Finance for Non-Finance Managers Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Finance for Non-Finance Managers facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. The COSO framework is widely used in risk management and internal controls. What does COSO stand for? → Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
2. Working capital for the business is → $66,000
3. Overhead absorption rate is used to: → Allocate indirect (overhead) costs to products or cost centers
4. Basic earnings per share are computed as follows: → [Net Income-Preferred Dividends]/Weighted Avg # of common shares outstanding
5. Which of the following best describes 'factoring' receivables? → Selling accounts receivable to a third party for immediate cash
6. What makes an excel pivot table unique → It is a tool for data summarization
7. What does a company's 'risk appetite' represent? → The level of risk a company is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives
8. Retained profits are what: → Accumulated, undistributed earnings since inception
9. A high days sales outstanding (DSO) typically indicates: → The company is collecting receivables slowly
10. Which of the following best describes a 'key risk indicator' (KRI)? → A forward-looking metric that signals the potential for increased risk exposure
11. Cashflows for the terminal year include the salvage value of the project's assets. → TRUE
12. The cash conversion cycle measures: → The time between paying for inventory and collecting cash from sales
13. Net Present Value (NPV) is positive when: → The present value of cash inflows exceeds the initial investment
14. What is the primary purpose of a cash flow forecast? → To predict when a business will run short of or have excess cash
15. Which term describes money owed by customers for goods or services already delivered? → Accounts receivable
16. When a forward contract is exchanged, it is referred to as → future contract
17. Which budget focuses specifically on long-term asset purchases such as machinery or facilities? → Capital expenditure budget
18. The ___provides investors with a window into the company. → Propectus
19. Short-term loans are included in the spontaneous increase in liabilities in the AFN (Additional Funds Needed) equation. → FALSE
20. A company has $500,000 in current assets and $200,000 in current liabilities. What is its working capital? → $300,000
21. How to predict business finances? → Estimate revenues and costs throughout the planning time period.
22. Which action would REDUCE a company's cash conversion cycle? → Paying suppliers faster
23. Sensitivity analysis provides useful insight into the sensitivity of a project's NPV to a change in one (or more) input variables. → TRUE
24. What does a cash budget serve? → Determine whether the firm is facing shortage or surplus of cash.
25. What is a budget in a business context? → A quantified financial plan for a future period
26. Which account is NOT included in the quick ratio? → Inventory
27. what asset class is goodwill? → Intagible
28. What is contribution margin? → Revenue minus variable costs
29. This is what the cost of retained earnings is. → Cost of equity
30. A whistleblower policy in an organization is primarily designed to: → Encourage and protect employees who report unethical or illegal activities