Accounting can be simple: Don’t avoid jobs that contain It

You may be very good at Mathematics at school or maybe not too good but you can still work in accounts department or at least incorporate a small amount of accounting in your role. Many PA's and Office Managers find themselves in exactly this position. The key is being accurate and methodical; also a keen eye for detail is vital for accounting.

 

When we start our first job, we all have to manage our personal finances which we do satisfactorily whether we are knowledgeable in bookkeeping or not. Maybe we had the help and advice from our parents, but we soon showed our independence by taking over this task. The same principles will apply to working with accounts, albeit on a more formal and often larger scale. Therefore it is important that you are not daunted by the prospect of working in accounting or incorporating this areas into your role.

The Core Of Bookkeeping / Accounting

In essence you are recording financial transactions. The services or products bought by your company will need to be paid for, likewise the sale of items need to be recorded into the financial system. In essence this is the process going on within a financial system, but it often gains a greater level of complexity. 

Whether you plan to work with computerised accounts or not, you will need to have a thorough understanding of the fundamentals of bookkeeping. This includes recognising, accepting, creating and allocating invoices and credit notes; recording entries accurately in the appropriate accounts; posting entries to relevant ledgers; reconciling the bank account and petty cash. With a good understanding of these, you then move on to preparing the Trial Balance, Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and making year-end adjustments.

All of this may sound complicated, but it can be covered in relativity short-term training courses.

Accounts reflect the economic reality of a company in terms of what they owe and own. It most importantly shows how much of a profit or loss is being made too. Accounts will need to pursue any client who is late in paying or ignores this function. The information enables managers to make decision to drive the business.

So you can see how important the accounts department is to any organisation. Of course there is room for promotion in this department. Incorporating accounts into your existing role with also provide scope for promotion. Here you will need a deeper understanding of finance, working capital, financial reporting, categorising costs, trading margins etc. Ideally a good quality course CLICK HERE in these fields will give you a deeper understanding of the subject. 

 

Finance Training for Non-Financial Managers and Professionals

Businesses are increasingly expecting management and professional staff to have a good understanding of finance. People are expected to understand how to be profitable. You will be increasingly expected to understand your departmental financial targets, budgetary constraints and handle meetings with accountants.

I am a Manager or Professional, but I lack financial knowledge

There is no shame in lacking financial knowledge, as your expertise will be in the business area that you are already involved in. Nevertheless, you should gain financial knowledge and understanding in order to handle any financial issues.

“Accountancy qualifications take years, I need a fast route”

What do I need to know?

That cannot be accurately answered as everyone’s needs and background knowledge is different. However, the typical Finance for Non-Financial Managers Course will cover the majority of what you need. You will covers all components of the Financial Accounts; Profit and Loss, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow. This is an important basis of the training, but the important part that will be covered in how to interpret and analyse financial statements. You will also cover budgets and how you measure your performance. These are hugely important skills, but only require people to have an overview understanding of finance.

People in your position have no need to go on a training course for Accountants, because you don’t need to know how to produce financial documents.

Example of how understanding Financial Information can help me?
 
Here is one example; a factory will show Sales Revenue and direct manufacturing costs next to one another. Below these items is the Gross Profit from the manufacture and sale of the product. An Operations Manager becomes concerned that Gross Profit is going down, so looking at this detail he can see that the cause is increasing direct costs. This will indicate to the business managers whether they need to have a price increase, in order to increase revenue. If the cost is increasing and the sales revenues are not, this may indicate to the manager that it will be necessary to increase the price and maintain his profit level.

This is one simple example, but there are countless others. The key is your knowledge will help you make informed business decisions and understand financial dialogues with accountants.

How long will the training course take?

These finance for non-financial managers courses are generally intense and will aim to be completed in 2-3 days. They are designed for people who need to be able to function with finance but not for people looking for careers in the subject. Nevertheless, the course is interesting and many managers decide to take follow up investments and financial markets training, so they can understand how to manage the company or their personal investments.