13 Corporate Finance courses in Welwyn Garden City

OVERVIEW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The valuation of corporates is a fundamental skill required of a wide range of finance professionals including equity analysts, strategists, corporate finance executives, fund managers, PE/VC executives, and general bankers. The recent volatility of corporate valuations, combined with the emergence of new sectors, makes understanding the theory and practice of valuation essential. This practical course is taught using inter-active sessions that comprise lectures followed by short, practical, and interactive case studies and exercises to reinforce the concepts covered in each teaching session. Emphasis is placed on delegates gaining hands-on experience with various valuation techniques.

ABOUT THIS COURSE Batteries are going to play an increasingly important role in the energy grid. An increasing number of developers are looking to add battery storage systems (BESS) into their existing projects. However future cash flows are highly uncertain and they are often unsure exactly how battery technology can be monetised. A strong revenue model requires stacking of different revenue sources. As the share of variable renewable sources in electricity systems further increase, battery systems are expected to play a growing role by providing frequency control and operational reserves as well as for wholesale arbitrage, while helping reduce grid integration costs. The more volatile electricity prices are, the greater the earning potential of batteries trading electricity on various electricity markets. BESS can generate revenue streams in several different ways; through a frequency response contract with the TSO, by providing grid services in other ways or by arbitrage through buying cheap power and selling power for a higher price in a liquid wholesale market. Because batteries are efficient, the round trip efficiency is also high. They can spread arbitrage trading much better than other storage types and in many cases, other asset classes. For companies that combine a battery with other tasks, for example to store power from their own panels, or to avoid a costly heavy power connection, the investment is less risky than for those that purely focus on arbitrage trading. It is uncertain whether electricity prices will fluctuate more violently in the coming years, or whether the peaks will actually level off. During this highly interactive training, the trainer will provide you with the latest insights and best practices on how to obtain the maximum economic benefits when participating with BESS in the electricity market. Training Objectives By the end of this course, the participants will be able to: * Discover the different BESS battery technologies and their impact on the grid * Understand the role of storage in providing flexibility to the power system * Examine the potential revenue streams from BESS models * Learn how profit can generated with BESS trading strategies * Determine how to optimize the value from BESS projects * Find out how to combine BESS with renewable PPAs Target Audience Professionals and executives from Power Utilities, Energy Companies, Financial & Investment Banks, Renewable Power Project Developers, Transmission System Operators and Energy Industry Regulators will find this training course useful. * Electricity Marketing and Traders * New Venture or Business Development Executives * Corporate Finance and Treasury Executives * Audit and Risk Management Executives * Power or Utility Market Research Analysts * Investment Managers for Renewable Power Projects * Origination Professionals * Regulation, Compliance and Documentation Officers * Lawyers and Accountants * Power Transmission and Distributions Engineers Trainer Our key expert is a skilled and accomplished professional with over 25 years' of extensive senior management / board level experience in the energy markets worldwide. Next to advising energy companies, banks, consultants and regulators regarding PPAs, our key expert has also conducted several highly successful training courses about Power Purchase Agreements, Power Project Finance, IPPs, and Project Risk Management to over 1,000 high level participants from Asia, Africa, Europe and Middle East. He was a member of the expert commission of the Dutch Government for 2 offshore wind parks, Hollandse Kust (zuid) Wind Farm Zone Sites 3 and 4 that advised on which of the 5 applicants did provide the best security and solutions associated with the electricity and green certificate prices, the construction and operational risks of the project. POST TRAINING COACHING SUPPORT (OPTIONAL) To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized 'One to One' coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster. Request for further information post training support and fees applicable Accreditions And Affliations

