So, you’re moving up at your company. You have skills that make you essential. You’re good at your work, and you’ve had promotions, and now you’re meeting regularly with people from other divisions and learning new things.
But some of those people are using terms that make no sense to you. Terms like “EBITDA.” The financial people, and your boss, nod as though these things make sense. You don’t want to ask questions, and you’re starting to feel a bit left out.
You need to take Finance for Professionals, so that stuff starts to make sense. Fortunately, that is taught frequently as an Executive Education course at the Darla Moore School of Business. It will be offered again in the Spring 2026 semester.
“This is mainly for people for whom finance is not their mindset,” said Mark Cecchini, associate dean for Executive Education. “They have a problem with the vocabulary. It’s intimidating. Some of the words sound scarier than they really are.” To address that, a good bit of the class is about the terms and exactly what they mean.
This doesn’t turn experts in production, sales, HR, or research into accountants, but it helps them understand the company’s financial picture from a high level and gives them a better idea of how their own parts of the operations can affect the company’s overall financial success.
They also get a better idea of how to budget within their own departments – whether for an individual project, or the whole year.
“Our goal with this course is to demystify the important financial terminology and help you build your confidence in working with and presenting financial information,” said Cecchini. “You will leave this course with new tools in your toolkit. You will be able to make the business case for corporate investments you wish to make.”
Participants will learn:
- How to speak the language of financial managers.
- Effective cost management and cost-control strategies.
- Value-enhancing investments for the organization.
- Business income tax requirements.
- Successful budget management.
- Fundamentals for interpreting financial statements.
Most companies contain key players whose skills are vital to organizational success but are not themselves businesspeople. They, their departments and the entire operation benefit if they learn to speak what Cecchini terms “the language of business.”
You might be one of those people. If so, click here to learn more, and register.
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