Executive Education Division of Continuing Education

This course is designed for participants who are new to finance and would like to build their competency to make informed financial decisions. This is especially suited for non-financial managers, decision-makers, and professionals taking on decision-making roles that require a basic knowledge of finance to make decisions.

Note: PEWD program participants should be 18 years or older.

This course requires a basic understanding of Microsoft Excel.

Ms. Christine Bradley

Christine Bradley is a proud resident of South Texas since 1993 and a lifelong learner who brings leadership and industry experience in finance, manufacturing, and accounting. For the last 16 years, she has served as the Senior Finance Manager at GE Aviation in McAllen, Texas, and is responsible for general accounting, controllership, and consulting with the operations team on initiatives, growth, and profitability. Prior to her position with GE, she served as a controller for various maquiladoras. She has also practiced as a CPA in Texas and Minnesota and received her MBA from the University of Texas-Pan American.

Note: If you are applying for the Continuing Education Private Loan to cover the registration fee for a non-credit continuing education program, then please use the UTRGV Continuing Education School Code: 003599. The loan amount you note in the application cannot exceed the open enrollment fee noted on our website. Books will NOT be included in the loan amount. The minimum for the loans must be $500.00. Some service charges may apply.

*The only loan provider PEWD accepts is Sallie Mae*

Please email pewd@utrgv.edu once you have been approved so we may certify your loan.

Private Loans

In this introduction session, you will learn the significance of finance in decision-making, review course learning objectives, and explore the capstone/case study exercise.

In this session, you will learn to navigate a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement and distinguish between assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, and expenses. You will build an understanding of components affecting profit on an Income Statement to make better financial decisions to improve profitability and performance.

• Identify, compare, and contrast company-wide financial statements
• Learn about critical components and accounts used in financial statements for decision-making and analysis
• Implement a performance and profitability improvement mindset while analyzing financial statements

In this session, you will understand how to use basic investment valuation techniques to make informed investment decisions. You will apply Microsoft Excel to calculate and evaluate investment decisions using conventional financial analyses: Return on Investment (ROI), Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) for break-even and profitability decisions, and Net Present Value (NPV).

• Learn to use popular financial ratios for period-to-period comparisons and performance analysis
• Understand and implement time value of money concepts in investment analysis
• Identify metrics and ratios critical to profitability assessments for decision-making

In this session, you will learn how to build a budget on Microsoft Excel to plan financial performance and strategic direction. You will understand the importance of budgeting elements such as sales, labor, materials, overhead, production, and expenses. In addition, you will learn how to conduct basic analyses to monitor performance against a budget.

• Understand the importance of a budget and how it aligns to organizational strategy
• Learn to build and recognize different schedules in the development of a master budget
• Perform calculations to build budget line items and conduct performance analyses

In this closing session, participants will have the chance to review and share lessons learned in the course, attend a Q&A session with our instructor, and wrap-up course content.