Course Overview
This highly engaging training program introduces office administrators and secretaries—particularly those without prior finance experience—to the essential principles of finance and accounting. The course is designed to help participants understand and support both operational and financial processes within their organizations. Through hands-on examples and interactive exercises, participants will gain practical knowledge of key accounting concepts, financial terminology, and basic techniques for managing financial information effectively.
Key Features
The Financial Management Skills for Office Administrators & Secretaries course focuses on:
- Clear explanations of fundamental accounting principles.
- Building confidence in handling a variety of business transactions using practical examples.
- Applying simple yet effective tools to analyze organizational performance and financial position.
- Understanding cost accounting basics to ensure operational efficiency and profitability.
- Learning how budgets contribute to achieving broader organizational goals and targets.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Recognize the significance of the finance and accounting function and its connection to other areas of the organization, including suppliers, clients, shareholders, lenders, and the public.
- Understand common financial and accounting terminology, enabling effective participation in meetings and discussions.
- Apply fundamental accounting principles to record and summarize business transactions.
- Prepare basic financial statements such as the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement.
- Analyze and interpret company performance using key financial ratios.
- Utilize costing and budgeting techniques to maintain profitability and operational efficiency.
Target Audience
This course is ideal for:
- Secretaries and office administrators
- Personal and executive assistants
- Administrative professionals and support staff
- Anyone seeking to strengthen their understanding of finance and accounting concepts
Training Methodology
The Financial Management Skills for Office Administrators & Secretaries course is designed to be practical, interactive, and engaging. Participants will work through case studies, exercises, and problem-solving activities that link directly to their workplace.
The program includes short presentations, Q&A sessions, group discussions, and mini case studies to encourage participation and skill application.
Pre- and post-course assessments will be conducted to evaluate learning effectiveness and progress.
Course Contents
Module 1 – Introduction to Finance and Accounting
Key Topics:
- Understanding accounting and finance
- Sources of short-term and long-term finance
- Financial vs. management accounting
- Basic principles of double-entry bookkeeping
- Recording purchases, sales, payments, and receipts
- Understanding depreciation methods and their effect on profits
Module 2 – The Financial Statements
Key Topics:
- Preparing essential financial statements: Income Statement and Balance Sheet
- Defining key components of financial statements
- Calculating profit accurately
- Differentiating between revenue and capital expenditure
- Assets and liabilities – current and non-current
- Understanding working capital and company net worth
- The difference between profit and cash flow
Module 3 – Basic Evaluation of Financial Statements
Key Topics:
- Importance of financial statement evaluation
- Understanding stakeholder information needs
- Creating common-size financial statements for comparison
- Calculating and interpreting accounting ratios
- Using ratio analysis to measure performance
- Profitability, liquidity, efficiency, and gearing ratios
- Understanding cash flow cycles and working capital
- Valuing a company: book value vs. market value
Module 4 – Introduction to Costing Systems
Key Topics:
- Collecting and analyzing costs
- Cost classification: by type, location, behavior, and purpose
- Understanding overheads and cost of production
- Marginal and total costing explained
- Inventory valuation methods (FIFO, LIFO, AVCO)
- Measuring break-even points and margins of safety
- Performing “What-if” analyses to assess outcomes
Module 5 – Budgets
Key Topics:
- The role of budgets in linking strategy and operations
- Benefits and limitations of budgeting
- Key features of an effective budget
- Forecasting techniques and preparing departmental budgets
- Variance analysis – comparing actual performance with budgeted targets
- Exploring whether budgets motivate or discourage performance
