Restructuring and Turnaround Finance

Introduction

When a business faces falling sales, mounting losses or a liquidity crisis, the decisions taken in the first weeks often determine whether it recovers or fails. Finance professionals are at the centre of these situations, responsible for understanding the true financial position, protecting cash and supporting negotiations with lenders and other stakeholders.

This Restructuring and Turnaround Finance training course provides a practical framework for diagnosing financial distress, stabilising liquidity and developing a credible turnaround plan. Participants learn to build short-term cash flow forecasts, assess viability, evaluate operational and financial restructuring options and understand the role of creditors, investors and insolvency procedures.

The course draws on case studies of successful and unsuccessful turnarounds to highlight the leadership, communication and governance challenges that accompany financial recovery.

Course Objectives

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

• Recognise the early warning signs and root causes of corporate financial distress
• Build and manage a thirteen-week cash flow forecast
• Implement immediate liquidity protection and cash generation measures
• Assess business viability and develop a turnaround plan
• Evaluate operational restructuring options and their financial impact
• Understand debt restructuring, refinancing and new money options
• Engage lenders, suppliers, employees and shareholders during restructuring
• Understand the role of formal insolvency and restructuring procedures

Target Audience

This training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals, including:

• Finance directors and financial controllers
• Treasury and cash management professionals
• Corporate finance and restructuring advisors
• Bank workout and recovery officers
• Investors and board members
• General managers of underperforming businesses
• Accountants and auditors working with distressed companies

Training Methodology

The course uses a progressive turnaround simulation in which participants take charge of a distressed company. They analyse its financial position, build a thirteen-week cash flow, design stabilisation actions, develop a restructuring plan and negotiate with stakeholders, supported by short expert briefings and real-world case studies.

Target Competencies

• Financial distress diagnosis
• Short-term cash forecasting
• Liquidity management
• Turnaround planning
• Debt restructuring awareness
• Stakeholder negotiation

Day One: Diagnosing Financial Distress

• Stages of Decline: From underperformance to crisis
• Root Causes: Strategy, operations, financial structure and management
• Early Warning Indicators: Financial and non-financial signals
• Rapid Financial Assessment: Profitability, liquidity and solvency review
• Directors' Duties in Distress: Governance and legal responsibilities
• Stakeholder Mapping: Lenders, suppliers, employees, customers and shareholders
• Case Study: Diagnosing a company in early financial distress

Day Two: Cash Is King: Stabilisation

• The Thirteen-Week Cash Flow Forecast: Structure and assumptions
• Cash Control: Payment committees and approval of all outflows
• Working Capital Release: Receivables, inventory and payables actions
• Non-Core Asset Disposals: Raising cash quickly and responsibly
• Stopping Losses: Exiting unprofitable products, contracts and sites
• Communicating During Stabilisation: Maintaining confidence
• Practical Exercise: Building a thirteen-week cash flow and stabilisation plan

Day Three: Viability and the Turnaround Plan

• Assessing Viability: Is there a sustainable core business?
• Strategic Options: Fix, sell, merge or close
• Operational Restructuring: Cost, footprint, portfolio and organisation changes
• Building the Business Plan: Credible forecasts and sensitivities
• Funding Requirements: Quantifying the gap
• Independent Business Reviews: What lenders expect to see
• Workshop: Developing the turnaround plan for the case company

Day Four: Financial Restructuring

• Capital Structure Review: Sustainable debt levels
• Debt Restructuring Tools: Standstills, reschedules, write-downs and conversions
• New Money: Rescue finance, equity injections and asset-based lending
• Creditor Dynamics: Priorities, security and inter-creditor issues
• Formal Procedures: Overview of rescue and insolvency processes
• Valuation in Restructuring: Going concern and liquidation values
• Negotiation Simulation: Agreeing a standstill and restructuring term sheet

Day Five: Leading the Recovery

• Turnaround Leadership: Speed, decisiveness and credibility
• Managing People Through Restructuring: Communication and retention
• Programme Management: Tracking turnaround initiatives
• Rebuilding Financial Controls and Reporting
• Restoring Growth: Moving from survival to sustainable performance
• Lessons from Turnarounds: Success factors and common mistakes
• Final Presentation: Turnaround and financing plan to the board and lenders