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In today's competitive business world firms are under unprecedented pressure to deliver value to their shareholders and other key stakeholders. Senior executives in all parts of the organisation are finding that they need some degree of financial know how to cope with the responsibility placed on them as business managers and key decision-makers; monitoring and improving business performance, investing in capital projects, mergers and acquisitions: all require some degree of financial knowledge. The key financial skills are not as difficult to learn as many people believe and in the hands of an experienced senior executive they can provide a formidable competitive advantage. After completing this course delegates will be able to: * Understand fundamental business finance concepts; understand, analyse and interpret financial statements: Profit Statement, Balance Sheet and Cashflow Statement * Understand the vital difference between profit and cashflow; identify the key components of working capital and how they can be managed to generate strong cashflow * Evaluate pricing decisions based on an understanding of the nature of business costs and their impact on gross margin and break-even sales; managing pricing, discounts and costs to generate strong business profits; understand how lean manufacturing methods improve profit * Use powerful analytical tools to measure and improve the performance of their own company and assess the effectiveness of their competitors * Apply and interpret techniques for assessing and comparing investment opportunities in capital projects, business acquisitions and other ventures; understand and apply common methods of business valuation * Understand the role of business finance in formulating and implementing competitive business strategy; the role of budgeting as part of the planning process and the various approaches to budgeting and performance measurement 1 BASIC PRINCIPLES * Delivering value to key stakeholders * Accounting concepts, GAAP, IFRS and common terms * Understanding and using the balance sheet * Understanding and using the profit statement * Recognising the vital difference between profit and cashflow * Understanding and using the cashflow statement * What financial statements can and cannot tell us 2 MANAGING AND IMPROVING CASHFLOW * Sources of finance and their advantages and disadvantages * What is working capital and why is it so important? * Managing stocks, debtors and creditors * Understanding how working capital drives business growth * Understanding and avoiding the over-trading trap * Unlocking the funds tied up in fixed assets: asset backed loans and leasing 3 MANAGING AND IMPROVING PROFIT * Understanding how profits generate cashflow * The fundamental nature of costs: fixed and variable business costs * Understanding gross margin and break-even * How common pricing methods affect gross margin and profit * Effective strategies to improve gross margin * Using value chain analysis to reduce costs * Lean manufacturing methods * Understanding Just-in-time, 6 Sigma and Kaizen methods * Improving profit * Effective and defective strategies 4 MEASURING AND MANAGING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE * Measures of financial performance and strength * Investor behaviour: the risk and reward relationship * Return on investment (ROI): the ultimate measure of business performance * How profit margin and net asset turnover drive return on net assets * Why some companies are more profitable that others * Understanding competitive advantage: cost and differentiation advantage * Why great companies fail * What happened to Kodak? * Using a 'Pyramid of Ratios' to improve business performance * Using Critical Success Factors to develop Key Performance Indicators 5 BUDGETING AND FORECASTING METHODS * Using budgets to support strategy * Objectives and methods for effective budgets * Using budgets to monitor and manage business performance * Alternative approaches to budgeting * Developing and implementing Balanced Scorecards * Beyond Budgeting * Forecasting methods and techniques * Identifying key business drivers * Using rolling forecasts and 'what-if' models to aid decision-making

Finance doesn't have to be a puzzle. And if you want to get anywhere with your career, it had better not be! Whatever your role, you have an impact on the financial wellbeing of the organisation you work for, whether you've got specific financial responsibilities or not. This thoroughly practical, fun and enjoyable one-day workshop will help unpuzzle finance for you. It's an ideal opportunity to master the terminology, get to grips with the concepts, learn how 'the finance department' works and understand the part you play. This course will help participants: * Appreciate the role and importance of Finance within organisations * Be able to recognise and describe some of the common items and jargon used * Identify the elements of the Profit & Loss and the Balance Sheet * Understand cashflow * Make better decisions * Manage budgets 1 INTRODUCTION * Expectations * Terminology * Key financial principles * Accruals * Consistency * Prudence * Going concern 2 THE THREE MAIN FINANCIAL STATEMENTS * Profit & Loss account * Income * Cost of sales * Gross profit * Administrative expenses ('overheads') * Net profit/(loss) for the financial year (the 'bottom line') * P&L format * Balance Sheet * Terminology * Fixed Assets * Current Assets * Current Liabilities * Long-term Liabilities * Capital * B/S format * Cashflow Statement * Financial and management information systems 3 BUDGETS AND FORECASTS * Why budget? * Types of budget - incremental or zero-based * Budgeting for costs - fixed and variable * Budgeting for income * An eight point plan for budgeting for your department * Case study: Small Brother Ltd * Problems and solutions 4 ACCRUALS * Accruals - what and why? * Prepayments 5 OPEN FORUM

Understanding how to plan for capacity, be able to forecast and manage budgets is a critical skill in today's leadership and management environment. This programme will not only support your understanding but will also help you to practically put the learning into practice.

