Multi-Year Financial Planning – Understanding Net Assets and Deficits

Finances are top-of-mind like never before, with many theatre companies facing concerns over deficits in their current or future seasons. Join arts management expert Heather Young (Young Associates) to start rethinking your core financial planning processes with reference to today's challenges.

In light of the “new normal” of rising costs and uneven ticket sales, this session proposes a multi-year approach to budgeting that is informed by your balance sheet and considers net assets as a guiding factor. Working from CADAC categories, we’ll dive into the net assets section of financial statements to help you gain clarity about your company’s resources – and how much “runway” you might have for successive deficit years. Then we’ll explore how to apply this knowledge to multi-year financial planning that helps safeguard the sustainability of your organization.

Key take-aways will include:

• how to talk about net assets and deficits with your team and board members
• the significance of different net asset categories
• the role of each year’s bottom line in multi-year planning
• how to calculate your "runway" for deficits
• budgeting tips and techniques to plan beyond the next fiscal year

This session is intended for managers of theatre companies that have experienced a deficit in the previous fiscal year, or that are anticipating current or future deficits due to the slow recovery from the pandemic. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

Please register by 30 minutes prior to the start of the session to receive the zoom link. If you have not received a link by then, contact zacharym@pact.ca.