ACEC-BC: Financial Literacy for Technical Team Leaders

December 14, 2016
tbc, downtown Vancouver, BC Canada

Guest Speaker: Karen Chan, Senior Manager, KPMG

Today’s engineers and practice leaders need to be conversant with accounting and financial terminology to achieve goals, objectives and bottom-line results. Service delivery can only be harnessed if managers understand the fundamental financial concepts that drives businesses. This presentation will improve the financial literacy of practice leaders and to help gain confidence in making informed decisions based on financial data.  Attendees will gain a basic understanding in the language of business, including financial statements, profit contribution, cash flow and key measures of financial performance.

Learning Objectives:

In this presentation, learn how to interpret “the numbers” and make informed decisions based on financial data without the benefits of formal financial training. This presentation will help you to understand:

• What are financial statements
• Types of accounting: financial vs management accounting
• “Language of business” – profitability, asset utilization, sales, cost expenditures
• Identify fixed vs variable costs to improve profit contribution
• The importance of recognizing expenses and revenues on a cash vs accrual basis
• Payables and receivables—what manager must know to sustain cash flow
• Key financial ratios: profitability, efficiency/activity, shareholder ratio, liquidity