Finance 101: Basic Financial Literacy

It may have been 37 degrees on Wednesday 13 December, but that didn’t deter an eager group of sport administrators to get out of the heat and seek refuge in an air-conditioned conference room to learn the basics of accounting at Vicsport’s VPN event: Finance 101 – Basic Financial Literacy.

In a relaxed, comfortable setting of the Amora Hotel in Richmond, industry professionals from a wide variety of sports in Victoria came to enhance their financial skills to gain a better understanding of how to run their organisations.

Representatives from Table Tennis Victoria, Triathlon Victoria, the Southern Football and Netball league and Disability Sport and Recreation of Victoria had the opportunity to discuss balance sheets, profit and loss statements, budgets and how to manage cash flow.

Steven Gatt, Managing Director of Sports Accounting Australia conducted the session, presenting information in simple, easy to understand language. Tips on how to plan, forecast and manage budgets became a major focus, people wanting to learn how to monitor their cash flow around peak times of competition.

Year to date reporting vs full year forecast reports were discussed at length, and the decisions an organisation can make from reviewing accurate balance sheets. Steven went into detail about the benefits of having a “good set of books” that provides a clear picture of how a business is travelling and the real-time reports that can be generated from a bank balance - who owes you money and what bills need to be paid.

Steven signed off by emphasising the need to have a good accounting system set up in an organisation to ensure all financial data is under control, allowing sport administrators to focus on their strengths within the business rather than trying to control the extensive paperwork.