Managing Financial Resources

Aims of this Unit

Managers are responsible for the performance of their business units within their organisations and financial performance forms part of that responsibility. This unit aims to provide students with the foundations of Financial Management so as to equip them to be able to more effectively meet their responsibility for financial performance. This includes being able to understand and evaluate the financial impact of decisions and activities within their organisations, and also be able to use financial information more effectively when making decisions.

Students will be introduced to terminology, principles, frameworks and models that underpin Accounting and Finance. These include the structure and content of financial reports, techniques and principles of budget development and control, costing principles and models, techniques for making capital investment decisions, and funding structures and decisions within organisations.

In this unit, theoretical frameworks and models are provided as the foundation for learning and from there theory is embedded within practical applications – both within students’ organisations and in other practical case studies.

One of the aims of the unit is for students to understand how financial principles and information can be used to better inform their operational and strategic decisions and to understand how applying these principles ethically underpins responsible financial management and helps build sustainable enterprises.

Knowledge and Understanding

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of:
The business context and its impact and relationship to financial information and practice
• General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS); including key accounting concepts, terminology and disclosure practices
• Financial analysis techniques and their application to interpreting financial information on GPFS
• Approaches for analysing costs and examining cost behaviour and how this applies to effective cost management, including budgeting
• Principles and techniques for adopting a structured approach to making capital expenditure (investment) decisions
• Principles of business financing and its organisational impact

Learning Outcomes

Following completion of this course, participants should be able to:
1. Describe and evaluate the business financial context, including business structures, financial stakeholders and information, and the accounting profession and financial governance
2. Interpret and critically analyse the information contained on financial statements
3. Demonstrate the use of costing concepts and principles to improve decision making
4. Develop and manage budgets and associated financial resources to support business objectives
5. Demonstrate appropriate financial methodologies to evaluate and make decisions in relation to Investment options
6. Understand the impact and cost of financing decisions and identify sources of financing
7. Critically consider the potential impact of contemporary business context on financial information
8. Demonstrate a high order of skill in analysis, critical thinking, communication and professional application
9. Demonstrate creativity and flexibility in the application of knowledge and skills to new situations, to resolve problems and to think rigorously and independently