'Excellence is not a matter of chance but of choice'

Introduction to Business Risk

Intended for credit control staff and specialists.Basic financial awareness ideal but not essential. A vitally important workshop for those who are new to risk assessment and need to be involved in the setting of credit limits. The course also serves as a useful refresher for those specialists who need to brush up their financial awareness skills.

1st Day - Introduction and Objectives

• Candidates to give their current level of financial experience and knowledge


• Objectives of the day explored and explained

Part One - The Balance Sheet

• What is a Balance Sheet - destroying the myths


• How and why does it balance?


• Introduction to the concept of Assets and Liabilities

• Current - Fixed - Intangible - Others

Understanding Liabilities

• Current and Long Term

Exercise 1 - constructing a Balance Sheet for YOUR fictional business.

Video - The Balance Sheet Barrier

Part Two - The Profit and Loss Statement

• What does the statement tell us? What is its purpose?


• An understanding and analysis of the various margins

Exercise 2 - constructing a Profit and Loss Statement again for your business

Video - About Working Capital

Exercise 3 - To analyse briefly our fictional business (The financial statements give up their fundamental secrets!)

2nd Day - Ratio Analysis and Risk Assessment

Part Three - Ratio Analysis

• What are the financial ratios?


• What do they tell us?


• Why use financial ratios?


• How do we use them?

Part Four - Case Study Exercise

• Review of case study company - 'LUCAS' (5 separate years from inception to liquidation)

Exercise 4 - Ratios and Case Study Analysis

Part Five - Trends

Exploring and recognising trends and their use in predicting -
a) future growth (potential success) or
b) declining results (potential failure)

Exercise 5 - Trends Analysis