Business Finance Professional Course

Business Finance deals with the raising and managing of funds. Irrespective of the organisation's size, at some point in time, management will need to address the issues raised when attempting to secure funds for the organisation.

Fund management activities require financial forecasting. This forecasting allows the organisation to develop long term strategic plans for the organisation. Short-term budgets can then devised to meet the organisation's strategic goals.

This course is suitable for anybody who is interested in the financial aspects of an organisation and covers a broad range of relevant financial and managerial issues.

Unit 1 - Cost and Management Accounting

In this unit, you review the important role played by management accounting in the business world, for example, helping management in decision-making, policy formulation and the achievement of objectives. We contrast historical costing with predetermined costing and look at how costs are classified. This unit provides you with a brief introduction to cost and management accounting with particular attention being paid to absorption costing and marginal costing.

By the end of this unit you will have:

• Explored costs and historical costs.
• Investigated the methods employed by management to control costs.
• Discussed the principles of marginal costing.
• Defined the marginal cost equation.
• Described the uses and limitations of break-even analysis.

Unit 2 - Budgetary Control

Budgetary control is a technique that is essential to the success and survival of any organisation, large or small. In this unit, we illustrate the principles, and what is considered to be good practice. We then consider the benefits of budgeting and follow with a concise appraisal of the rules for effective budgeting. We also produce budgeted profit and loss accounts and budgeted balance sheets, which, together with the cash budget, make up what many companies call the master budget.

By the end of this unit you will have:

• Introduced the household budget.
• Explored the benefits of budgeting.
• Identified the rules for budgeting and budgetary control.
• Examined cash budgets.
• Discussed the behavioural implications of budgets.

Unit 3 - Introduction to Accounting

In this unit, we begin by looking at the background to accounting. We identify different types of business and organisations, and how accounting can serve their needs. We clarify the different areas of financial accounting, management or managerial accounting, and financial management. We consider the basic concepts, conventions and policies adopted when preparing financial statements. We explore the vital differences between profit, profitability and cash flow.

By the end of this unit you will have:

• Introduced the accounting concept.
• Explored the differences between financial and managerial accounting.
• Identified the characteristics of accounting information.
• Investigated the relationship between profit, profitability and cash.
• Examined the fundamental accounting conventions and concepts.
• Described the capital structure of a limited liability company.

Unit 4 - Working Capital Management

In this unit we look at the structure of working capital, the role of working capital management within corporate financial objectives. The significance of the production cycle and the financing cycle and their roles in the working capital cycle are investigated. We look critically at the traditional accounting approach to working capital management and specifically the concepts of solvency and liquidity.

For a more detailed syllabus on this course, click here

On completion of your course, you will receive two qualifications:

Qualification 1: Business Finance Professional Diploma

Business Finance Professional Diploma issued by Stonebridge Associated Colleges, entitling you to use the letters SAC Dip after your name.

Qualification 2: ASET Level 3 Business Finance Professional Award

This Course leads to an ASET Level 3 Award Certificate for successful learners. That means that it is independantly accredited at a level of learning equivalent to level 3 on the National Qualifications Framework (NFQ) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (in which case GCSE's are at levels 1 and 2 and A Levels are at level 3).

The Award has been designed by a learning provider to meet specific learners' or employers' requirements and as such is not listed as a qualification on NQF. While the duration, content or assessment may vary from similar national qualifications, in accrediting the programme at level 3, ASET attests that its learning outcomes are at an equivalent level to a level 3 national qualification.

This course is an online course. With online study you have access to your entire course from the start of your studies. You can access your course materials, and submit all of your question papers to your personal tutor, online from anywhere in the World using your unique student account.

If you do not have Internet access, or would prefer to study this course via the traditional paper/postal based study method, you can find more information on the course by clicking on the link below.

With this course you will have unlimited access to your own personal tutor who specialises in their field of study. It is your personal tutor's role to ensure that you receive constructive feedback and to deal with any queries you may have. You are more than welcome to telephone, fax or email your personal tutor.

You will also have access to a dedicated and friendly team of administrators and course advisors who offer sound and professional guidance and advice when you need it. This ensures that you will never feel neglected and that you will always succeed!

There is no experience or previous qualifications required for enrolment on this course. It is available to all students, of all academic backgrounds.

This is only an approximate figure and is dependant upon how much time you can dedicate to your studies and how well you grasp the learning concepts in the course material. Furthermore, at the end of each lesson there is a question paper that needs to be completed and returned to your tutor. You should allow at least 1 - 2 hours of study to complete each question paper.

The approximate amount of time required to complete the course is: 100 hrs.

Assessment Method

After each lesson there will be a question paper, which needs to be completed and submitted to your personal tutor for marking. This method of continual assessment ensures that your personal tutor can consistently monitor your progress and provide you with assistance throughout the duration of the course.

What's Included

• All study materials
• Study Guide
• Full Tutor and Admin support
• The course fee includes the ASET registration and certification fee (valued at up to £30.00).

What is ASET

ASET is a recognised National Awarding Body.

This course is accredited by ASET. ASET are a leading National Awarding Body, recognised in the U.K by the Department for Education and Skills (DfEs), Learning Skills Council (LSC) and the Qualifications & Curriculum Authority (QCA). ASET specialise in providing, quality-assuring and certificating vocational learning programmes.

For more information on this award, click here

Below you will find a list of courses that previous students have taken to complement their course. We hope that this list will give you some idea of the types of progression courses we offer, or alternative course options that may be of interest to you.

• Business Accounting - Accounting has become an essential part of business life, and the knowledge and skills that you will learn in your studies will give you a broader and more experienced view of business life. The course ...
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• Accounting - Accounting is designed to help those with an interest in a business, or other organisation, to assess its financial position and performance. It aims to communicate relevant economic information to interested parties and, as a result, ...
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• Accounting With Computers (Skills Course) - This course requires no previous knowledge of accounting or finance. This course is a guide to how computers can help you with your accounting. ...
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• Annual Accounts and the Inland Revenue (Skills Course) - How your accounts are prepared. What they mean to you, your creditors and the Inland Revenue. ...
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• Book-keeping (Skills Course) -  The aims of this Business Skills Bookkeeping Course are to: understand why book-keeping is important examine a wide variety of book-keeping options and select the ...
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• Business Finance - This programme is designed for people seeking to understand and apply the principles of finance and financial control of a business. The course is particularly suited to the general manager with responsibility for a small organisation ...
  Read More »

To help you broaden your skills, update your expertise in a particular field or get a competitive edge on that job you're after, we have also included all the resources below absolutely FREE for you to use when you register for your course! Click title below for more details.

This course comes with a series of FREE online videos. The normal price per series is £50.00, however, enrol on this course through Elearnuk and you will have FREE and unlimited access to the series for one year.

PLEASE NOTE: These videos are purely supplemental and are for information purposes only. They will have no bearing on your programme outcome.

The series of online videos that accompanies this course is as follows: