Stanford Executive Education: Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive

How do you use finance and accounting to tell a compelling story about your company? How do you make better corporate decisions using numbers? And how can you effectively communicate the financial performance and value of your business? Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive will help you do all three—with greater competence and confidence.

Program tuition includes private accommodations, all meals, and course materials.

Cancellation Policy

Take the next step Apply now

Overview

Balance sheets and income statements. Cash flow and financial management. Many executives rise to positions of great responsibility with less knowledge of finance and accounting than they’d like to have. Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive will demystify the data, clarify key concepts, and teach you important frameworks and fundamentals.

This highly focused curriculum taught by world-class faculty from Stanford Graduate School of Business will help you identify trends, make performance comparisons with competitors, and practice financial forecasting. You'll explore how much debt a company should accept, the appropriate analysis for better investment decisions, the measurement of the cost of capital, and the payment of cash dividends to investors. Bottom line, you'll learn how to make better financial management decisions to increase the value of your company in the marketplace.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

Faculty Directors

Other Faculty

George G. C. Parker

The Dean Witter Distinguished Professor of Finance, Emeritus, and Faculty Director of the Stanford Master of Science in Management for Experienced Leaders program, is a recognized expert in financial services and is acclaimed for his spirited teaching of both MBA students and executives. He is the author of Risk Management: Problems and Solutions (Mcgraw-Hill College, 1995).

Madhav V. Rajan

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Stanford Graduate School of Business, oversees the MBA and MSx programs. He is Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting and also Professor of Law (by courtesy) at Stanford Law School. Rajan specializes in the economics-based analysis of management accounting issues. He is coauthor of Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, the leading text in the field.

Associate Professor of Finance

Paul L. and Phyllis Wattis Professor of Management; Director of the Mergers and Acquisitions Executive Program

Maureen McNichols

Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Public and Private Management; Professor of Law (by courtesy), School of Law; Philip F. Maritz Faculty Fellow for 2014-2015

Video Introduction

Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive

“It's essential to have an understanding of finance and accounting, because it is the way companies keep score." - George G. C. Parker:

Meet faculty directors George G. C. Parker and Madhav Rajan to learn how this unique program can give you the competence and confidence to tell the story of your company through the lens of finance and accounting.

Key Benefits

Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive will help you:

Become a well-informed, strategic user of accounting and financial data
Understand the core concepts, terms, and techniques of finance and accounting
Utilize financial concepts to make more informed decisions and become a greater asset to your company
Engage more effectively with the financial stakeholders in your company
Communicate with the key sources of finance—banks, other lenders, and investors
Gain a broad overview of the financial marketplace and the role a company plays within it

Program Highlights

CONSTRUCTION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Study the mapping between underlying economic events and financial statements, and how this mapping affects inferences about future profitability and cash flows. In particular, you will examine the construction of financial statements from transaction information and recognize the importance of judgment in accounting and its potential effect on financial statements.

DECISION MAKING
Understand how to gather and use accounting and cash-flow information to make short-term and long-term managerial decisions and recognize the critical role played by taxes in capital budgeting situations.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE: THE CHOICE BETWEEN DEBT AND EQUITY
Identify the factors that must be considered in determining a firm's optimal capital structure and learn how the market reacts to changes in that structure.

Who Should Attend?

Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive is ideal for executives with little to no academic training in finance or accounting. It's specifically designed for:

Mid- to senior-level executives in general management, corporate planning, marketing and sales, or other functional areas—from any size company, any industry, and any country
Anyone in a top level position who doesn't feel comfortable with the ability to understand financial statements, financial information, and making financially based decisions

SAMPLE Participant Mix

This week has been like a brain-spa for the busy executive... the frameworks that I learned at Stanford's Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive will enable me to ask the right questions about my company's practices and goals.

– Marya L. Andrepont

Deputy Program Manager
Lockheed Martin Space and Strategic Missiles

Hearing the perspective of a diverse group of participants on the issues and topics presented was invaluable in my learning experience. I gained much more insight in assessing the financial performance/condition of other companies which will aide in my primary function in mergers and acquisitions.

– Lester A. Zitkus

Vice President
Equitable Production Company

Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive program combines principles of finance and accounting with discussion of application to recent events and highlighted the use of financial tools to better manage and create value in my operation.

– Marshall M. Criser III

VP Regulatory / External Affairs
BellSouth

As an HR executive for a public company, financial acumen is becoming increasingly more critical to the job. In one week, the FANFE program demystified the world of finance and accounting for me and I feel much more confident in my abilities to analyze financial information.

– Kelley Steven-Waiss

VP, Worldwide Human Resources
PMC-Sierra, Inc.

Of course you learn on the job, but that process takes years. By attending Stanford's Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Executive and learning from the world's best teachers, the education is faster and more cost effective.

– Giuseppe A. D'Angelo

Regional Vice President
General Mills Europe

Facilities

Stanford University

The Stanford campus is world renowned for its natural beauty, Spanish mission-style architecture, and temperate climate. With more than 8,180 acres (3,310 hectares), Stanford's campus ranks as one of the largest in the United States. Participants in Stanford's Executive Programs become part of a quintessential university setting, residing together, walking or biking to classes, and enjoying access to Stanford University facilities.

The Knight Management Center

Opened in spring 2011, the Knight Management Center has transformed the Stanford Graduate School of Business into a vibrant and unified indoor-outdoor, living and learning community. Participants will take classes at this new state-of-the-art campus, which features tiered classrooms with extensive floor-to-ceiling glass, the latest in audiovisual technology, numerous breakout and study rooms, outdoor seating areas to encourage informal discussion, and an open collaboration lab that employs hands-on and design thinking techniques.

Schwab Residential Center

Designed by renowned Mexican architect, Ricardo Legorreta, the Schwab Residential Center gives residents ample privacy while promoting collegial interaction through shared lounges, outdoor meeting areas, a library, and an exercise room.

Contact

Lisa Blair

Associate Director, Programs and Marketing

Phone: +1.650.736.8473
Email: lwblair@stanford.edu

The Stanford Difference

The Place: Immerse yourself in innovation.
The Experience: Transform your thinking, your career, your company.
The Approach: Challenge yourself with research-based learning and real-world experience.