Accounting Essentials for Technical Professionals
- Course Number: P1021
- Credits: 3 hours
- Instructor: Ellen Huang, PE
- Price: $30
Course Outline
This course is a practical introduction to the financial concepts that technical teams encounter every day—budgets, project costs, forecasts, and financial reports. The course explains how transactions flow through the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, and shows how common technical activities (labor charging, purchasing, change orders, capital spending, and delivery schedules) affect financial results. Participants will learn to interpret key metrics, identify early warning signs in project and departmental reporting, and communicate effectively with finance partners. No prior accounting background is assumed; the emphasis is on real-world examples, plain language, and decision-ready tools.
At the end of this course, there will be a multiple-choice, open-book quiz designed to enhance your understanding of the course material.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
- Be able to interpret the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement and explain how they connect.
- Be able to distinguish accrual versus cash impacts and identify how timing differences affect project and business performance.
- Be able to apply basic budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis to diagnose cost and margin drivers in technical work.
- Be able to use common financial metrics and controls to spot risks early and communicate actionable questions to finance stakeholders.