Introduction to Financial Management
Whether you are starting a new business or looking to organize your current business’ finances, accurate financial information is one of the most valuable tools you have to drive success. This course seeks to set participants on the right path by providing a “101” overview of financial bookkeeping, accounting terminology and concepts, a breakdown of the key financial statements, and a brief introduction to financial management.
This class is designed for participants who:
- Work with a professional accountant, but want to maximize that investment by knowing the basics and being able to focus on strategy
- Do not have an accounting background.
- Would benefit from breaking down the components of each of the “Big 3” financial statements – the Profit & Loss (Income) Statement, the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flow
- Are unsure how to organize financial information to ensure accurate records
- May be uncomfortable with “the numbers side” of the business and are looking to increase familiarity
- Are looking for an introduction to key financial tools and concepts, or those who are looking to revisit these topics
- Have recently taken on financial support roles in their business, or who need a general understanding of accounting to be successful in their roles
- Have already built a business plan (formal or informal), and can answer basic information about their revenue streams, pricing, costs, etc. Haven’t nailed down these details yet? Consider taking Biz Smart Sprint or the Entrepreneurial Training Program
Learning objectives
- Establishing a good organizational system and clear accounting processes
- Develop a basic understanding of accounting terminology
- Understand the key components of the “Big Three” financial statements – balance sheet, P&L statement, and cash flow statement
- Learn more about the impact of breakeven on the bottom line
- Practice a few examples of analyzing financial information to understand how your numbers relate to your business
- Help you “put the narrative to the numbers” and begin to be able to ask questions about what you see in your financial statements. By working with your team and/or accountant, you will first be able to understand what is happening, and eventually be able to make incremental improvements.
This course does not:
- Teach specific recordkeeping tools or software
- Provide personalized financial advice
- Discuss tax planning – tax laws are complex, highly individualized, and change regularly; seek the advice of an accounting tax professional
BONUS! Custom Workbook!
BONUS! Based on feedback from our clients – believe it or not, they asked for homework! – we designed a custom workbook to accompany the class content. Whether you are brand new to financial concepts or refreshing your memory, this workbook helps you connect the concepts we are learning in class to the context of your business – and provides a blend of concepts and calculations to help you make meaning from what you are learning.
We believe that by being able to identify and thoroughly understand the components of your three key financial statements and business model, you will be much better equipped to make clear financial decisions in the future. The workbook also gives you the chance to make some basic calculations on your own time, along with an explanation of the answer and meaning so that you can begin to understand some of the financial information in your own context.
Registration Information
Dates: October 19 – November 16, 2026
Schedule: Mondays, 4:00 pm – 5:45 pm CST
Location: Live Virtual
Fee: $289
We consider business financial education to take place along a spectrum of learning:
- Recordkeeping/bookkeeping (accurately tracking your financial transactions)
- Accounting (understanding how to read “the numbers,” interpret financial statements, identify trends, etc.)
- Financial management (taking an active role in the future planning of the direction of your business).
This course focuses primarily on bookkeeping and the fundamentals of accounting.
Registration Fall 2026
Dates: Mondays
- October 19, 2026
- October 26, 2026
- November 2, 2026
- November 9, 2026
- November 16, 2026
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:45 pm CST
Location: Live virtual; Zoom link will be sent within 24 hours of the class start time
Fee: $289 (includes course workbook)
Registration Deadline Type
Early Bird Closes: 9/28/2026
Late Registration Begins: 10/11/2026
Course Registration Closes: 10/18/2026
Registration Fees
Early Registration Fee: $232
Late Registration Fee: $318
Cancellation Policy: Due to program costs and space limitations for these programs, participants are expected to cancel their registration at least 24 hours ahead of the program. Cancellations that occur less than 24 hours prior to the start of the program will be considered no-shows and may be removed from future programming and/or charged a course fee.
Disability Statement: Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu to request accommodations.
Registration policy: Payment will be required at the time of registration. You must have either a credit card or a valid UW-Madison funding string to be able to register.
Kayta Gruneberg, CPA
Instructor
Kayta received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Master of Accountancy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She began her career at Deloitte in their Mergers & Acquisitions group, supporting clients with financial due diligence across both buy-side and sell-side transactions. She then transitioned to the nonprofit sector, where she currently serves as Sr. Director of Finance at YWCA Richmond. The YW provides domestic and sexual violence services and operates the Sprout School, a network of five early childhood education centers. In her role, Kayta oversees grant management, budgeting, financial reporting, audit, and leads the organization’s financial strategy – including the development of a housing campus that will provide safe, stable housing for survivors of domestic violence.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and will be reviewing the materials multiple times for implementation into my business. I enjoyed the examples of calculations and would love to have more of those to work through together in class. I do plan to take the intermediate class to gain more understanding of finances.
Thanks to Kayta and Heather! This was a great baseline course what made me hungry for more accounting knowledge and game me the resources to keep pursuing it.
[I gained] many new perspectives on how to analyze numbers; this will give me new ways to evaluate my business, and I feel more aware! [The class included] tons of great info – new and valuable to me is how to calculate breakeven; I found this very useful! The whole session was great!
Loved our presenters Kayta and Heather; you can tell there is passion in teaching accounting to others!
The course empowered me. I have the confidence now to do the business side of my small business. The materials matched my level of expertise (beginner) and supported me as I gained knowledge. Kayta and Heather knocked it out of the park in both content and delivery to adult learners. I loved the way Kayta made me feel ok with the level of knowledge I had. I thought the design of the course was perfect.
Expectations were high for participation; there was the right balance of lecture and break out rooms, and I loved the workbook! [It] felt very empowering to be able to answer the questions [in the workbook]. Heather was always attentive to us and made sure our questions were answered. Well done!!
It was a big help to have a whole day on each of the 3 main financial documents. My key takeaways will be to take an action item to identify key financial ratios that will help keep us on track in the business as it changes over time.
This course will help me manage my business and work more intelligently with my bookkeeper. I appreciate learning about the macro and micro insights that good financial management offers… [the instructors’] joint teaching style invited questions, and you treated each question with great respect and encouragement. You offered a safe space for learning finance no matter what level the student was at. Thank you… The recordings and workbook will be an outstanding help as I integrate the lessons into my business. Thank you for the obvious effort you made on and off the screen to create an easy to understand, comprehensive introduction to finance.
I would highly recommend the course to other entrepreneurs, managers and leaders. I feel this gives them the ability to get a pulse of the business and will help them in decision making… an absolute value for money. I refreshed [my knowledge of] a lot of financial concepts and got a better understanding of the cost structure of my organization’s products after this course.
This course is a great resource for beginner and intermediate business owners; the information I learned from this course is knowledge I will be able to use the rest of my life in my business.
Both instructors were really personable, professional and enthusiastic. They were fun to spend time with. And they were really responsive to student comments in both chat and vocally. Workbook is well laid out for self-work.
The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the Office of Business & Entrepreneurship within the Universities of Wisconsin. It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison is also part of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub at UW-Madison.
The Wisconsin SBDC at UW-Madison helps entrepreneurs succeed at any stage. We offer no-cost, confidential consulting and business education across a wide region, primarily serving Dane, Sauk, and Columbia counties. SBDC services are provided in a nondiscriminatory way to all legal residents and citizens in the US.
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact us at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or call (608) 263-2221.