Draft snapshot report for your business using KPI’s for performance monitoring
• Define breakeven – homework for purpose of doing breakeven analysis
• Estimating breakeven & assessing viability
• Using breakeven to establish goals and set targets

• Module 2 : Costing, Pricing & Breakeven Analysis

Budgeting, Costing and Pricing

• Overview of budgeting process
• Why budgets are important and what role we play within the budgeting process?
• Managing costs and different types of costs, (direct, indirect, overheads, fixed, variable)
• Absorb overheads to individual jobs/products
• Calculating your product/service cost
• Time management and costs including using time sheets and time management systems
• Establishing costing procedures
• Pricing to cover costs and remain competitive in the market
• Cost plus pricing - calculating the job/product price
• Mark – up versus Margin
• Key pricing strategies to maximise profit, stability and growth
• Monitoring price performance
Cashflow Management
• identifying cashflow problems early
• dealing with same internally
• deciding to source funds
• raising capital – sources of funding and assistance
• Establishing credit control procedures for your business
• How to minimize bad debts
• Aging debtors, debtor days, prioritizing
• Follow-up techniques – debt collection by telephone, letter, e-mail
• Financial Health Check Questionnaire - introduce

• One to One Follow Up Sessions:

Our follow-up sessions are participant-centred, practical, and solution-focused, with an emphasis on achieving measurable, tangible results.

Delivered online in up to three-hour one-to-one formats, they provide a confidential space for trainees to apply group training insights to their personal contexts and address individual concerns they may not feel comfortable sharing in a group setting.

• Duration: 4 half days group training + follow up one to one mentoring
• Venue: All training & mentor visits online
• Dates: Mondays 19th & 26th January, 9th & 16th February 2026
• Times: 10.00am-1.00pm