Organizations use financial statements to report their performance and their financial condition to investors and lenders. Managers--including non-financial managers--can use these statements to understand how the organization is doing: Are any changes needed? Can the organization improve? How quickly is the organization growing in comparison with its competitors? Are there any financial danger signs? This course provides a foundation for reading the three key financial statements prepared by most corporations--the balance sheet (or statement of financial condition), the income statement (or earnings statement, or profit and loss statement), and the statement of cash flows. The course also explores how to use basic ratios to analyze these financial statements.

Can a profitable company with a positive net worth run short of cash? Without sound cash management, it certainly can. Every organization, large and small, must manage the generation and expenditure of cash to ensure that bills can be paid on time.

This course covers the principles of sound cash flow management, including cash management strategies, the best use of credit collection, and ways to reduce overhead. With a knowledge of these strategies, managers improve their ability to maintain appropriate levels of working capital in their own organizations.

Running a department without understanding the budget process is like driving a car without knowing how to steer. Every manager needs a basic understanding of how to plan, use, and monitor adherence to a budget. Addressing the needs of your own budget process will help you support the financial processes and goals of your organization as a whole.

In this course, non-financial managers will learn the concepts and techniques vital to the budget process, including: forecasting revenue and expenses; choosing the best kind of budget strategy, and progressively measuring the success of your plan through the use of variance reports.

Financial management is a key tool in controlling and directing the resources of any business organization. Managers--not only financial professionals but also managers whose responsibilities are largely non-financial--can use this tool to generate and analyze the financial information that is essential to decision making in business. Understanding the principles of financial management helps all managers, from line supervisors to senior executives, to use this tool more effectively to support the organization's goals.

This course introduces non-financial managers to the principles of financial management. It explores the basic concepts of risk and return and the time value of money.