For business owners and leaders

Make your expensive mistakes here. They're free.

It's hard to make sense of financial information when it's just a page of numbers.

Beyond the Numbers gives you a situation to work through, a decision to make and a chance to see why an answer makes sense. Have a go, get it wrong, try again.

Try the first exercise

Free. No sign-up. Help whenever you need it.

Understand the numbers. Know what to check next.

The Language of Business · Profit

What happens to profit?

Find out what really moves your profit, and why a sale can count before you've been paid. Jess and Mick will show you with four practice questions. Then you try five quick ones on your own.

This is Level 1: I'm new here. Too easy for you, Christian Wolff? Pick a harder level in The Language of Business.

Take your time. Read the feedback as you go. Only quickfire counts towards your result. Ignore GST.

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Choose a training room.

Start here

The Language of Business

Get comfortable with the words, the numbers and what they tell you about a business.

This room is about the concepts behind the numbers. In the other rooms, you'll use them to work through business problems and decisions.

Inside now: Profit. Cash and the balance sheet are on the way.

Enter the room

Coming next: put the numbers to work

SOUND FAMILIAR?
“We just need to sell more.”
  • The overdraft is creeping up.
  • Suppliers are waiting longer.
  • The tax bill is on a payment plan.

Would more sales solve it, or leave you needing even more cash?

The Flow of Money

Follow the money in and out. Understand why a profitable business can still struggle to pay its bills.

Closed for now

The Work Behind the Numbers

Explore how the work gets done, where time and money disappear, and what a small change could improve.

Closed for now

Making the Call

Bring the numbers together. Explore how a decision affects profit, cash, people and what happens next.

Closed for now
Scott Richards

About

I'm Scott Richards.

  • I was a CPA for more than 25 years.
  • I've run Beyond the Numbers for 16 years, helping business owners and leaders understand their numbers and work through the decisions that come with them.
  • For the last eight years I've also run leadership training on balancing the competing tension between profit and people.
  • My work connects the figures with what happens in a business: the work people do, the choices they make and the results they get.

What you can get from the exercises

With practice, you can get better at:

  • Recognising how everyday activities affect profit and cash.
  • Knowing what to ask and what to check before making a decision.
  • Explaining what the numbers mean in a conversation at work.

Have a go, read the explanation and see what you notice next time. Getting an answer wrong is part of the practice.

Work with me

If you'd like help making sense of your business numbers or working through a decision, get in touch. We can talk about what you're trying to work out and whether I can help.