Telestrat is a worldwide leader in continuing legal education (CLE) courses. Our Telestrat MBA Seminar Series has brought the world of finance, accounting, and business strategy to lawyers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

In-House Training

Accounting for Lawyers

Understanding financial statements and their relevance to various types of business and legal work is becoming increasingly important in the aftermath of the multitude of recent accounting scandals. Attorneys can no longer rely on the opinions of finance and accounting professionals and therefore must have a basic understanding of accounting as well as the ability to detect fraud. This course is designed to give attorneys a one day overview of accounting techniques, their relevance, and problems associated with each.

Schedule

1. Accounting Basics - 60 Min.

  • Double Entry Accounting
  • Cash vs. Accrual
  • GAAP
  • Financial Statements

2. Balance Sheet - 45 Min.

  • Assets
  • Liabilities
  • Owner’s Equity
  • Sample Balance Sheet
  • Capital Formation Options

3. Income Statement - 45 Min.

  • Elements Explained
  • Recognizing Revenue
  • Tracking Expenses
  • FIFO vs. LIFO
  • Links Between Income Statement & Balance Sheet
  • Depreciation

4. Cash Flow Statement - 30 Min.

  • Sample Cash Flow Statement
  • Shortfalls of Cash Flow
  • Free Cash Flow

5. Lunch (on your own) - 60 Min.

6. Financial Statement Analysis - 120 Min.

  • Activity Analysis
  • Liquidity Analysis
  • Profitability Analysis
  • Market Analysis
  • Book Value vs. Market Value
  • Earnings Per Share
  • Basic vs. Diluted Earnings

7. Fraud and Manipulation - 60 Min.

  • What is Fraud?
  • Types of Fraud
  • Off-Balance Sheet Entities
  • Case Study: Enron
  • Profit Smoothing
  • Footnotes – Spotting the Red Flags

8. Sarbanes-Oxley - 60 Min.

  • General Facts
  • Accounting Oversight Board Duties
  • How does this affect Lawyers?