0429 - Business Finance for Non-Finance Personnel (Self-Paced)

Course Description

Are you interested in making better business decisions to increase your company's profits, move you up the corporate ladder, and help you reach a better, personal financial position? If so, this course is for you. Using practical explanations and real-life examples, this course will show you how money flows through a typical business. You will learn the basics of how a business operates, including how to develop successful business strategies and how to use financial statements to make better business decisions. Whether you're an employee, sales executive, supervisor, or manager, this course will help you understand basic financial information and use that information to make decisions that will positively affect your company's financial situation. This is a business finance course for non-financial employees and managers. By taking it, you will obtain significantly improved business acumen skills and financial understanding. Position yourself to be more confident in your business and financial decisions.

• Learn the difference between financial knowledge and business acumen
• Learn how finances flow through the business and begin to master basic financial terminology
• Gain an understanding of financial forces, which provide a foundation for developing financial strategies and driving profit
• Learn to make sense of three financial statements: Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows
• Discover how executives bring their financial knowledge in line with business needs to make solid business decisions
• Learn how to cost cut with your new knowledge of financial reporting and your business acumen skills
• Discover how to develop strategies to increase supply and production efficiencies
• Learn to move your business and your personal financial life in a positive direction by focusing on an analytical process called SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)

• Gain a strong foundation in business finance
• You will increase your ability to think "big picture" and see how to take advantage of opportunities in your workplace and personal life
• Be able to apply what you have learned to your personal household finances

• This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

• PC: Windows 8 or later.
• Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
• Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

• Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Lesson 1 - Business Finance Basics. In this first lesson, you will learn the difference between financial knowledge and business acumen in a way that's easy to understand. You will also be introduced to a few basic financial strategies and explore what business finance can do for you, your company, and your personal finances.

Lesson 2 - The Business Model and Financial Flow. To gain a strong foundation in business finance, you'll need to understand the basic business model, its components, and how they fit into the larger organization. In this lesson, you will see how finances flow through the business and begin to master basic financial terminology. Afterwards, you will be able to apply what you've learned to your personal household and finances.

Lesson 3 - Financial Terminology and Concepts. Do you know what ROI refers to? What's a Sales Forecast, and why is it so important? In this lesson, you will learn these terms and many more. You will also gain an understanding of financial forces, which provide a foundation for developing financial strategies and driving profit.

Lesson 4 - Financial Statements. Financial statements can be one of the most mysterious parts of business finance. As you will see, however, all you need is to make sense of the three basic financial statements. With this lesson under your belt, you will be ready to take on the next crucial step: recording and tracking the annual finances on these statements.

Lesson 5 - The Income Statement. In this lesson, you will gain a broader understanding of the first of the financial statements you will be considering: the Income Statement. You will visit the hypothetical company Bouncy Balls Incorporated (BBI) and examine its annual statement to comprehend what all these numbers mean.

Lesson 6 - The Balance Sheet. Still working with the fictitious company BBI, you will explore what information is included in the Balance Sheet. You will continue your work to determine BBI's financial position and see where changes in business strategy may be needed.

Lesson 7 - The Statement of Cash Flows. You will finish your introduction to the basic financial statements as you review the Statement of Cash Flows. You will see how financial personnel use this statement as you continue your tour of BBI. As you work through the Statement of Cash Flows, you will start to put all the information together to improve your understanding of BBI's financial position.

Lesson 8 - Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A;). In this lesson, you will listen in at a roundtable meeting of executives at BBI as they discuss the company's financial statements. The meeting offers a great opportunity for you to get an insider's look into how executives develop the Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A;).

Lesson 9 - Business and Financial Strategy—The Process. Now you are going to put all of the financial knowledge you've gained during this course to work as you consider some strategies for improving BBI's financial condition. You will explore how executives bring their financial knowledge in line with business needs to make solid business decisions that will have a positive impact on the company financials.

Lesson 10 - Cutting Expenses to Boost the Bottom Line. In this lesson, you will tackle a key issue in business: cost cutting. Expenses are such a huge part of business. Here, you will see how to use your new knowledge of financial reporting and your business acumen skills to develop strategies that have a positive impact on a company's bottom line.

Lesson 11 - Inventory and Cash Strategies. Continuing your exploration of financial strategy, you will use the decision-making process to examine the inventory situation at BBI and develop strategies to increase supply and production efficiencies. You will also see how to develop strategies to improve the BBI cash position so that more things can be done to increase the bottom line.

Lesson 12 - SWOT Analysis and Strategy Implementation. Now that you've gone through various strategies to increase sales, decrease expenses, and better manage company assets, it's time to see how to complete an overall strategic analysis of an organization. This lesson focuses on using an analytical process called SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to develop strategies to move your business and your personal financial life in a positive direction.