Finance & Accounting for Non-Financial Managers

The Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers course provides students with an overview of the principal areas of financial management.  The course will introduce students to financial terminology, relate financial measures to operating information, and enable the student to understand and apply these measures to operating performance. Students will gain a working knowledge of how to apply financial management principles on a business or personal level by creating and analyzing financial statements and using the information in these statements to make decisions.

Important finance and accounting decisions are made constantly at every level of business across all industries.  Given the pervasive effects of various economic challenges in conjunction with financial and accounting capability, even non-financial managers need to have a broad understanding of how to work within these constraints and/or make the most of these capabilities.  Managers at every level are expected to know how to quantify contributions, identify possible profit drains and justify various requests and expenditures.  Understanding the ins and outs of finance and accounting is a useful tool for any manager to get a handle on the “big picture” in measuring performance and output.  From accruals to write-offs to receivables and payables, this course will ensure even Non-Financial Managers have full understanding of the concepts, tools and techniques that affect the bottom line.  In understanding these fundamental concepts, managers can apply their own creative solutions to help improve these metrics in their own division and across organizations.

The Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers course will address the following primary course objectives:

• Analyze financial terms and equations
• Apply accounting principles to create financial statements
• Discuss managerial duties and their impact on business practices
• Apply ratio equations
• Describe the impact of risk on decision-making
• Discuss the formulas used to complete financial statements
• Analyze aspects of credit
• Evaluate the components of a successful business

Content provided by the American Management Association.