No-one in business will succeed if they are not financially literate - and no business will succeed without financially-literate people. This is the ideal programme for managers and others who don't have a financial qualification or background but who nonetheless need a greater understanding of the financial management disciplines essential to your organisation. This course will give the participants a sound understanding of financial reports, measures and techniques to make them even more effective in their roles. It will enable participants to: * Overcome the barrier of the accountants' strange language * Deal confidently with financial colleagues * Improve their understanding of your organisation's finance function * Radically improve their planning and budgeting skills * Be much more aware of the impact of their decisions on the profitability of your organisation * Enhance their role in the organisation * Boost their confidence and career development 1 REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS * What each statement contains * Outline * Detail * Not just what the statements contain but what they mean * Balance sheets and P&L accounts (income statements) * Cash flow statements * Detailed terminology and interpretation * Types of fixed asset - tangible, etc. * Working capital, equity, gearing 2 THE 'RULES' - ACCOUNTING STANDARDS, CONCEPTS AND CONVENTIONS * Fundamental or 'bedrock' accounting concepts * Detailed accounting concepts and conventions * What depreciation means * The importance of stock, inventory and work in progress values * Accounting policies that most affect reporting and results * The importance of accounting standards and IFRS 3 WHERE THE FIGURES COME FROM * Accounting records * Assets / liabilities, Income / expenditure * General / nominal ledgers * Need for internal controls * 'Sarbox' and related issues 4 MANAGING THE BUDGET PROCESS * Have clear objectives, remit, responsibilities and time schedule * The business plan * Links with corporate strategy * The budget cycle * Links with company culture * Budgeting methods * 'New' budgeting * Zero-based budgets * Reviewing budgets * Responding to the figures * The need for appropriate accounting and reporting systems 5 WHAT ARE COSTS? HOW TO ACCOUNT FOR THEM * Cost definitions * Full / absorption costing * Overheads - overhead allocation or absorption * Activity based costing * Marginal costing / break-even - use in planning 6 WHO DOES WHAT? A REVIEW OF WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF ACCOUNTANT DO * Financial accounting * Management accounting * Treasury function * Activities and terms 7 HOW THE STATEMENTS CAN BE INTERPRETED * What published accounts contain * Analytical review (ratio analysis) * Return on capital employed, margins and profitability * Making assets work - asset turnover * Fixed assets, debtor, stock turnover * Responding to figures * EBIT, EBITEDIA, eps and other analysts' measure 8 OTHER KEY ISSUES * Creative accounting * Accounting for groups * Intangible assets - brand names * Company valuations * Fixed assets / leased assets / off-balance sheet finance

Our Forensic Accounting Course is designed to help investment analysts detect earnings manipulation. It focuses on creative accounting rather than conducting detailed forensic analysis but we explain the tools short sellers employ to detect fraud and some of the techniques we used at hedge funds to identify short opportunities.

This course was developed for one of the largest investment institutions in the world, a multi-trillion household name. We explain in detail our tips and tricks to build an accurate and rolling enterprise value, and then review different valuation methodologies, from DCF, through the sum of the parts and football field analyses to LTV/CAC based methods. We conclude with a series of case studies examining the valuation of individual stocks.

Where should management effort be directed? In controlling costs and ensuring proper engineering in live projects? - yes, of course, but true cost control comes by understanding, eliminating and minimising risk prior to a business committing any funds. This course studies the stages required for practical financial and business appraisals of projects and capital expenditure. This course has two primary objectives: * To impart the knowledge and skills required to ensure as risk-free as possible expenditure of that scarce resource, cash - the investors', governments' or shareholders' money must not be squandered * To improve the quality of the appraisal process in the widest sense - demonstrating how the process of project and capital expenditure appraisal can be used to dramatically improve cost control and deliver as risk-free as possible expenditure As a result of the course, participants will be able to: * Understand the economics of appraisal * Be in control of their projects from the start * Understand the economics of their projects - and devise the most appropriate mode * Carry out sensitivity analysis and identify risk * Improve their methods of appraisal and approach * Focus on the risk areas and take out risk and control costs before they over-run The benefits of attending this course will be demonstrable from day one. Thorough appraisals and risk assessment follow through to success in project management and detailed cost control and project management. 1 INTRODUCTION * Why appraise? * Taking risk out of investment * The short- and long-term results of not appraising business expenditure 2 DEVELOPING AN APPRAISAL PROCESS * The process - overall and stage-by-stage objectives * Understand business and technical risks * Manage resources and time * Do you invest enough time and effort at this stage? * Take out the risks - control costs before you are committed to contracts and action * Checklists 3 APPRAISAL ARITHMETIC * Review of the arithmetic of appraisal * The time value of money * The effects of different interest or required rates * The effects of inflation (or deflation) in prices and costs * Understanding the economics of appraisal is essential 4 APPRAISAL MEASURES * Meaning and use of appraisal measures * Identifying the most appropriate measures for your particular business * Payback * Discounted cash flow measures - NPV and IRR * Other measures - FW, AW, Profitability Index * The meaning of the measures and their application in practice 5 COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS * The effect on decision-making of more intangible benefits * Cost benefit analysis * Ensuring costs are genuine * Measuring intangible benefits * Environmental issues * Consideration of intangible benefits in the appraisal decision-making process 6 DEVELOPING APPROPRIATE MODELS * Developing models - examples of spreadsheet models and measures for many different situations * Modelling investment opportunities - summarising outcomes * Sensitivity analysis - identifying, quantifying and taking out risk 7 DEVELOPING AN APPRAISAL PROCESS * The process - managing risk from the outset * Using the process in risk management, negotiating and project management * Take out risk by thoroughly knowing your project - developing your own process