5 lessons · about 25 min
Reading your farm accounts
Read your profit and loss and balance sheet with confidence, see why depreciation isn't cash, and work out EBIT, EBITDA and equity.
View the course
Free short courses
Learn the money side of farming, five minutes at a time
Short, plain-English lessons with a worked example and three quick questions each. Free, no sign-up, and your progress is saved in your own browser.
- 12 courses of 4 or 5 lessons
- About 5 minutes a lesson
- Worked examples on invented Australian farms
- Optional certificate when you finish
Know your numbers
5 lessons · about 25 min
Your first farm cashflow
Build a simple July to June farm cashflow, put sales and GST in the right months, and find the month your overdraft is at its lowest.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Farm finance words in a week
Learn the farm money words you'll hear from the bank and the accountant, in five short lessons with plain examples.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Cost of production
Work out what it costs you to produce a kilogram of pork, beef or lamb, compare it with the price, and find the costs worth cutting.
View the courseFinance and the bank
5 lessons · about 25 min
How the bank looks at your farm
See your farm the way a credit team does: the annual review, the main ratios, covenants, what goes in a review pack and when to call.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
RIC loans step by step
Understand who the Regional Investment Corporation is, which loan fits, the basic tests, the documents and how an application runs.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Buying land or machinery
Work out whether to buy or lease land, whether an extra block pays, whether to own or contract machinery, and what the bank will want.
View the courseBig decisions
5 lessons · about 25 min
Getting into farming: the money side
Work out what it costs to start farming, ways in without buying land, a first budget, and how to keep enough cash in the early years.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Gross margins and choosing enterprises
Work out a gross margin per head, per DSE and per hectare, use the NSW DPIRD budgets, and compare pigs, cattle and sheep with care.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Adding a new enterprise
Work out whether a new pig, cattle or sheep enterprise will pay, what it needs approved, how much cash it takes and how to show the bank.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Preparing for a dry year
Work out your feed, water and cash position, set trigger dates, and line up the bank and support before a dry season bites.
View the course5 lessons · about 25 min
Succession: the money conversation
Get ready for the family money talk about succession: what to gather, what to ask and how to check the farm can support everyone.
View the courseAbout these courses
They give general information to help you understand your numbers and ask better questions. They aren't financial, tax, legal or credit advice, and they aren't nationally accredited training. For your own situation, talk to your accountant, your lender or talk to us.
Progress is kept in this browser only, so it won't follow you to another phone or computer. Nothing you do here is sent to us.
Talk to Nick about your next bank review
We work with farm businesses Australia-wide by phone and video, with regular farm visits on the east coast. Get in touch for a no-obligation chat about what you need and what it would cost.