We've only had one class in Finance this quarter, but I've already been able to apply some basic knowledge to my everyday tasks.
Aside from being the Marketing Manager for Irvine Spectrum Center, I also help run my husband's software startup. We produce private corporate social networks to encourage tacit knowledge sharing. We're small yet strong - this year has resulted in explosive growth that's seen revenues increase by a factor of 10 since April. Of course, this has also resulted in long nights and weekends for me, since my role has grown to assume all HR, PR, A/R, A/P, and just about all other two-letter acronyms you'd find in a company. Between my marketing job, my Merage studies, and my "second" job with the startup - I have been one busy lady (the cashier at Chipotle across the street from our house knows my name now - we buy way too many meals there when we don't have time to cook for ourselves).
So where does my first Finance class come into play (aside from realizing that eating at Chipotle too often has a negative effect on my bank account)? Last week we had a crash course in the Time Value of Money, something which I've always understood conceptually but have never put it into play. After doing the homework, I decided to input actual the startup's finances into multiple formulas...just to see what I could understand. After a few attempts, I was quite impressed at my amateur finance handiwork.
I calculated the current value of a client's account who pays monthly, devising other payment options at lower costs to them but in up-front annual and quarterly lump sums. I calculated the interest that we could have received from one particularly late client's fees, using it to stress the importance of getting paid on time to others. I marvelled at the wonder of compound interest that will be earned if we invest $100,000 even in the most basic ING savings account for a few years. Money can be a very powerful asset to a small company - you just have to put it to work for you.
Finance isn't really my forte (I was an English major, after all) - but if I have become this much more proficient in one week's time, I am excited to see how much more effective I'll be at the end of the quarter.