Numbers for Non-Finance Founders: Understanding Your Business Finances
- Focused on practical entrepreneurship — real decisions, not theory
- Live format with direct access to the presenter and Q&A time
- Accessible from anywhere — no travel required
What the session covers
Evening session plan
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Arrival and introductions 6:30 pm
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Profit vs cash: why the distinction matters 6:45 pm
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Building a basic cash flow forecast 7:15 pm
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Break 7:45 pm
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Break-even calculations for products and services 8:00 pm
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VAT: what it is, when it applies, what to do about it 8:30 pm
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Questions and close 9:00 pm
If you have a set of accounts or a recent bank statement and you want to look at them together, bring them along. It is optional but usually more useful than working with generic examples.
Siobhan Devereux
About this webinar
A lot of people who start businesses are good at the thing they sell. Fewer are comfortable with the financial side of running the business itself. This session is for the second group.
Presenter Siobhan Devereux is a chartered accountant who has worked with small businesses for eleven years. She runs this session twice a year because, in her words, the same misunderstandings keep causing the same problems. Founders confuse revenue with profit. They do not track cash flow separately from their bank balance. They underprice because they have not accounted for all their costs.
What gets covered
The session moves through four areas. First, the difference between profit and cash, and why a profitable business can still run out of money. Second, how to build a simple monthly cash flow forecast using a spreadsheet. Third, how to calculate a break-even point for a product or service. Fourth, what VAT registration involves and when it becomes relevant.
There is no assumption of prior financial knowledge. The language used is plain. The examples are drawn from real small business situations, not theoretical scenarios.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own numbers if they have them. Working through actual figures is more useful than working through invented ones. Anything shared in the room stays in the room.