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Finance for Non-Financial Professionals
Expand your fluency in the language of business finance. Connect key accounting concepts to operational decision-making and recognize your impact on the bottom line.
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Price Range
$4,990 - $5,490 CAD
Spring Session
$4,990 CAD
Module 1: April 17 - April 19, 2023
3 days
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Spring Session
$4,990 CAD
Module 1: May 8 - May 10, 2023
3 days
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Fall Session
$5,490 CAD
Module 1: October 16 - October 18, 2023
3 days
London, Ontario, Canada
Program Overview
Not a finance person? Do numbers seem like a different language? Dread the thought of cash flows or budget decisions? Finance for Non-Financial Professionals is designed specifically for individuals with little financial background. It starts with the basics and builds a foundation. You won’t feel “behind” your classmates. You’ll be comfortable asking questions and participating in class discussions.
The program helps you manage cash flows, make good financial decisions, and discuss statements with your finance and accounting colleagues. Through case studies and exercises, you become the decision-maker. Understand how to connect financial implications to strategy. Work with Ivey faculty to better understand your own organization’s statements. Determine the key questions you should ask when you return to the office. As you explore each business case, you’ll compare the situation to your firm’s financial issues. Understanding the numbers is crucial to making good business decisions and enhancing leadership impact.
Who Will Benefit
Finance for Non-Financial Professionals is designed for individuals looking to advance their careers by learning finance and accounting basics.
This program is open to individuals at any stage of their career and all organizational levels who wish to improve their decision-making with sound financial and accounting analysis.
What You Learn
Apply the basics of financial statements
- Become a pro at interpreting the income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements of your own firm.
- Gain insight into the relevance and limitations of key financial statements in annual reports.
- Get familiar with financial ratios and key performance measures.
Manage efficient day-to-day cash flows and working capital
- Understand cost measurement and cost behaviour.
- Make effective capital budgeting decisions by incorporating relevant cash flows, cost of capital, sensitivity analysis and qualitative factors.
Use financial information to make good decisions
- Identify key economic and industry factors, risks and opportunities, and financial implications.
- Understand the time value of money concepts.
- Get familiar with hurdle rates and return-on-investment requirements.
How You Learn
Finance for Non-Financial Professionals is deeply experiential, grounded in case research, and facilitated by expert faculty from Ivey Business School. Working in peer teams, you'll build financial acumen with other leaders and use real metrics to make sound decisions. You'll finish the program with new skills, crowdsourced wisdom, and enhanced skills in the world of business finance.
Learn more about the Ivey Experience
Expert Faculty Led Sessions
Ivey Case Method
Peer Learning Teams
Online Learning Activities
Return on Investment
- Earn a credential from Ivey Business School. Your Finance for Non-Financial Professionals digital badge is linked to a unique URL, allowing you to showcase your advanced proficiency in online profiles.
- Form lifelong connections with peers through learning and social events. The Ivey Academy alumni network is a long-term resource for participants to share business opportunities or seek advice on life and career challenges.
- Build new skills while taking time for mindfulness, reflection, and practice away from the demands of your day-to-day. Return to work with an open mind and increased confidence to be effective in your role.
- Receive discounts on select programs, exclusive event invitations, and curated collections of thought leadership and research from Ivey Business School.
- Advance your personal pathway for leadership development, bring a new financial perspective to your role, and enhance your long-term contribution to organizational success.
- Gain insights from across various sectors, industries, and organizations, borrowing best practices and new perspectives from outside your organization to jump-start innovation.
- Work more closely and efficiently with your organization’s finance team, ensuring your decisions are putting the organization’s fiscal health first.
Participant Testimonials
Being in a leadership position, you don’t do the number crunching anymore. You can lose touch with some of that analytical thinking around financials. I found that this program really spoke to my need at this time in my career to learn more about financial fundamentals and reset my perspective on how to look at numbers.
Kanchan Rakhra, Director of Commercial Management, MetrolinxI would 100% recommend it; it’s a great experience. My role is about using technology to drive value. To help a business, you need to understand how the business funds itself, where it places value, and how it gets capital to realize that value. This program gives you that perspective.
Sanjeevan Srikrishnan, Senior Manager Global Solutions Architecture, Equinix CanadaHaving different examples to look at, to see how other books are put together, and to see those differences across different industries and some of the similarities is super helpful. To see examples and not know that they’re actually Nike and Loblaws until afterwards is a big learning moment.
Mike Pierce, Vice President Sales & Marketing, Black Fly Beverage CompanyFor those who have an interest in Finance and Accounting but no background in the subjects, I can’t think of a better way to introduce the topics at a high but thoroughly understandable level. The program left one looking forward to further courses.
Jason Green, Director, Industrial Relations, J.D. Irving LimitedThe program has considerably broadened my knowledge in accounting and finance in a way that I could not have done on my own or over such a short period of time.
Nicole Blanchette, Executive Director, La RibambelleNo matter when you take this class during your career, it is a great investment.
Susan Wilson, Director, Human Resources, J.D. Irving LimitedFees
$4,990 - $5,490 CAD
The program fee covers program materials, meals, and hotel accommodations for programs held at our Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre. Program sessions offered in Toronto and Calgary include program materials, breakfast, and lunch; participants are responsible for accommodations and meals outside of program hours. Program fees are tax-exempt.
Applications must be submitted no later than 14 days before the start of the program.
FAQs
Organizations and participants in Canada may benefit from the Canada Job Grant or the Canada Training Credit to offset a portion of program fees. Visit our Funding Resources page to learn more.
On the program page, select 'Apply Now' and choose your preferred start date. Submit the program application form and select a payment method. Once your application is approved, you will be billed directly or receive an invoice. Payment of program fees is due within 30 days of receipt of invoice and no less than 15 days before the program start date.
Our Program Managers will contact all registered participants prior to the program start date with instructions to join our online Learning Management System. Once logged in, you will be able to create a class profile, view other participants' profiles, and access a list of assigned pre-reading, cases, and activities. Plan to review and complete preparation work in advance of each class session.
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