Finance for Managers - Finance Statements

Most organisations will have some form of accounting department or team and their job is to maintain the day-to-day recording of transactional information within the company.

Every business organisation needs to maintain accurate accounting records to help it manage and control its finances more efficiently. Without day to day records it would be difficult to know if it was making a profit or a loss.

The book-keeping side of the business ensures financial records such as receipts and payments, sales, purchases and expenses are maintained accurately. Allowing informed decisions to be made about the price to charge for goods and services.

Accounting is a step on from bookkeeping as it is used to communicate financial information to interested parties such as owners, managers and banks.

Accounting has only FIVE distinct accounting groups. A business may have hundreds of accounts recorded in its ledgers, but all will belong to one of these groups.  An easy way to remember this is the word “RECAL”

Revenue – the income earned by a business when selling goods and services.

Expenses – the day-to-day expenses a business incurs such as stock, wages, advertising etc.

Capital – represents the owner’s investment in a business and is needed to begin trading. Capital may grow if the business is profitable.

Assets – the things of value which the business owns such as premises, equipment, stock, cash etc.

●      Fixed assets (non-current assets) are used on more permanent basis, like premises and equipment.

●      Current assets, like stock, cash and bank are used for daily trading purposes.

Liabilities – the things of value that the business owes

 

●      Current Liabilities are debts expected to be repaid within one year e.g. trade creditors

●      Long-term liabilities are debts expected to be repaid over more than one year e.g. a bank loan or mortgage.

The accounting team will work with this data to provide managers with information to be able to make sound financial decisions based on fiscal fact. These will usually come in the form of financial statements or ‘reports’.

In business there are THREE key financial statements or reports. The profit and loss statement, balance sheet and cash flow represent the three key financial statements that show how a business is performing.

• The profit and loss shows exactly that, how much profit or loss a business has made.
• The balance sheet shows the value of the business’s resources and how these resources are financed by the owner’s capital and borrowed money (its liabilities).
• The cash flow statement provides the short term priorities for the business, because if you run out of cash it is hard to trade.

This is a short extract from the Trainer Bubble Training Course Materials for, 'Finance for Non-Financial Managers'. You can view more about this training course and purchase the materials at www.trainerbubble.com

Make the Most of Your Budget During the Credit Crunch

Value for money has never been more important...

You can't turn on the tv, read the paper or view the internet at the moment without being told how difficult times are financially right now. Our experience in dealing with large organisations tells us that even though companies might not be ready to throw in the towel just yet, there has been a noticeable downturn in the outputs of most L&D departments.

Many are doing nothing and learning and development has simply been placed on hold, while others are cutting budgets and streamlining or even cancelling any development plans. What you can be sure of is that development is just as important as ever and standing still is not the best way forward. That's why we believe that our low-cost, yet highly effective training resources have become more valueable than ever.

So, rather than let the wave of fear challenge your learning interventions,take control again by visiting Trainer Bubble.