'If you don't understand WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE SAYING, you can't call yourself a complete manager' Do you really know how to read a balance sheet? Or what a profit and loss is telling you? Can you tell the difference between cash and profit? And what about the other managers in your organisation? Even the ones who claim to know are probably too embarrassed to admit their ignorance. Douglas Laminates' MD, Rob, decides to a buy a new company. So Vicki and Dan, his non-financial managers, decide to get to grips with the basics of business finance. They ask Louise, their finance director, to help them learn how to interpret accounts accurately. And with their newly acquired skills, Vicki and Dan are able to advise Rob on whether the proposed acquisition is really such a good idea.
* Financial accounts provide essential information about how every business, big or small, manufacturing or service, has been performing and will perform in the future.
* The Profit and Loss Account is a scorecard which records the financial performance of a business.
* The Balance Sheet is a 'freeze-frame' which pinpoints the health of a business at a particular moment.
* The Cash Flow Statement crucially reveals whether cash is flowing in or out cash being the life-blood of any business.
* Accountancy is not an exact science; personal judgements have to be made about some of the numbers.
This programme is aimed at managers at any level in both the private and public sectors; those in the professions; and business school students.