20 modules · ~90 min
Finance for Non-Finance People
The finance every employee runs into — the three statements, budgets and variance, working capital, business cases, and the executive money talk — in plain English.
This course is free — no account needed. Dive in.
Finish the course, earn a verifiable certificate. You get a unique credential ID and a public verification page — and you can add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click.
What you'll be able to do
Read the three financial statements — income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow statement — and how they connect
Read a P&L and tell gross, operating and net margin apart
Explain why a profitable company can still run out of cash
Work with budgets, forecasts, run rate and actual-vs-budget variance
Handle fixed vs variable costs, break-even, unit economics and working capital
Judge a business case with ROI, payback, NPV and IRR
Follow executive money talk: EBITDA, burn rate, runway and operating leverage
Understand how public companies are valued, acquired and integrated
Modules
20 in this track- Section 1 — How Company Finance Works
- 1How Finance Thinks: Revenue, Cost, Profit and CashFreeThe four words every finance conversation is built on — revenue, cost, profit and cash — and why profit and cash are not the same.Start →
- 2The Three Financial Statements — In Plain EnglishFreeWhat the income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow statement each tell you — and how the three connect into one picture.Start →
- 3Reading a P&L Without Being an AccountantFreeHow an income statement flows from revenue down to net profit, and how to read it line by line with confidence.Start →
- 4Profit, Gross Margin and Operating MarginFreeWhy profit is a dollar amount but margin is a percentage, and how gross, operating and net margin climb down the P&L.Start →
- 5Cash Flow: Why Profit Is Not the Same as CashFreeHow a company can be profitable on paper yet run out of cash, because profit is booked at the sale but cash arrives much later.Start →
- Section 2 — Budgets and Business Performance
- 6Budgets, Forecasts and Run RateFreeThe plan, the updated guess, and the simple math that turns one month into a full year.Start →
- 7Actual vs Budget: Understanding VarianceFreeWhy a department 'missed its number,' how to read favorable and unfavorable variance, and how to split a miss into volume and price.Start →
- 8Fixed Costs, Variable Costs and Break-EvenFreeWhich costs move with sales and which don't, the point where a business stops losing money, and why fixed costs make profit swing harder.Start →
- 9Unit Economics and Contribution MarginFreeDoes a single sale actually make money? Contribution margin, fixed vs variable costs, and the break-even logic behind 'unit economics.'Start →
- 10Cost Centers, Headcount and Department SpendingFreeHow companies group spending into buckets and why 'headcount' is the number everyone watches.Start →
- Section 3 — Making Better Business Decisions
- 11Pricing, Discounts and Margin CompressionFreeWhy a headline discount eats margin faster than it looks, why margins shrink, and how to read the workplace signals the squeeze creates.Start →
- 12CapEx vs OpEx: How Companies Classify SpendingFreeWhy a laptop and a subscription get treated differently, and what that means in everyday planning.Start →
- 13Working Capital: Inventory, Receivables and PayablesFreeWhy a profitable company can still run short of cash, and how receivables, inventory and payables trap or free it up.Start →
- 14Business Cases, ROI and Payback PeriodFreeHow to build the case for a spend, measure its return, and read a payback period without being fooled by it.Start →
- 15NPV and IRR Without the Complicated MathFreeWhy a dollar today beats a dollar next year, and how NPV and IRR turn that idea into a yes-or-no decision.Start →
- Section 4 — Understanding Executive Finance Conversations
- 16EBITDA and 'Adjusted' EarningsFreeWhat EBITDA measures, why people love it, and how 'adjusted' figures can flatter the truth. Reading earnings with a healthy dose of skepticism.Start →
- 17Burn Rate, Runway and LiquidityFreeHow fast a company spends its cash, how long that cash lasts, and whether it can cover the bills coming due soon.Start →
- 18Cost-Cutting, Restructuring and Operating LeverageFreeHow companies cut costs in a downturn, why fixed costs magnify profit swings, and how to read a restructuring without panic.Start →
- 19How Public Companies Are EvaluatedFreeWhat market cap and shareholders really mean, the two multiples investors quote, and how those same multiples put a price on a private company like Foundry.Start →
- 20Valuation, Acquisitions and Due DiligenceFreeThe capstone: put a concrete price on Foundry, see why a buyer would pay a premium, and learn why most of the risk lives in the integration afterward.Start →