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Professional Development

Financial Literacy for Non-Finance Teams

Across GCC government ministries managing Vision 2030 programme budgets, African NGOs accountable to international donors for every dirham of expenditure, and corporate departments being asked to justify their budgets in quarterly reviews, the same gap keeps appearing: managers who are technically excellent in their function and financially incompetent when it comes to understanding, managing and presenting the numbers that determine whether their function survives. This is not a small problem. Budget decisions in GCC and African organisations are increasingly being made based on financial performance, value demonstration and return on investment data. The manager who cannot read a budget report, who does not understand the difference between cashflow and profit, and who cannot build a convincing financial case for their team's work, is at a structural disadvantage regardless of how good their technical performance is. This course closes that gap, for the managers who need the finance skills without the finance degree.

74%of non-finance managers in GCC and African organisations report that they do not fully understand the financial reports they are expected to act on

ROIGCC and donor organisations are increasingly requiring non-finance teams to demonstrate financial return on investment for their programmes and budgets

350+managers and professionals trained by Matsh in financial literacy for non-finance roles across Gulf, Africa and Asia

The financial situations non-finance managers across the Gulf, Africa and Asia most commonly struggle with:

You receive a monthly P&L report and you look at the bottom line and hope it is positive. You do not know what the numbers between the top and the bottom are telling you
You are asked to submit a budget for next year and you add 10% to last year's spend because you do not have a framework for building a budget from first principles
Your department is consistently underspending or overspending its budget and you are not sure whether this is a planning problem, an execution problem or a measurement problem
You are asked to justify your team's headcount in a cost review and you do not have the financial data to make the case effectively
Finance sends you a variance report and you do not understand what it is asking you to do about it
You are proposing a new programme or initiative and you cannot build a financial business case because you do not know what numbers to put in it or how to structure them

This course gives you the financial literacy to read the numbers, manage your budget and make the financial case for your team's work, without requiring an accounting qualification.

Financial Literacy in GCC and African Organisational Contexts

GCC Budget Cycles

GCC government and corporate budget cycles have specific characteristics: annual planning tied to the Hijri or fiscal year, multi-year Vision 2030 programme budgets, and the increasing use of performance-based budgeting in Saudi and UAE public sector organisations. This course addresses these specific contexts.

Donor Financial Accountability

African NGOs and development organisations face detailed donor financial accountability requirements from donors including the EU, USAID, UK FCDO and Gulf donors. Programme managers who do not understand financial reporting are creating significant compliance risk for their organisations.

Multi-Currency Management

Many organisations across the Gulf, Africa and Asia operate across multiple currencies, managing programme budgets in USD or EUR while spending in local currency. The financial literacy skills to manage currency risk and report accurately across currencies are increasingly essential.

ROI Demonstration

HR, L&D, programme and operations managers in GCC and African organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate financial return on investment for their functions. Building the financial literacy to make that case credibly is a career-critical skill for non-finance managers at every level.

Who Should Attend

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HR and L&D Managers

HR and learning professionals who manage budgets, need to justify headcount and training spend, and are increasingly asked to demonstrate ROI.

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NGO Programme Managers

Programme managers responsible for donor budgets, financial reporting and programme expenditure management who need stronger financial literacy.

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Government Programme Managers

Public sector professionals managing programme budgets under Vision 2030 and similar national transformation frameworks.

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Operations and Admin Managers

Operations and administration managers with budget responsibility who want stronger financial management skills for their function.

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Aspiring Managers

Professionals moving into management roles who recognise that financial literacy is a prerequisite for effective management and want to build it before they need it.

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Young Professionals

Early-career professionals who want to distinguish themselves by understanding the financial dimensions of their organisation's work.

What You Will Leave With

Financial literacy skills applicable immediately to your management role.

✓Financial statement literacy, reading and understanding a P&L, balance sheet and cashflow statement without a finance qualification

✓Budget planning skills, building a budget from first principles rather than adding percentages to last year's spend

✓Budget monitoring skills, tracking variance, understanding what it means and knowing what to do about it

✓Financial business case skills, building the financial case for a programme, initiative or investment that finance and senior leadership will find credible

✓ROI framework, calculating and presenting return on investment for your team's work in terms finance and leadership understand

✓Financial vocabulary, the ability to participate confidently in financial discussions without feeling out of your depth

Programme Outline

Reading the Numbers: Financial Statements for Non-Finance Managers

Why financial literacy matters for non-finance managers and what you are missing by not having it
The profit and loss statement: what every line means, what the P&L tells you and what it does not
The balance sheet: assets, liabilities, equity and what the balance sheet reveals about organisational health
The cashflow statement: why profitable organisations run out of cash and what cashflow management actually requires
Key financial ratios: the five ratios every non-finance manager should understand and watch
Workshop: participants read and interpret real P&L and cashflow statements from organisations in their sector

Budget Planning and Management

What a budget is actually for and why most non-finance managers misunderstand it
Building a departmental budget from first principles: cost categories, headcount costs, programme costs, overheads
Zero-based budgeting vs incremental budgeting: when to use which and how to do it
Budget monitoring: tracking actual vs budget, understanding variance and knowing when to escalate
Managing underspend and overspend: the different risks of each and how to address them
Workshop: participants build a budget for a realistic departmental or programme scenario

Building the Financial Business Case

What finance and senior leadership actually need to see in a business case and why most non-finance proposals fail
Cost-benefit analysis: identifying, quantifying and presenting costs and benefits in financial terms
Return on investment: calculating ROI for HR programmes, training investments, technology implementations and operational improvements
Payback period and NPV: when and how to use these tools in a non-finance business case
Presenting the financial case: how to communicate financial information to senior decision-makers who are not accountants
Workshop: participants build a financial business case for an investment relevant to their own function

Donor Financial Accountability and GCC Budget Processes

Donor financial reporting requirements: what EU, USAID, UK FCDO and Gulf donor financial accountability frameworks require from programme managers
Allowable and unallowable costs under major donor frameworks: the financial compliance knowledge that prevents audit findings
GCC government budget processes: how Saudi and UAE public sector budgeting works and what non-finance government managers need to understand
Multi-currency management basics: managing programme budgets across currencies and reporting accurately in the donor currency
Financial audit preparation: what auditors look for and how to ensure your programme is always audit-ready

Financial Decision-Making and Personal Development Plan

Financial decision-making frameworks: how to approach decisions with financial dimensions systematically
Working with finance teams: how to be a better client of your organisation's finance function
Excel for non-finance managers: the spreadsheet skills that every manager with budget responsibility should have
Continuing financial literacy development: what to read, what to study, and how to keep developing beyond this course
Personal financial literacy action plan: specific changes each participant commits to making in their financial management practice

Course At a Glance

Locations	Riyadh, Dubai, Nairobi, Lagos, Online
Methodology	65% applied, reading real financial statements, building actual budgets, constructing financial business cases
Pre-requisite	No finance background required · Designed specifically for non-finance managers and professionals
What's Included	Workbook, budget planning template, business case framework, ROI calculator, financial glossary, certificate

You Do Not Need a Finance Degree. You Need to Stop Being Afraid of the Numbers.

Join managers and professionals from across the Gulf, Africa and Asia who have built the financial literacy to read the reports, manage the budget and make the financial case for their team's work.

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