Management Accounting for Dairy Businesses
Your accounting system is the foundation on which sound financial management decisions are made. Organizing your accounting system to provide “management information” as opposed to simply organizing it for tax preparation will provide huge benefits.
The instructors for this program have years of experience in both real life accounting for dairy businesses and teaching this topic to non-accountants. Participants will learn to implement proper accounting principles and practices in their every day accounting transactions.
They will also learn how to organize their data to provide valuable management information to the decision makers of the business, as well as how to read and interpret the various reports that a well organized accounting system can provide. This program is offered in a series of classes each designed to progressively build on the participants’ knowledge base:
- Class #1: Understanding and Implementing Basic Accounting Principles and Practices
- Class #2: Introduction to QuickBooks for Dairy Accounting
- Class #3: Advanced Accounting for QuickBooks Users
- Class #4: Advanced Accounting - Understanding and Implementing a Managerial Cost Accounting Program
Class #1: Understanding and Implementing Basic Accounting Principles and Practices
The theory behind all accounting transactions is based on one simple equation. Keeping that equation in balance is the key to maintaining an accurate set of financial records. Participants in this program will learn how to implement proper accounting principles and practices through an innovative and highly effective teaching method that has been proven to significantly increase your understanding of the subject matter.
The instructor, Brad Hilty, Business and Information Management Specialist, is a self-taught accountant with real life experience in providing accounting services to close to 100 dairy operations before joining Penn State. His ability to relate every topic in this program back to the daily transactions that occur at the farm level make it an effective learning experience. “The instructor makes the program” is a common comment on program evaluations.
November 3, 2009
Somerset County Cooperative Extension Office
6024 Glades Pike Suite, 101, Somerset, Pa.
December 2, 2009
Lebanon County Cooperative Extension Office
2120 Cornwall Road, Suite 1, Lebanon, Pa.
December 3, 2009
Blair County Cooperative Extension Office
301 Valley View Boulevard, Altoona, Pa.
December 8, 2009
Bradford County Cooperative Extension Office
701 South Fourth Street, Towanda, Pa.
December 17, 2009
Brown’s Country Kitchen
1149 West Portersville Road, Portersville, Pa.
January 12, 2010
Westmoreland County Cooperative Extension Office
214 Donohoe Road, Suite E, Greensburg, Pa.
Fee: $45 per class for first person from farm/ business; $25 per class each additional person. Register for 2 classes and save: $80 for first person from farm or business; $40 each additional person. To register:
Click here to register online with your Mastercard or VISA
Click here to print out a registration form to return by mail or fax
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Program instructors:
• Brad Hilty, information management specialist
• Local accountants (certified QuickBooks instructors)
Class #2: Introduction to QuickBooks for Dairy Accounting
Participants will learn how to effectively use QuickBooks to organize their accounting systems to provide the information needed for making sound management decisions. A standardized chart of accounts (COA) designed specifically for dairy businesses will be provided to all participants.
Instructors will teach the class how to: restore the standardized COA to their computer; personalize the COA for their operation; set up new accounts within the standardized COA; make deposits and write checks; implement an accrual accounting system through accounts payable and receivable features; reconcile accounts; search for specific transactions; evaluate the accuracy of their system using key reports; generate reports for business analysis.
December 15, 2009
Bradford County Cooperative Extension Office
701 South Fourth Street, Towanda, Pa.
January 13, 2010
Mercer County Cooperative Extension Office
463 North Perry Highway, Mercer, Pa.
January 19, 2010
Westmoreland County Cooperative Extension Office
214 Donohoe Road, Suite E, Greensburg, Pa.
January 21, 2010
Blair County Cooperative Extension Office
301 Valley View Boulevard, Altoona, Pa.
January 27, 2010
Somerset County Cooperative Extension Office
6024 Glades Pike Suite, 101, Somerset, Pa.
Fee: $45 per class for first person from farm/ business; $25 per class each additional person. Register for 2 classes and save: $80 for first person from farm or business; $40 each additional person. To register:
Click here to register online with your Mastercard or VISA
Click here to print out a registration form to return by mail or fax
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Program instructors:
• Brad Hilty, information management specialist
• Local accountants (certified QuickBooks instructors)
Class #3: Advanced Accounting for QuickBooks Users
Learn how to generate and interpret management information from your QuickBooks Accounting program. Topics include: Generating customized reports; exporting data to integrated management analysis spreadsheets; budget development and management; analyzing cost of production reports and entity level financial ratio analysis.
December 9, 2009
Lebanon County Cooperative Extension Office
2120 Cornwall Road, Suite 1, Lebanon, Pa.
Fee: $45 per class for first person from farm/ business; $25 per class each additional person. Register for 2 classes and save: $80 for first person from farm or business; $40 each additional person. To register:
Click here to register online with your Mastercard or VISA
Click here to print out a registration form to return by mail or fax
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.Program instructors:
• Rob Goodling, Extension educator
• Local accountants (certified QuickBooks instructors)
• Brad Hilty, information management specialist
Class #4: Advanced Accounting - Understanding and Implementing a Managerial Cost Accounting Program
- Bonnie Wenger, office manager, Lebanon, Pa.
“We were already on accrual accounting, but this program showed me how to re-classify expenditures on the crop and dairy sides to improve our end-of-the year reporting system. The hands-on training also helped confirm the things I was doing right and taught me the questions to ask when I wasn’t.”
- Karen Kauffman, office manager, Cochranville, Pa.
The Dairy Alliance has offered Accounting for Progressive Dairies workshops during six of the past seven years and more than 100 dairy farms have learned how to improve the information provided by their accounting systems. This year, the instructors have redesigned the course to provide participants with new and timely information and tools to help them deal with the challenging business environment and improve management decisions in future good times to better position their businesses for future downturns.
After a short review of the information taught in previous classes (basic accounting principles and practices, handling accounting transactions, etc.), participants will learn guidelines for generating accurate reports that can be used to evaluate business performance and manage risk.
Other aspects of the course will focus on evaluating your financial position, the managerial accounting concepts of management intent and product and process cost analysis, as well as budgeting and control measures producers can implement to monitor business performance throughout the year.
Day 1 will focus on the knowledge and skill producers, accountants and bookkeepers need to accurately represent the financial performance of their businesses. Day 2 will focus on how the information can be used to gain a deeper understanding of how specific areas of the business are performing, including the businesses financial position, its strengths and weaknesses, per unit product costs, management process costs, and using budgets comparison reports to identify possible management intervention measures that might be needed.
November 16-17, 2009
Penn State Harrisburg campus
777 W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, Pa. - Room 121 Educational Activities Building
Click here to register online with your Mastercard or VISA
Click here to print out a registration form to return by mail or fax
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Program instructors:
• Brad Hilty, information management specialist
• Michael Peachey, Acuity CPA’s and Advisors
• Kendall Ruth, Acuity CPA’s and Advisors
For more information about any class in the series:
Contact Brad Hilty at 888-373-7232 or at bhilty@psu.edu
Program developers:
• Bill Chess, Extension educator
• Erin Cuprinka, Extension educator
• Rob Goodling, Extension educator
• Gary Hennip, Extension educator
• Brad Hilty, management specialist
• Rodger Keith, Extension educator
• Brian Kelly, Extension educator
• Miguel Saviroff, Extension educator
• Gary Sheppard, Extension educator
Program sponsor:
Northeast Center for Risk Management Education
