Beware the Balance Sheet - A Lawyer's Guide to Accounts & Financial Reports

Introduction

This virtual classroom session will answer the questions that you are most likely to face in your professional work and will include a number of current case studies and examples to ensure that the training for you is as relevant and up-to-date as possible.

Understanding accounts is often one of the factors relevant to legal matters such as the purchase and sale of companies, contractual disputes and matrimonial matters, as well as company law compliance.

This virtual classroom session is designed to alert lawyers to the key issues in reading accounts and advising clients plus the recent changes in company law and accounting standards.

It is aimed at lawyers involved in commercial and other work where a knowledge of what is in accounts - especially company accounts - is essential to giving best advice and client service.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive course will cover the following:

• Introduction
• Current state of financial regulation in the UK - Companies Act, Accounting Standards (GAAP) and other key entities - LLP, Charities
• Key terminology explained and performance indicators
• Initial case study - some common misconceptions addressed
• Understanding profit and loss
• What is a profit? The different types and why they are important - EBITA v Gross Profit for example
• Timing - how to allocate transactions to different accounting periods (case study examples)
• Revenue or capital - should a transaction be reported in the profit and loss account at all (examples)
• Exceptional one-off items and whether they should be considered (with examples)
• The balance sheet
• What the balance sheet is for and what it is not for, the main headings explained
• Different types of asset - tangible, intangible and investment
• Reporting working capital - key financial ratios
• Liabilities, provisions and contingencies and the problem with 'big bath' accounting (with examples)
• Debt or equity shareholder's funds - how to tell the difference and how to measure ‘gearing’

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.