Have you ever thought there might be a haiku about working capital? That thought had certainly never crossed my mind until I attended the session on “Change Agents: Getting to Sustainability” at the MCN/MCF Joint Annual Conference last week.
The presenters, Janet Ogden-Brackett and Michael Anderson of the Nonprofits Assistance Fund, gave a truly humorous, yet quite informative presentation on understanding financial statements and the use of ratios in identifying areas of concern.
They gave a good, basic overview of income statements, balance sheets, and cashflow projections, followed by a review of a number of financial ratios, including days of cash on hand, working capital ratio, and debt-to-equity ratio.
And then there were the haiku! In case you are not familiar with haiku, haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that includes just 17 syllables (5 in the first line, 7 in the second line, and 5 in the third line). Also haiku often include a reference to nature.
Here are a few of examples that Janet and Michael shared with us:
Working Capital Haiku
All assets are fixed
Feel as liquid as pavement
Alas, cash is king.
Beautiful buildings
Don’t always sow future’s seeds
Or help make payroll.
Balance Sheet Haiku
Humble balance sheet –
Force proud income statement to
Tell the truth mostly.
Maybe this will inspire you to write some haiku about financial statements…or even about the Joint Conference.
If so, please share them by commenting on this entry!
- Cindy Moeller, MCF director, professional development and member services
November 11, 2009 at 2:48 pm |
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November 13, 2009 at 10:02 am |
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about our training – we’re so glad you found it both enjoyable and informative!