Commercial, finance and risk training

For

Procurement, operations and sales staff involved in contracting who want a practical grounding in commercial thinking.

Participants can

• Read and interpret a contract and the financial documents that relate to it.
• Identify, assess and plan to mitigate the key risks in a contract.
• Set performance criteria that work for both the supplier and the buyer.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

Strategic planning and the big picture, Cash flow, pricing and costing decisions, Planning a negotiation, Contract law basics, including ACL and PPSA, SLAs, KPIs, rebates and incentives

For

Procurement and contracting staff with some commercial experience, especially those handling high risk or high value arrangements.

Participants can

• Use portfolio analysis to choose a contracting strategy for a category.
• Match a commercial pricing model to the scope of work and its risk.
• Handle contract variations and performance issues once the deal is signed.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

Kraljic portfolio analysis, Scope, risk and pricing models, The supplier's view of your organisation, Contract variations and disputes, KPIs, SLAs, rebates and incentives

For

Procurement managers who want to use financial tools and techniques in day to day sourcing decisions.

Participants can

• Interpret a supplier's published accounts using ratios to inform sourcing decisions.
• Contribute to business cases using NPV, IRR and payback period.
• Set negotiation targets from supplier accounts, cost breakdowns or industry data.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

The four key financial statements, Predicting supplier insolvency, Fixed, variable and breakeven costs, Time value of money and discount rates, Financial risks across the procurement lifecycle

For

Procurement and commercial practitioners who need to turn the potential benefits of a sourcing process into real results.

Participants can

• Categorise benefits as cash releasing or non-cash releasing and link them to organisational goals.
• Write a benefit realisation plan with owners and leading and lagging indicators.
• Build a total cost model and choose initiatives to reduce total cost.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

Baselining the as is and to be, Detecting and responding to value leakage, Cost drivers and cost levers, Demand, specification and aggregation initiatives, Measuring the impact of cost reduction

For

Procurement and contract practitioners who want a practical, balanced way to deal with risks to their business objectives.

Participants can

• Run risk identification and scaling workshops that participants support.
• Use scenario planning and Cynefin alongside traditional risk matrices.
• Propose balanced treatments, including acceptance, transfer through contract clauses and contingency plans.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

The limits of risk registers, Scenario planning and trigger events, Liability, indemnity and liquidated damages, Contingency planning and business continuity, Risk appetite and residual risk

For

Managers responsible for procurement policy or a portfolio of suppliers who want to move to sustainable and ethical practices.

Participants can

• Analyse your spend portfolio to find categories suited to sustainable and ethical procurement.
• Write RFPs, RFQs and contracts that use sustainability as a decision criterion.
• Develop or review your organisation's sustainable and ethical procurement policy.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team: two days in person, or 4 x 4-hour live online sessions.

Covers

The legislative and regulatory framework, Sustainability in business and risk strategy, Lifecycle cost, re-use and end of life, Sustainable procurement as buyer and supplier

For

Analysts and procurement staff who work on spend or data analysis.

Participants can

• Analyse spend across the seven dimensions of spend analysis.
• Describe five key insights that inform most procurement strategies.
• Present spend insights clearly using the situation, target, proposal structure.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

Top down versus bottom up analysis, The seven dimensions of spend analysis, Suppliers, buyers and purchasing methods, Demand timing, trends and pricing, Spend analysis dashboards

For

Analysts, category managers and others who write procurement strategies and enjoy an exploratory, problem solving approach.

Participants can

• Identify the key elements and choices in a procurement strategy.
• Match a strategy to the character of your organisation's demand.
• Link spend analysis, strategy and benefits realisation in a defensible case.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team, in person or live online.

Covers

What a procurement strategy includes, Sources of value beyond price, Understanding the bounds of buyer power, Worked example of strategy from data

For

Experienced people in commercial contracts, negotiations and relationships, particularly those handling high risk or high value arrangements.

Participants can

• Link the strategic plan, the business case and the contract.
• Spot revenue and expenditure leakage, including fraud, and make more objective pricing decisions.
• Review supplier performance data, interpret trends and run the review meeting.

Format

Led by a facilitator for your team: two days in person, or 4 x 4-hour live online sessions.

Covers

How each department serves the business mission, Cash flow, profit and due diligence, Stakeholder and supply chain relationships, Managing contract risk exposure, Setting the right number of deliverables