• University of Leeds

Starting a Business 5: Managing Finances

Find out how forecasting and managing your finances can lead to a profitable and sustainable business.

52,412 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    2 hours

This course is the fifth in a series of six about ‘starting a business’. You can sign up to the other courses in this series through the Going to University collection.

The management of finances is crucial to a successful business; financial information provides the evidence to support your decisions about a business and helps to justify those decisions when you present them to other people. Whether you have an idea for a venture in the future or you already have a side-line business whilst studying, this course will help you manage your finances and provide relevant and timely information. It will give you the time to plan, share your ideas with others and start to document your thoughts in a structured business plan.

Note for students

This course is part of a collection from the University of Leeds which have been specifically designed for those studying at school or college. All of the courses will help to enrich and extend your knowledge in a specific topic and develop your transferable skills. These courses will help you with making decisions about which subject to study at university and will give you examples and evidence when developing your university application.

Throughout the course you will join a community of online learners, providing an opportunity for interactive learning with other students both in the UK and internationally.

Each course is designed to complement your existing studies and aims to:

  • provide evidence for UCAS applications and prepare you for university
  • help you to gain new skills, think critically and learn independently
  • encourage online / social learning
  • develop collaboration and analytical skills
  • embed current research into your online learning

For information about degrees available at the University of Leeds, please visit our course finder website.

Note for teachers

Aimed at prospective Undergraduate students both in the UK and internationally, our online courses provide a ‘taster’ of Undergraduate study at the University of Leeds.

Our courses benefit from being shaped by the latest research from the University of Leeds and are presented by leading academics who are actively engaged in pioneering research. They will inspire your students to think critically and develop their knowledge and analytical skills.

The course can be used as a wider classroom or enrichment resource or can be used independently by students to discover more about the subject area. Each course provides flexible study and benefits from online discussions with other learners.

If you would like to know more about this course or the range of courses from the University of Leeds designed specifically for schools and colleges, please visit our teachers’ pages for further information and resources.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 8 seconds This is the fifth course in a series of six, designed to help you on the journey of entrepreneurship. In this course, we illustrate the importance of financial information and forecasting. Financial information is key to the success of any business. It provides entrepreneurs with the evidence to support their decisions and helps to justify those decisions when presenting them to other people. You will have the opportunity to explore the importance of financial forecasting. By considering a range of forecasting techniques through videos, activities, and quizzes, this series of business courses introduce case studies of young entrepreneurs who are already on the journey. They share their business challenges with you and a panel of business advisers.

Skip to 0 minutes and 50 seconds Through discussion and activities, you have plenty of opportunity to define and work on your business plan, as well as helping others.

Skip to 0 minutes and 58 seconds Sign up now to “Starting a Business: Managing Finances.”

What topics will you cover?

  • The importance of financial information
  • An introduction to key financial information: sales revenue forecast; profit and loss forecast; and cash flow forecast
  • Analysing and interpreting financial performance
  • How to increase profitability
  • Marketing a product in terms of price and number of sales
  • Key financial forecasts: determining the viability of a business opportunity
  • The business plan: business finances

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Discuss why forecasting and planning are key skills within any successful business.
  • Discuss sales revenue forecast, net profit and the purpose of a cash flow forecast.
  • Evaluate the entrepreneur’s business challenge: How can Hannah make her business more profitable?
  • Identify business finances in a business plan.
  • Assess costs, prices, gross profit and cash flow forecasts.

Who is the course for?

Who will you learn with?

Associate Professor in Enterprise at the University of Leeds. Passionate about entrepreneurship. Part of the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies team delivering 'Starting a Business'

Who developed the course?

University of Leeds

As one of the UK’s largest research-based universities, the University of Leeds is a member of the prestigious Russell Group and a centre of excellence for teaching.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn

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