Financial Analysis for Business Performance
Learn Path Description
Explore how proper financial analysis can optimize business performance Are you struggling to translate your finance data into valuable insights? The finance sector has seen dramatic digital transformation in recent years, with the Financial Services Skills Taskforce identifying Big Data, Cloud Computing and AI as driving seismic change across the sector’s jobs & skills landscape. These changes have resulted in the finance, accounting and insurance sectors experiencing a skills shortage, with analytics reported as the most in-demand skillset. In fact, 38% of organizations surveyed are experiencing a skills deficit in this area. Learn how to understand and interpret financial data This ExpertTrack will help you to move into entry-level finance roles across all sectors. You’ll learn how to manage, analyze and communicate insights gained from financial data, and make data-driven decisions that will optimize the business performance of your organization. You’ll be able to input on profit and loss responsibility, team and budget-management, and financial forecasting. Build your financial and data analysis skills The reliance on tools and technologies to improve productivity is an increasing trend across business finance functions. This means financial professionals - as well as other business professionals - are expected to be proficient in using a range of accounting, finance and data platforms, including spreadsheets and databases like Excel and Google Sheets. Use Xero for business finance functions Xero is the leading online accounting platform in both Australia and the UK, with upwards of 1.8 million subscribers. It’s a must-have tool for anyone looking to gain and apply knowledge of new financial concepts, which can then be reapplied across many areas. Business intelligence tools can be employed to communicate insights that drive effective decision-making through data visualization and storytelling techniques. Content for this ExpertTrack has been adapted from the Financial Analysis and Decision Making Microcredential - if you want to find out more, take a look at this Microcredential which offers smaller cohorts with tutor interactions and academic credit. Industry statistics Median base salary£60,000UK job openings/month2,231Source: Glassdoor’s Best Jobs (January 2020)
Skills You Will Gain
Courses In This Learning Path
Total Duration
4 weeks
Level
Beginner
Learn Type
Certifications
Financial Analysis for Business Performance: Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting
You will need strong skills in planning and budgeting to succeed in a range of roles, including as an accountant, business analyst or consultant.
This course will introduce you to financial analysis and show you how to use them to optimize your business performance. This course will teach you how to navigate a balance sheet and understand financial performance analysis. You'll also learn which analysis tools you should use.
Numerous businesses fail due to poor financial management and poor analysis of key business decisions. This course will discuss the purpose and key functions of budgeting and business planning, as well as how they contribute to business goals.
Financial analysis is the interpretation of financial statements in order to determine profitability. This allows businesses to make sound business decisions with complete knowledge of their performance, expected revenue and margins. To provide business insight, you'll need to be able to distinguish and use different analytical tools.
You'll put your knowledge to use by performing and interpreting key analyses to develop a set performance metrics that will inform business planning, and operations.
Total Duration
4 weeks
Level
Intermediate
Learn Type
Certifications
Financial Analysis for Business Performance: Reporting and Stakeholder Management
This course on financial analysis and reporting goes beyond just crunching numbers. It emphasizes the importance of effectively communicating insights to stakeholders, allowing them to make informed decisions. The ability to tell stories using data is highly valued in the finance industry and other sectors. With the help of Excel and Tableau, this course teaches you how to create visualizations that cater to different audiences and can be utilized across your organization.
One key aspect covered in this course is meeting the diverse reporting needs of stakeholders. It provides strategies for creating repeatable reporting systems, which not only save time and money but also ensure consistency in weekly or monthly tasks. Additionally, participants learn how to create reports that showcase business performance and analyze various costs within a company.
Optimizing cost structures to achieve business goals is another important topic covered in this course. Excel, being a powerful tool, simplifies work processes, aids in analysis, and enables the creation of visually appealing data visualizations for presentations and reports.
Overall, this course equips participants with the necessary skills to effectively communicate financial insights and analysis to stakeholders. It empowers individuals to create compelling reports and presentations that stand out within their organizations.
Note: This summary has been created using keywords provided in the text.
Total Duration
4 weeks
Level
Intermediate
Learn Type
Certifications
Financial Analysis for Business Performance: Data-Driven Decision Making
Are you looking to foster a more data-driven culture in your organization? Higher profits, better performance and longer-lasting businesses are all linked to the use of metrics, analysis, facts, and metrics for strategic decisions. This requires better communication and cultural change as well as stronger data analysis skills across the company.
Your organisation can become more data-driven by learning new reporting techniques and improving your analytical skills. Increase your confidence and knowledge to translate financial insights into positive actions.
Increase the financial performance in your organization
Learn the different approaches you can use to improve your organization's financial performance. You can use the tools and techniques learned in this course to make recommendations about improving financial performance, based on your business' particular needs and circumstances.
Make data-driven decisions at the core of your business
Now that you have the data and analysis to improve your business performance, the difficult part is sharing the data with others and making strategic decisions. To make your organization stronger, you'll be able to communicate key data and business processes to help with decision-making.
You can see some of the steps in this course before you sign up.
