Course List
All These Courses are in my FAST Program
FAST (Finance and Strategy Toolkit) is a membership program that gives you access to a massive collection of resources for small business advisors and staff. The right tools save you time, reduce your stress, and improve your effectiveness.
FREE Monthly Mini-Courses
Every month, I offer a free on-demand mini-course. These mini-courses are a sample of a few videos from one of my full courses. The mini-courses are available for only one week each month.
The link to each month's mini-course is sent to all the subscribers of my Weekly Insights Newsletter.
Subscribers also get:
I’ll also send occasional updates about ways CFO Perspective can help you improve your business. You can always unsubscribe so there’s no risk to you.
Most Popular Course
KPIs are more than metrics. They’re the foundation of your most important decisions. KPIs define success to drive success. This course explains:
Small business strategic planning should quickly lead you from defining where you are going to deciding how to get there. Getting there takes a well-built strategy and implementation plan. Get planning and management tools with the basics of how to use them.
A new location is a major commitment of time and money with the potential to expand a company’s business and increase profits.
New locations also come with risks. Sales may be lower than expected while costs are higher. The new location may pull more resources from existing operations and strategy than anticipated.
I'll give you step-by-step guidance on how to decide whether a new location will increase profits or destroy value.
It’s time to stop yourself from making quick, emotional decisions by allowing yourself to think clearly to reach a better decision. Overcome your destructive financial impulses by understanding common thinking mistakes.
With my Behavioral Finance course, you can avoid these costly financial decision-making mistakes. The course will help you to learn science-backed ideas to make better financial decisions.
Business loans are a vital source of funding for cash flow management. The course begins with ratio analysis and cash flow projections to determine whether loan funding is needed. I then explain how leverage (the use of borrowed funds) magnifies returns but increases risk.
We then explore key loan components like different ways interest is calculated, types of fees, and the multiple terms that can be structured into a loan.
You’ll discover ways to reduce the interest rate on your loan. I give an overview of the application process and the documents lenders frequently request.
Key documents that are signed at loan closing are described, and the importance of each is explained. I’ll point out important clauses included in these documents.
Lost profits due to poor financial management are common with small businesses. A cash flow projection is the most important tool to master your cash flow. A cash flow projection can help you:
- Identify “cash leaks” that are draining your profits
- Spot periods of low cash flow before they become a crisis
- Know when you have the cash to capture opportunities
- Plan your dividends and equity distribution
Learn how to create a cash flow projection with a basic template for Excel/Google Sheets. I walk you step-by-step on how to fill it out using an example company.
You get what you value when you provide value to others. Business success comes from creating value for owners, customers, and employees. In this program, you'll identify exactly what each of these three groups value and how to increase that value - and your success.
Get a financial overview of the entrepreneurial journey from startup to operational decisions to exit planning. You’ll hear from a business banker guest speaker who explains what lenders look at when deciding whether to make a loan to a small business.
You’ll learn:
KPIs are more than metrics. They’re the foundation of your most important decisions. KPIs define success to drive success. This course explains:
One of the greatest sources of stress for small business owners is managing cash flow. 69% of business owners who have been kept up at night by concerns about cash flow. More than half of U.S. businesses have lost $10,000 or more by foregoing a project or sales specifically due to issues created by insufficient cash flow.
This course shows you how to assess current and future cash flows. You learn techniques to increase cash flow and reduce dips in cash flow. I list critical sources of cash for businesses, along with the pros and cons of major sources.
I explain how to prepare a cash flow projection. You discover a company’s sustainable growth rate and how to increase it. I show you how leverage can increase growth, profit, and cash. Leverage also comes with risks and I explain how to manage those risks.
Marginal Profitability Analysis provides relevant decision information for setting prices, product design and product profitability. Analysis of whether to open or close locations or divisions can also be done with marginal profitability analysis.
The course provides practical examples of making decisions with marginal profitability analysis. Examples include determining optimal production amounts and which products to promote. The final section explains how to calculate the change in profitability from a price increase and a price decrease. A worksheet template is provided for this analysis.
What performance secret can you learn from Google, Intel, and Intuit?
Objectives and Key Results, also known as OKRs, have become very popular for improving company performance. They have powered success at companies like Google, Intel, and Intuit.
OKRs can improve focus, engagement, innovation, and performance. I'll walk you step-by-step through how to implement OKRs at your company
Discover SBA loan programs and resources that could help your business. This course helps business owners and their advisors better understand the purpose of SBA loan programs, who's eligible, and whether U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans are the right funding for the business.
Understanding all the SBA loan programs, where to get more info, and where to find lenders can be daunting. I'll give you two templates that summarize this for you and help you quickly get the information you need.
Deciding the business structure choice, also known as business entity choice, that best fits your business can be overwhelming. This course will guide you through the benefits business structures can provide. You'll learn which structures can provide the benefits you need.
This course explains the benefits business structures can provide and lists the pros and cons of popular structures.
