March 27, 2015
Members of Ontario Presents are invited to attend Orchestras Canada’s series of webinars on financial planning, featuring the Arts Accounting Guru, Heather Young.
Invite your Board members, volunteers, artists, presenters and administrators –especially those with interest in or responsibility for the topics being offered.
Please click on the hyperlinked text below to register for each session:
1. What’s the Big Deal? Wednesday April 1 at 1 pm
When you’re preparing for your board meeting, how can you tell which items on your financial statements require the most attention? In particular, are there any red flags?
We will discuss how to identify significant numbers and key indicators of financial health using two to three concepts each from Balance Sheet and Income Statement to illustrate.
2. Singing from the Same Songsheet Wednesday April 15 at 1 pm
Well-understood policies and procedures are the scaffolding for sound financial management.
We will address high-level stuff that may seem so obvious that it’s never stated – such as, our policy is to approve the budget before the start of the new fiscal year, and that revenues should exceed expenses.
We will also pin down niggling day to day concerns such as spending authorizations and the appropriate number of signing officers.
3. Slaying the Dragon [Deficit Management] Wednesday, May 6 at 1 pm
When a deficit occurs, conquering it may become the top priority.
In order to communicate the situation effectively to board and staff – and to strategize effectively – it’s important to understand how the situation arose.
We will consider types of deficits (e.g. structural vs. situational) and strategies for eliminating them over a do-able time frame.
About Presenter
Heather Clara Young has worked in the field of arts management for twenty-five years. Her experience includes leadership roles with a variety of arts and heritage service organizations, theatre and dance producing companies, galleries and museums, facilities, festivals and community organizations, in both professional and volunteer capacities. Before founding Young Associates in 1993, Heather had served as General Manager for both Nightwood Theatre and the Fringe of Toronto Festival.
As the Principal of Young Associates, Heather has provided bookkeeping and consulting services to dozens of organizations, and delivered professional workshops, training and seminars on topics ranging from budgeting to sales tax, to setting prices, to reading financial statements.
Heather’s book, Finance for the Arts in Canada, now in its second edition, is a unique self-study guide, reference source and textbook for the accounting and finance functions in cultural organizations. Used by numerous arts managers and various post-secondary institutions across Canada, it has been praised for its clear and straightforward approach to building excellence in financial skills