Course Description

A solid understanding of the Profit & Loss statement, the Budget v. Actual report, the Balance Sheet, and the aging reports is critical for running a sustainable program. This course teaches directors and owners how to read each report, how the reports fit together, and how to use them to make decisions and catch problems early. You will practice on a full year of reports from a fictional Maryland center, Harbor Oak Early Learning Center, available in both for-profit and nonprofit formats.

Learning Objectives

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

1. Identify key financial reports, their purposes, and critical financial indicators.
2. Understand how key reports interact to tell the complete financial picture.
3. Analyze data across reports for decision making.
4. Recognize trends that indicate reporting errors, fraud, theft, and other financial risks.
5. Create a routine for regularly analyzing financial reports.

Course Curriculum