Finance Fundamentals for Budget-Holders
Understand and use financial information in decision-making. Evaluate financial performance and transform your effectiveness as a manager.

Course overview
Finance for non-financial managers explains the financial concepts and accounting processes used in most businesses providing a foundation for you to understand and use financial information in decision making, including resource allocation and evaluating financial performance.
This one-day course places emphasis on the practical application of all concepts covered.
The course assumes participants can use a calculator and can do simple numeric calculations.
What you'll learn
- to understand the art of finance: the terminology and the assumptions, estimates and biases that underlie the numbers
- to understand the content and presentation of financial statements
- that profit is not equal to cash and the importance of cash
- how to read and analyse the accounting numbers including the use of ratios
Course modules
- Financial terminology and accounting concepts: the concepts and language of accounting is explained in easy to understand language
- Understanding the numbers: why profits and most assets are estimates and what underlies them
- The importance of cash as a reality check as to business performance
- How to use finance tools to assist in strategic decision-making
- Reading financial reports and understanding the financial picture
Further Information
Format
This course is delivered as a full-day in-person workshop at our Wellington venue. It includes a mix of facilitator-led sessions, small-group exercises, and whole-group discussion. Group size is limited to 16 participants to ensure meaningful interaction and personal feedback. Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea are provided to support networking and collaboration.
What You'll Receive
You will receive a digital certificate of attendance and a Wellington Uni-Professional digital badge. These include the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours completed, making them suitable for recognition by professional organisations and employers.
Here's what others are saying
“I found it extremely useful for equipping me as a lay person with some tools to help me make personal investment decisions. I now feel confident to read a financial statement, understand why it is structured the way it is, and do some useful analysis which before the course I did not.”