Business Acumen Series
Accounting Essentials
Understanding the Language of Business
Noteworthy Quote: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." — Benjamin Franklin
Program Overview
The practice of accounting is often referred to as the "Language of Business," and this workshop will give participants a better understanding of why this is true. Understanding the financial reporting process and the components of a basic set of financial statements is important in today's environment because over 90 million Americans hold investments in stock. Additionally, given the recent collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, as well as government takeovers of AIG, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae, it is clear that individuals need a better understanding of accounting basics.
Participants will be exposed to and practice creating the following components of a basic set of financial statements:
- Balance Sheet: Represents a snapshot of a firm's financial position at a point in time
- Income Statement: Represents the financial results of a firm's activities over a period of time
- Statement of Owner's Equity: Represents the ownership interests and claims at a point in time
- Statement of Cash Flows: Represents the results of a firm's cash inflows and outflows over a period of time from its operating, investing, and financing activities.
Who should attend?
This workshop is designed for any professional seeking to improve their knowledge and skills with regards to accounting and finance. Participants typically include new managers and directors, middle managers, and experienced managers identified as having executive potential that need to better communicate and interact with CFOs and other senior accounting and finance executives within the organization or within key client organizations.
How will this benefit you and your organization?
Participants in the workshop will get hands-on practice with the topics covered by developing a set of personal financial statements, which represents a small-scale example of the process corporations use to prepare financial statements.
What topics are covered?
The morning session will cover the Balance Sheet and Income Statement, with the Balance Sheet coverage focusing on the meaning of asset, liability, and owner's equity accounts, and specific account classifications and usage within each type of account. The Income Statement coverage will focus on the meaning of revenue, expense, gain, and loss accounts, and how we use these accounts to determine a firm's financial results over a period of time (e.g., quarter or year). We will also discuss how financial results are reported to investors and creditors, and how they use this information to make rational investment or credit decisions.
The afternoon session will cover the Statement of Owner's Equity and Statement of Cash Flows, with the Owner's Equity coverage focusing on the meaning of common stock, preferred stock, treasury stock, comprehensive income, and retained earnings. The final topic covered will be the Statement of Cash Flows and the meaning of operating, investing, and financing activities, and how all four financial statements work together to provide investors and creditors information on the financial health of the firm.
Faculty
Mark C. Dawkins is an associate professor of accounting for the J.M. Tull School of Accounting at the Terry College of Business. Mark also serves as the Terry College's associate dean for academic programs. He teaches MBA Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting I, and Accounting Internships at the UGA Tull School of Accounting. In 2003 and 2006, Mark was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year and Accounting Teacher of the Year by Beta Alpha Psi and Alpha Kappa Psi. He earned a PhD in accounting from Florida State University.
*The Terry College of Business and The Office of Executive Programs reserve the right to change this workshop's instructor without prior notice to participants.
Duration and Cost
This is a one-day workshop held from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the UGA Terry Executive Education Center located at 3475 Lenox Road, Suite 300, in Buckhead. In 2009, this workshop is offered on:
- Tuesday, March 2
The workshop fee is $750. A 10% discount is available to companies that send a team of two or more to the same workshop. The registration deadline for the March 2 workshop is March 1.
The Terry College of Business offers sixteen (16) different one-day workshops in the areas of leadership, operations management, accounting and finance, sales and marketing, and strategy. If a person completes six (6) workshops within a 12-month period they receive a University of Georgia Terry Certificate in Business Management. If a person completes ten (10) workshops, including all four of the workshops in the leadership series, within a 24-month period they receive a University of Georgia Terry Advanced Certificate in Business Leadership.
Registration Options
Register a group of two or more »
Please contact the Office of Executive Programs at 706-425-3051 for more information.
Contact Information
University of Georgia
Executive Education Center in Atlanta
One Live Oak Center
3475 Lenox Road
