Analysing business performance - 2 day workshop 2017

Analysing for many accountants means explaining the monthly or annual results, but you can contribute far more commercial value and make a real difference by analysing proactively to influence those results.

Analysing proactively means analysing:

• Business situations e.g. how to reverse declining sales of a particular product, how to prevent costs rising and how working capital can be reduced
• The impact of unexpected events and what to do about them e.g. competitors’ activity, extreme weather events or a breakdown in the supply chain
• Business initiatives before the initiative starts to help work out the best way to do it, during the initiative to keep it on track and after the initiative to hold those responsible accountable and as a learning for the next initiative e.g. marketing initiatives, cost cutting initiatives or a business acquisition

For the analysis to be influential means not just analysing what has happened and why, but explaining the implications and recommending the decisions managers and directors should make. Doing this well is rapidly becoming the expected norm for accountants.

Whatever the analysis, to analyse well means understanding your business and industry thoroughly and keeping up-to-date with developments so the analysis is in context and current. The analysis must also be communicated to tell the story for maximum impact by explaining not just what has happened and why it has happened but also the implications and the decisions that should be made.

The analysis must also be able to be communicated not just in writing but verbally too, with and without slides, and the reality is that the more senior that accountants become, the more verbal presentations they are likely to have to make.

This workshop shows you how to analyse proactively and commercially, to analyse results and forecasts and to communicate your analysis to assist business managers and directors make the best decisions. It does not involve a large amount of number crunching but sets the framework for that. The workshop is highly interactive and you will analyse business situations, unexpected events, business initiatives and business results and practice telling the story of your analysis in writing and verbally.

This two day workshop covers all the material in the one day version but in more depth, allows more time to practice analysing and also covers communicating analysis verbally, as well as in writing.

Key topics:

• Understanding and staying in touch with the business and industry to be able to analyse in context
• A framework for communicating analysis so that business managers ‘get it’ and make the best decisions
• Some simple writing techniques that makes analysis compelling
• Analysing business situations, unexpected events, and business initiatives
• Communicating analysis in writing compellingly, clearly, concisely and quickly
• Communicating analysis verbally with impact

Click on the image below for Malcolm Simister's biography.

Learning objectives

• Gain and maintain a thorough understanding of your business and industry and to stay in touch with developments
• Demonstrate when and what to analyse to add commercial value to your business
• Develop a framework to communicate analysis
• Write analysis that managers and stakeholders will read and action
• Present analysis verbally that managers and directors will hear and action 

Audience

This workshop is suitable for management accountants wanting to add value to the organisation as a business partner.

Please note enrolments close 2 working days prior to the workshop date.

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