UTILITY FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING FOR  NON-FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS

AND UTILITY FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING FOR ATTORNEYS

 

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CPE CREDIT for CPAs available for all States and CLE CREDIT for lawyers: available in most states

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:

To provide a working understanding of finance and accounting as applied to both the regulated utility and non-regulated companies (competitors, customers and the future utility company).

Upon completion of the seminar, participants will be able to:

• Understand accrual accounting




• “Read” an annual report of the company or its customers




• Calculate key financial ratios




• See the link between finance and accounting and the strategic plans of the company




• Understand how a utility makes money now and what needs to be done for the future




• Analyze whether shareholder value is being created as opposed to net income




• Do a capital budgeting analysis (engineering economics)

APPROACH:

Lecture and discussion with a note-taking outline provided to each participant. Extensive use of:

• A non-debit and credit approach




• Problem solving sessions




• Homework assignment




• Actual utility financial statements




• Interaction with other participants




• Group case work

OUTLINE OF THE SEMINAR TOPICS

Introduction

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Basic Accounting Concepts
– Balance Sheet
– Income Statement

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Financial Statement Analysis
– Return on Equity
– Total Shareholder Return

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The Utility’s Four Sets of “Books”
– GAAP, Tax, Rates, Managerial
– Cost of Service Regulation
– Rate Base, Operating Expenses, Allowed Return
– Above-the-line versus and Below-the-Line Expenses

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Mock Rate Case
– Advertising
– Take or Pay Contracts

Ethics Considerations

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Modifications to Rate of Return Regulation
– Adjustment Clauses, Trackers, Riders, Deferrals
– Rate Freezes, Decoupling
– Pre-approvals
– Formula Ratemaking

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Present Value Analysis

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Shareholder Value
– Theory
– Income versus Shareholder Value Maximization
– Risk Considerations
– How to Make Decisions

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Accounting for Utility Plant

– Straight Line Depreciation
– Accelerated Depreciation
– Capitalization Versus Expense
– Methods of Capitalizing More or Less
– Which is Better for the Utility

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Income Taxes
– Temporary Differences
– Deferred Taxes (Normalization)

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Cost of Capital
– Weighted Average Cost of Capital
– Risk Premium Approach
– Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Method

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Capital Project Analysis Review Case
– Cash Flow as affected by Taxes & Rate Regulation
– Which Discount Rate to Use
– Creating Shareholder Value

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Conclusions

 

LAS VEGAS

Golden Nugget
129 East Fremont Street
Las Vegas NV 89101

We have reserved a block of rooms at the hotel where the seminar will be held.  Book early. The block of rooms well be held open until a month before the seminar. This is an AAA four diamond hotel but we negotiated a low weekday rate. To get the group rate click on the link below or call (800) 634-3454 and give them the Group Code. You will probably want to make a reservation arriving the day before the seminar.

 

For our May 30 – June 1 Seminar —  Room nights May 29-31

Click link: Golden Nugget May 29 or call and give them this Group Code GSFAI5B (the I in this group code is the capital letter I)

 

For our Oct 4-6 Seminar —  Room nights Oct 3-5

Click link: Golden Nugget Oct 3 or call and give them this Group Code GSFAI23 (the I in this group code is the capital letter I)

 

If you are staying at the hotel, the newer tower is the Rush Tower. In any case, when you check in you should ask for a room away from Fremont Street (which can be noisy at night.)

We will have a Continental Breakfast each morning and Lunch will be provided and we hope you can join us for cocktails after class the first day.

Class begins at 8 AM ends at 4 PM (except last day we end at 3).

Dress is casual but you could bring a sweater or jacket as the temperature in the meeting room may vary.

For a list of organizations who have sent people to our classes, look at our previous participant list.