Primary producers across the country have the chance to develop their knowledge, free of charge, at a series of Rabo Client Council online workshops, designed to help provide financial skills key to managing an agricultural enterprise.
The practical Financial Skills Workshops – providing primary producers with an opportunity to both upskill and network – will be held online in late August and throughout September.
The initiative has been spearheaded and funded by food and agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank's Rabo Client Council, a group of the bank's farming clients who volunteer their time implementing programs that contribute to the sustainability of rural and regional communities.
Offered at no cost to participants, the interactive workshops provide practical, hands-on advice for understanding financial statements and banking requirements and explore topics, such as taxation versus management accounting, essential business management ratios and understanding key components of a business's financial profile.
Rabobank head of community and client engagement Glenn Wealands said this is the second round of online workshops to be offered this year. "The workshops the bank delivered in May proved so popular, with places filling quickly, we knew there was a need to provide an additional opportunity," he said.
Mr Wealands said the goal of the workshops – tailored specifically for farm owners and managers – is to ensure participants leave feeling confident and motivated about their financial skills and knowledge.
"We recognise that it can be difficult for farmers to take time away from their businesses, so the bank is providing these concise online learning options as an alternative to the in-person workshops, which will also continue to be offered nationwide," he said.
The online workshops – which will be limited to 25 participants each and are not restricted to the bank's clients – will be delivered by director of Hudson Facilitation, Tony Hudson.
Mr Hudson will present the workshops in two blocks, looking at measuring financial performance and gross margin analysis.
During the measuring financial performance workshops, participants will look at financial reports – one of the most useful and underutilised reports for many farming businesses, Mr Wealands said.
He said the workshops sessions will help participants gain an understanding of how to read, interpret and use these reports.
"As banks are a key stakeholder in many farming businesses, this particular workshop will explore how banks assess farmers and farming businesses in providing finance, along with sharing a number of tips to help make this important relationship as beneficial as possible," he said.
Mr Wealands said the second block of the workshops will deal with gross margin analysis. "Gross margin analysis is a critical step in farm planning and decision making. In this workshop, we take an enterprise-focused approach. We will consider both cash flow implications of a variety of enterprise choices and will also focus on preparing annual cash flow budgets," he said.
Mr Wealands said primary producers who had attended previous Rabobank Financial Skills Workshops have told the bank the information provided is "real and valuable".
"Since launching in 2018, the Rabo Client Councils have extended this valuable learning opportunity to over 4,800 farmers across Australia and New Zealand," he said.
Online workshop dates:
Measuring Financial Performance workshops
- Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 August 2024
- East Coast: 8.45am to 11.30am AEST
- West Coast: 6.45am to 9.30am AWST
- Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 September 2024
- East Coast: 10.45am to 1.30pm AEST
- West Coast: 8.45am to 11.30am AWST
Gross Margin Analysis and Cash Flow Budgeting workshops
- Thursday 5 and Friday 6 September 2024
- East Coast: 10.45am to 1.30pm AEST
- West Coast: 8.45am to 11.30am AWST
- Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 September 2024
- East Coast: 10.00am to 12.45pm AEST
- West Coast: 6.45am to 9:30am AWST
- Thursday 19 and Friday 20 September 2024
- East Coast: 8.45am to 11.30am AEST
- West Coast: 6.45am to 9.30am AWST
To register to participate, please click here
