Jul
16
2018
Can your career afford to ignore finance?
Many managers would rather not spend too much time on finance, so if you feel that way just know you’re not alone! Perhaps it’s the bit of your job that you never really have/make time for, or maybe you struggle with it and have never been taught properly about finance. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that if you can talk about the money side of things you are likely to be more successful in your career. Imagine trying to sell a project or idea to decision-makers and not being able to discuss a simple model that shows its benefits and costs; how can they understand how good your idea is? Not being able to contribute to the finance conversation can be career limiting, but what can you do about it?
Learn the language
Like a lot of subjects, accounting has its own words and language. This can make it seem inaccessible and difficult, but once you have the basics it will be much more straight forward and lose its mystique.
Face the fear
A lack of confidence with numbers could be what’s holding you back, but it’s important to remember that business finance only requires a basic level of maths. A common issue is that people struggle because they make it more complex than it needs to be; it can be difficult to believe that it’s actually easy!
Understand your organisation
Do you know what profit or surplus your organisation made last year? Or what areas most money is spent in? Are there any financial issues that you should be concerned about? Understanding your organisations financial statements is vital knowledge for both employees and managers, so do make sure that you look at them. The easiest place to find them is usually the website.
Engage and ask questions
Do ask questions so that you understand more about finance and how it works in your organisation, you might find a ‘friendly’ finance person who is happy to help and explain things. You might discover that more detailed/relevant financial information is available to help you in your role. It will also enable you to feel confident in discussing and asking finance questions in more formal environments.
Take a finance course
For many managers the first step in their finance journey is to take a finance course. At the Centre our courses are designed to step you through finance in a very practical way. To support you at each step in a safe environment, making sure that you understand finance principles and how they apply to your organisation. We also make sure that you understand the ‘jargon’ and are able to feel confident engaging in financial conversations.
For more information on our finance course, click here.
