CompTIA Business Essentials

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Course Overview

CompTIA Business Essentials is a focused course designed to build practical business acumen across three core areas: business fundamentals, business strategy, and business finance. Learners explore organizational goals, return on investment, stakeholder value, strategic planning, financial statements, performance metrics, and the connection between financial analysis and sound business decisions.

Through practical activities and lesson reviews, learners strengthen their ability to connect day-to-day work with business goals, communicate with stakeholders, evaluate strategy, and interpret key financial information.

Who Should Attend

  • Early-career professionals seeking stronger business acumen
  • Technical professionals who need to understand business strategy and finance
  • Team leads, supervisors, and emerging managers
  • Professionals who collaborate with business, finance, sales, operations, or executive stakeholders
  • Anyone seeking a practical foundation in business fundamentals, strategy, and finance

Course Objectives

    • Explain business acumen and connect individual contributions to organizational impact.
    • Describe common business goals related to survival, sales, profitability, growth, efficiency, and productivity.
    • Calculate and evaluate return on investment, cash flow, liquidity, and solvency.
    • Identify major stakeholders and balance stakeholder needs using structured business frameworks.
    • Explain why business strategy matters and apply strategic thinking questions.
    • Use gap analysis, PESTEL, SWOT, mission and vision statements, and SMART goals in strategic planning.
    • Recognize core financial terms, reports, statements, ratios, and performance drivers.
    • Interpret income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
    • Use financial analysis and metrics to develop insights and support informed business decisions.

Course Outline

Business Fundamentals

  • Business Acumen
  • Introduction to Business Acumen
  • The Business Acumen Hierarchy
  • Elevating Your Business Impact
  • Lesson Review
  • Goals of a Business
  • Goals at Different Organizational Levels
  • The Product Lifecycle and Goal Setting
  • Business Goal Categories
  • Survival Goals
  • Sales Goals
  • Profitability Goals
  • Growth Goals
  • Efficiency and Productivity Goals
  • Activity: Write Business Goals
  • Lesson Review
  • ROI: Return on Investment
  • Return on Investment
  • Forms of ROI
  • The Balanced Scorecard and ROI
  • Calculating ROI
  • Types of Cash Flow
  • Liquidity and Solvency
  • Lesson Review
  • Major Stakeholders and Value Creation
  • Stakeholders in Business
  • Types of Stakeholders
  • Working with Stakeholders
  • Balancing Stakeholders Needs
  • Structured Stakeholder Management
  • Balancing the Three Voices
  • Activity: Stakeholder Communication
  • Value Creation in Business
  • Aligning Stakeholder Needs with the Balanced Scorecard
  • Balancing Goals with the Balanced Scorecard
  • Activity: Balanced Scorecard
  • Lesson Review

Business Strategy

  • What is Business Strategy?
  • Why Business Strategy Matters
  • Defining Business Strategy
  • Analytics in Business Strategy
  • Integrating Analytics into Business Strategy
  • Building a Winning Strategy
  • Multilevel Strategy
  • Lesson Review
  • Strategic Thinking Questions
  • Four Strategic Questions
  • What is Gap Analysis?
  • Understanding the Current State
  • Defining the Desired Future State
  • Competitive Strategies
  • Lesson Review
  • Strategic Planning, Analysis, and Implementation
  • Strategic Planning
  • Types of Analysis in Strategic Planning
  • Analyzing Business Strategies
  • Crafting Mission and Vision Statements
  • PESTEL Analysis
  • Integrating PESTEL into Strategic Planning
  • Activity: Pestel Analysis
  • SWOT Analysis
  • Activity: SWOT Analysis
  • Writing SMART Goals
  • Activity: SMART Goals
  • Identifying the Target Market
  • Customer Needs and Feedback
  • Strategy Alignment and Implementation
  • Using the Four Questions Example
  • Lesson Review

Business Finance

  • Business Finance Fundamentals
  • Financial Literacy
  • Introduction to Finance
  • Finance Drives Good Decisions
  • Financial Impact
  • Fundamental Financial Terms
  • Business Report Basics
  • Applying Financial Literacy Skills
  • Lesson Review
  • Common Financial Statements and Reports
  • Net Income and Cash Flow
  • Income Statements
  • Balance Sheets
  • Cash Flow Statements
  • Activity: Introduction to Financial Statements
  • Drivers of Financial Performance
  • How Financial Statements Work Together
  • Linking the Three Financial Statements
  • Activity: Financial Statements
  • Lesson Review
  • Using Income Statements
  • Key Uses of an Income Statement
  • The Income Statement
  • Components of an Income Statement
  • Measuring Financial Performance
  • Assessing Profitability
  • Key Financial Ratios and Metrics
  • Informed Decision Making
  • Activity: Income Statements
  • Lesson Review
  • Using Balance Sheets
  • Understanding the Balance Sheet
  • The Balance Sheet
  • Assets
  • Liabilities
  • Equity
  • Analyzing the Balance Sheet
  • Activity: Balance Sheets
  • Key Performance Indicators
  • Cash Conversion Cycle
  • Return on Investment (ROI)
  • Maximizing ROI
  • Lesson Review
  • Using Cash Flow Statements
  • Introduction to the Cash Flow Statement
  • The Cash Flow Statement
  • A Guide to Cash Flow Management
  • Mastering Liquidity and Solvency
  • Cash Flow Statement Breakdown by Activities
  • Activity: Cash Flow Statement
  • Ending Cash Balance
  • Key Drivers of Cash Flow
  • Cash Flow Management
  • Lesson Review
  • Financial Statement Analysis and Metrics
  • Benchmarking Financial Performance
  • Financial Statement Analysis
  • Techniques for Analyzing Financial Statements
  • Actual vs. Plan or Budget Analysis
  • Actual vs. Forecast Analysis
  • Actual vs. Prior Period Analysis
  • Actual vs. Competitor Analysis
  • Financial Ratios Analysis
  • Developing Insights from Financial Analysis
  • The Profitability Chain
  • Critical Thinking and Judgment in Financial Analysis
  • Activity: Financial Metrics
  • Lesson Review

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Class Dates & Times

Class times are listed Eastern time

This is a 1-day class

Price: $99.00

NCLGISA Price: $49.50

Class dates not listed.
Please contact us for available dates and times.