What is Business Acumen?
"Business acumen is… a good understanding of how all the pieces of a business fit together to produce a coherent set of actions and a financial result."
Finance & Decision-MakingDuration: 1.5 Days
Format: In-person
Finance is the Language of Business—develop your leaders’ ability to analyze, plan, and influence long-term success.
Key Learning Objectives
This program gives leaders the tools and insights to make confident, data-driven decisions. By mastering financial concepts and analysis, participants will connect day-to-day actions to long-term strategic goals, aligning their decisions with the company’s success.
Leaders will:
Master financial statements to make confident, data-driven decisions.
Understand the difference between managing cash and managing profit—and why both matter.
Build practical skills in budgeting and forecasting for short- and long-term planning.
Analyze key metrics like ROI and ROA to evaluate business performance.
Apply tools like break-even and income statement analysis to solve real-world challenges.
Strengthen understanding of cost structures, capacity utilization, and working capital management.
Balance immediate priorities with strategic goals to improve profitability.
Collaborate across departments to align decisions with the company’s big-picture objectives.
Outcomes for Your Organization
This program helps leaders bridge short-term operations with long-term strategy. By strengthening financial planning and decision-making skills, they’ll align actions with organizational priorities, driving efficiency, profitability, and growth.
Build confident leaders who balance day-to-day operations with long-term planning.
Develop teams with advanced decision-making skills to improve financial health.
Foster collaboration across departments through a shared financial language.
Boost morale as leaders feel capable of driving meaningful business results.
Enhance communication and speed of decision-making with aligned priorities.
Prepare leaders to adapt to market changes with strategic foresight.
Increase efficiency and profitability through smarter resource allocation and risk management.
Ready to Bring These Results to Your Organization?
Take the first step toward transforming your team’s finance & decision-making skills.
Strategic Learning
Teams will take charge of a simulated company, making decisions that impact profitability, resource management, and growth.
They’ll navigate six business cycles, refining their budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning skills with each round.
Participants will analyze key metrics, using financial statements as tools for making high-stakes decisions.
... And they’ll balance short-term operational needs with long-term financial goals, learning how every choice shapes the future.
Better Business Acumen
→ Better Business Results
A $4 Million Idea
Powered by Income|Outcome
After an Income|Outcome workshop, a Purdue EMBA student had a game-changing insight for his pharmaceutical company.
The manufacturing team frequently used an expensive, oversized test tube. The student realized that with minimal retooling, they could switch to a smaller, cheaper alternative.
He quickly ran the numbers and identified potential savings? $4 million annually.
But insight alone isn’t enough. Drawing from the financial skills he gained in the simulation, the student crafted a solid business case with clear financial calculations. He took it to the finance team, who greenlit the plan immediately — and the company saw the anticipated savings.
What Happened?
Insight: Recognizing cost-saving opportunities
Action: Using financial acumen to make a compelling business case
Result: $4 million in annual savings
→ Using ‘finance’ to make the business case is a Better Business Result
→ Cost savings of USD 4 Million is a Better Business Result
Getting Behind the Numbers
This is where things get serious. Finance & Decision-Making is a 12-hour, immersive simulation that’s designed to take your team’s financial acumen to the next level. This program is built for leaders and decision-makers who need to understand how their choices shape the company’s future—because in business, every decision is a financial decision.
What to Expect
This isn’t your typical finance workshop. In Finance & Decision-Making, participants take charge of a simulated company, navigating six business cycles filled with real-world challenges. Whether they’re setting prices, managing resources, or forecasting future needs, every decision they make drives company performance. With each cycle, participants refine their financial planning and analysis skills, gaining practical knowledge they can immediately apply to their roles.
This isn’t just about learning—it’s about doing!
Income|Outcome Aha! Moments
Case Studies in Learning
“I Used to Hate Budgets. Now I Love Them!”
Income|Outcome demystifies the budget process and clarifies its value.
Acumen is a global organization of entrepreneurs and social innovators focused on breaking the cycle of poverty. As part of their fellowship program for social entrepreneurs in East Africa, we provide the finance module.
At the start of one Income|Outcome workshop, a participant shared her frustration:
“I hate the budget process. I don’t see the purpose of it, but I hope to learn enough to do it better.”
Our facilitator, Eliza, replied:
“I can’t change how you feel about budgets, but by the end of this workshop, you’ll understand their value.”
Eight hours later, at the end of the workshop, the same woman stood up and said:
“Eliza was wrong. She said I would still hate budgets — but now I love them!”
Insight in Action:
Income|Outcome helps demystify the budgeting process, making it easier to understand, apply, and appreciate.
Audience
This workshop is designed for leaders, individual contributors and key decision-makers who drive the company’s financial performance through strategic decisions. While every employee’s choices impact financial outcomes, this program focuses on those with the responsibility for shaping long-term success, managing budgets, and steering the business toward its financial goals. It’s ideal for leaders who want to deepen their financial understanding and make more informed, impactful decisions.
Customization Options
Our longer simulations are built to be flexible. If your organization has specific goals or industry challenges, we can customize the experience to reflect them. Whether you’re focused on operational efficiency, market dynamics, or strategic growth, we can tailor simulation dynamics and/or learning content to your needs.
What real-world issues will you handle differently after this program.
"I understand better now that there has to be a balance between buying materials, storing it, manufacturing and selling. It all takes money and time."
Why Business Acumen Matters
Business acumen is the foundation of strong decision-making and strategic success. The more time your team spends developing these skills, the greater their ability to understand the financial impact of their actions, make informed choices, and align with your company’s goals to drive long-term performance.
Personal Development
Each workshop delivers outcomes that help your team advance their careers
Participants will:
Gain confidence in analyzing financial data and making strategic decisions.
Build practical skills in budgeting, forecasting, and financial analysis.
Learn to balance short-term priorities with long-term strategic goals.
Develop stronger collaboration and communication skills across departments.
Strengthen their ability to align decisions with organizational objectives.
Anticipate risks and opportunities to guide the company’s success.
Ready to Up Your Business Acumen Game?
Take the first step toward building financial confidence and driving better business decisions across your organization. Contact us to learn more, or book a demo to see experiential learning in action!
What was your greatest "Aha! I got it" moment?
"Take the knowledge and apply to customers KPI needs"