Online Director Finance Essentials: Board Literacy

Overview

This course follows NACD curriculum and is run by Potawatomi Ventures board member, Ryan Dyer. There will be an acceptance of a few Forest County Potawatomi Tribal Members per session. The purpose of this course is to educate members on financial literacy in the business world. This is especially helpful and useful information for people interested in working for a corporate entity, or serving as a board member as the information aligns with high level corporate finance.

Course Abstract

This course helps you attain, or maintain, that basic literacy in finance and financial statements. It is intended to help you “fill in the gaps.” Regardless of your background or previous corporate experience, you can feel more confident that you have a solid foundation in financial analysis that all board members should have in common, after you have completed this course.

The course is taken as a group with individual online work in conjunction with weekly discussions focused on Potawatomi Ventures and led by PV Board Member Ryan Dyer.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, among other things, you should be able to do the following:

- Recall specific examples of how the practical duties of a board member, existing laws, or financial market policies mandate that directors attain a sufficient level of financial literacy.
- Identify the three principal financial statements and give examples of the line items within them.
- Recall several ratios and other common standards that may be used to analyze information in the Potawatomi Ventures financial statements.
- Categorize financial ratios by the analytical purpose to which they are most appropriately applied.
- Identify common ways that corporate financial data may affect the expectations of shareholders and other stakeholders.
- Recognize the typical roles of board committees in financial oversight.

At the end of the course, you will be directed to take a short exam based on these learning objectives. You must pass that exam to complete the course.

Course Format

The course is divided into five sections, which build that foundational literacy brick-by-brick:

Financial Literacy: A Director's Duty—Learn why every director is expected to know the financial basics as a legal and practical matter—and how that knowledge provides an opportunity.

Financial Statements: A Refresher—Cement your understanding of balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, and learn how to begin analyzing them in your role as a director.

Financial Basics for the Oversight of Strategy and Business—This is a primer on how to apply what you learn from the financial statements in the boardroom, with an emphasis on four areas: asset management, profitability, cash flow management, and raising capital. This section covers the key ratios and financial analysis that every director needs to know how to apply, no matter whether your organization is large or small or whether it is public, private, or nonprofit.

Financial Basics for the Oversight of Disclosure and Securities Compliance—This section focuses on basic financial issues of high concern for publicly traded companies (or companies about to go public). For those companies, directors must also be cognizant of the expectations of equity markets, stakeholders, and regulators and how they will view the company's financial statements.

Financial Basics and Auditing—This final section gives you a glimpse ahead into more advanced matters of corporate finance and acquaints you with the role of auditors and the board's audit committee.

Course Materials

Course materials are aligned with the NACD program curriculum. There are limited materials required for the program; however, the applicant will be responsible for these expenses. Course fees are a one-time, non-refundable, $300.

Time Dedication/ Commitment

This course will meet once a week for about an hour, for six weeks; the day and time are to be set by the students each session. The program also requires an additional 3-4 hour dedication to studying and homework.

Experience

This course will touch on numerous topics of corporate finance, financial literacy, and financial data; therefore, a bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or other related field is preferred.

Potawatomi Business Development Corporation

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