INDIVIDUAL
TRAINING 
COURSES

Course Overview – The goal of this course is to teach participants basic accounting concepts and provide a framework for understanding financial statements to help credit professionals assess risk. 

Topics include:

• Understanding the basics of accounting including debits and credits, the accounting cycle, audit opinions, and the difference between cash and accrual accounting

• Providing fundamentals of the three main financial statements including the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement

• Reviewing revenue and expense recognition concepts including accounting for sales, cost of goods sold, and expenses on the income statement, and accounts 

Course Overview – This course is designed to build on the foundational concepts learned in the Accounting Fundamentals course, and it provides more advanced accounting skills necessary to access credit risk for Middle Market, Commercial, and Corporate Banking.

Topics include:

• Understanding revenue recognition principles including deferred revenue accounting, percentage of completion accounting, and differences between GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards

• Focusing on deferred tax assets and liabilities, plus identification and disclosure of contingent liabilities

• Learning about the treatment of complex debt and equity issuance, pension accounting, liability assessment, stock options, and deferred compensation

Course Overview – The goal of this course is to help participants enhance their communication skills when engaging with clients and prospects to gain trust and enjoy successful business meetings and calling efforts.

Topics include:

• Educating participants using company data prior to initial meeting, connecting with clients to gain trust, and listening intently to understand company needs

• Asking pertinent questions, taking notes, and guiding the conversation toward relevant solutions based on answers provided by client

• Finding common ground, affirming mutual understanding, responding to objections, agreeing on next steps, and following up in a timely manner with recommendations

Course Overview – The goal of this foundational cash flow course is to help participants understand the fundamentals of the primary source of loan repayment, cash flow. Cash flow focuses on the cash impacts by analyzing the income statement and balance sheet. 

Topics include:

• Understanding the construction of both direct and indirect cash flow presentations, and the benefits and shortfalls of each method

• Differentiating between cash flow from operations, cash available for debt service, and cash after debt amortization, in order to understand overall ability to service bank debt

• Measuring cash flow coverage ratios for capacity to meet future capital expenditures, taxes, and debt service coverage requirements 

Course Overview – This course builds on the foundation of the Cash Flow Fundamentals class and helps participants gain a more thorough understanding of cash flow and ability to repay debt.

Topics include:

• Analyzing direct and indirect cash flow methods and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, and how to present key findings to credit approvers based on credit risk

• Constructing both methods of cash flow and understanding the company’s ability to support existing and future operating and financing cash needs

• Developing forecasts driven by key cash flow drivers, and assessing earnings sustainability in relation to liquidity, leverage, working capital, and debt service

Course Overview – The goal of this course is to help participants identify, understand, and manage fundamental elements of credit risk.

Topics include:

• Identifying bank loan risk and return, understanding key business risks, and performing fundamental analysis on financial statements

• Analyzing the fundamentals of the three main financial statements including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement

• Utilizing financial ratios to measure leverage, liquidity, net worth, and cash flow

Course Overview – This course is designed to build on the foundation of the Credit Risk Fundamentals class and to gain a more thorough understanding of credit risk concepts.

Topics include:

• Reviewing principles of risk and return and performing detailed review of financial statements and financial ratios to understand and articulate key credit risks

• Determining the respective sources of loan repayment and accessing an appropriate set of financial covenants to protect leverage, liquidity, net worth, and cash flow

• Understanding complex credits and evaluating collateral, guarantors, and creating financial covenants to protect primary and secondary sources of loan repayment

Course Overview – This course is organized into five modules: 1) understanding the framework for forecasting; 2) determining forecast assumptions; 3) developing expected case forecast based on industry, strategy, management, and historical performance; 4) identifying and mitigating key credit risks; and 5) conducting sensitivity analysis. 

Topics include:

• Understanding the purpose of different types of forecast analysis

• Integrating credit risk analysis into scenario development

• Identifying primary and secondary sources of repayment, and using the forecasts to determine ability to service debt

Course Overview – This course helps credit professionals communicate clear, concise, and well-organized credit recommendations. Using case studies, students will practice both verbal and written communication methods so they can clearly articulate recommendations to credit approvers. 

Topics include:

• Learning to provide a balanced view of the credit’s strengths and weaknesses and articulate the recommendation with a clear opinion supported by facts

• Tying loan structure, terms, conditions, and covenants to the dynamics of the business, industry, and management

• Presenting a forward-looking view of the company’s continuing ability to repay bank debt

Course Overview – This course helps participants get behind the numbers when completing financial statement analysis so that they understand the key risks of the credit, the primary sources of repayment, and the capacity of a borrower to repay debt. 

Topics include:

• Applying a consistent analytical process to evaluate the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement 

• Going beyond trend and ratio analysis to understanding the company’s capacity for ongoing profitability and cash flow, and the resulting ability to service debt

• Providing conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of clients and prospects, understanding the overall financial position, and making an overall risk return recommendation

Course Overview – This course helps students understand the company’s industry, evaluate the strategy, and determine management’s ability to successfully implement the strategy. Industry, strategy, and management are core qualitative components of the risk profile, and they help determine the ability to repay debt.

Topics include:

• Identifying the industry and evaluating the key industry drivers and trends

• Understanding the strategic objectives that the company must achieve based on industry strengths and weaknesses

• Evaluating managements’ skills and abilities to implement the necessary strategies to succeed 

Course Overview – This fundamental loan structuring course teaches participants how to protect the primary and secondary sources of loan repayment through appropriate structuring of loans. 

Topics include:

• Identifying key credit risks and primary and secondary repayment sources as a foundation for understanding how best to structure a bank loan

• Understanding loan type, collateral, and guarantors to help determine appropriate positive and negative loan covenants for each prospect or client

• Creating maximum benefit to the bank with a minimum number of loan covenants

Course Overview – This course is designed to build on the foundation of the Loan Structuring Fundamentals class and it provides a more advanced understanding of loan covenants. 

Topics include:

• Identifying sources of repayment and practicing detailed loan structuring through complex case studies to protect bank loan repayment

• Understanding customers with advanced debt and equity components and determining which financial covenants provide adequate liquidity, leverage, debt service, and net worth

• Calculating debt service coverage ratios best suited to protect senior bank lenders within the capital stack and including positive and negative covenants for identified credit risks

Course Overview – This course helps participants determine early warning signs for potential problem loans.

Topics include:

• Identifying the typical causes of problem loans and the ability to find potential issues early 

• Determining whether borrower shows a temporary liquidity issue, or a margin deterioration concern that needs to be addressed 

• Understanding how to recognize problems early, and if necessary - send to loan workout experts for remediation

Course Overview – The goal of this course is to provide credit professionals with a fundamental understanding of owner-occupied real estate loans within their credit portfolio.

Topics include:

• Understanding and performing sound underwriting of the owner occupant, which is typically the primary source of repayment

• Examining the appraisal and the three approaches to value: cost, sales, and income, and which value is most prominent depending on the circumstances

• Providing an overview of Net Operating Income, reserves, debt service coverage ratio, debt yield minimums, and Loan to Value parameters when underwriting real estate loans