Finance for Non-Financial Managers

Date: 24th & 25th February 2026

Modality: In-person

Duration: Two days, 9am-4pm

 Price: $2,409 (incl. GST). If you are eligible for the UoA Staff or Auckland Council Training Member discount, please email shortcourses@auckland.ac.nz before you register.

Short course structure and topics covered: 

This course is designed to provide you with a range of tools to understand what the numbers are saying (or not saying). You will learn the common errors often made and how to avoid them. At the end of the course, you will have a toolkit to help you build your financial acumen and ability to make better business decisions. 

Day One

• Financial management and the tools and techniques that define it
• The current financial landscape and language in business
• The purpose of financial statements and what financial statements are telling you
• Linking strategy to financial reality

Day Two

·         Constructing and reading budgets and forecasts

·         Calculating the costs of goods and services

·         The meaning of financial ratios and the implications for key performance indicators

·         Evaluating capital investment projects

·         The importance of working capital and cash management on the business

Learning outcomes: 

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

• Analyse and interpret financial statements to assess an organisation's financial health and identify key trends.
• Apply financial measures such as profitability ratios, and efficiency ratios to evaluate performance. 
• Differentiate between types of cost and apply costing techniques to support managerial decisions. 
• Prepare and evaluate budgets, taking into account behavioural implications, and use them to guide managerial decisions. 
• Use financial evaluation techniques to assess long term decisions. 
• Interpret financial informationcritically, recognising that numbers provide insights but do not prescribe a single course of action. 

Your organisation will benefit from your:

• Improved financial decision-making
• Cost control and efficiency
• Enhanced strategic planning
• Increased accountability  
• Improved communication with Finance teams.

Who should attend? / any entry requirements? 

All leaders and managers who want to feel confident and competent to read and interpret financial statements, budgets, and forecasts and discuss financial concepts effectively.

Anyone wanting to better determine the financial impact of their business decisions.

Previous participant reviews

 "The facilitator was excellent. He was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and fun. For a potentially dry subject, he made the course really interesting and enjoyable."

Nick Hadlee

ASB

If you would like to inquire about this course being run inhouse, please email shortcourses@auckland.ac.nz

Payment for short courses is normally by credit card. If you need to pay by invoice or require assistance, please email shortcourses@auckland.ac.nz. Please note that the University does not issue individual invoices for amounts less than $500 New Zealand dollars.