Our flagship course, the Brewery Financial Training Program, is included with your Membership. 

Introduction to the Brewery Financial Training Program

• Benefits of the program
• Increase brewery profits and cash flows
• Stay current on the latest financial planning, implementation, and tracking techniques
• Engage staff through online video training
• Increase learning retention with easily digestible learning topics
• Improve student accountability with testing and scoring
• Take advantage of Live Q&A Sessions with the brewery CFO
• Course materials
• Videos with step-by-step instructions
• Download materials to support the lessons: Templates, financial models, and checklists
• Action items and assignments to put the lesson material into practice
• Quiz on the material at the end of each module to improve learning retention
• About the course instructor
• Kary Shumway, CPA, former CFO for a beer wholesaler
• Currently a partner and CFO at Wormtown Brewery in Worcester, MA
• Instructor for University of Vermont School of Craft Beer
• Author at Brewbound, Beverage Master, Craft Brewing Business
• Presenter at Craft Brewer’s Conference, National Beer Wholesalers Convention, State Brewer’s Guilds, Master Brewer’s Association
• How this program can transform your brewery business
• Implement financial planning strategies to weather the COVID-19 pandemic
• Utilize proven training methods to enable managers to take financial responsibility for their department
• Identify and correct common causes of financial errors in brewery financial statements
• Realize consistent, timely and accurate financial reporting using a simple monthly process
• Achieve increased profitability with financial literacy training – the ability to read and understand the financial numbers of your brewery business 
• Overview of each Module

• Brewery Finances 101

• Introduction to the brewery chart of accounts, financial statements and month-end process and routines to ensure timely and accurate reporting

• Deep Dive into Brewery Financial Statements

• An in-depth look at brewery financial statements, with examples and illustrations of key financial metrics and ratios

• Common Brewery Financial Problems and How to Fix Them

• How to identify and correct issues with inventory, accounts receivable and gross margins

• Beer Pricing and Cost of Goods Sold

• Review of the major components of beer costs, and how to properly price beer to wholesalers, retailers, and consumers

• Brewery Financial Planning and Forecasting

• The five steps to build your brewery financial plan, with models and examples, and tactics to train managers in financial responsibility

• Brewery Cash Flow Planning

• Cash flow management best practices, the main drivers of brewery cash flow, and scorecards to track and measure key cash ratios

Module 1: Brewery Finances 101 

• Chart of accounts 
• Common brewery account structures 
• Best practices to report on taproom, self-distribution, wholesale operations
• Template to build your own chart of accounts
• General ledger 
• Practical uses to identify cost-saving opportunities
• Quick steps to read and understand the information
• Brewery financial reports 
• Definitions, descriptions, and examples of financial statements
• Income statement
• Balance sheet
• Statement of cash flows
• Month-end financial process/procedure
• Checklist of best practices to follow
• Steps to ensure complete and accurate financial reporting
• Tools to train your team 

Module 2: Deep Dive into Brewery Financial Statements

• Income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows
• Quick process to read, understand and take action on the information
• Best practices to set up the financial reports - what to include / exclude
• Templates and examples for each brewery financial statement
• Key Financial Metrics and Ratios
• How to identify key metrics – the most important numbers
• How to calculate ratios and use benchmarks to compare results
• Scorecard Models to measure, monitor and improve key metrics
• The World Famous One-Page Financial Statement
• All the financial numbers you need to see on one page
• Summary information with comparisons to budget, actual results, and key metrics
• How to build it - template to follow
• How to read it - critical numbers to review

Module 3: Common Brewery Financial Problems + How to Fix Them

• Keg Inventory
• Process to count and reconcile to test accuracy
• Best practices to track and monitor keg assets
• Tools to use to make the process more efficient and effective
• Product Inventory
• Standard operating procedures with best practices for consistent and accurate inventory counts
• Review of Cycle Counts, Full Physical Inventory, Pros and Cons of each method
• Accounts Receivable Collection
• How to read and review the Accounts Receivable aging report 
• Tactics to quickly identify potential collection issues
• Best practices to speed up collection and improve cash flows
• Product Margin variances  
• How to use trend analysis to identify problems with product margins
• Common problems that cause margin variances and how to fix them

Module 4: Beer Pricing and Cost of Goods Sold (COGs) 

• Beer Costing Fundamentals
• Periodic and perpetual inventory simplified
• Standard cost and weighted average cost
• Variance analysis of beer costs
• Bill of Materials
• Review of costs that are included (and excluded) in cost of your beer
• Direct material (DM)
• Direct labor (DL)
• Overhead (OH)
• Kegs, Cans and Beer Loss
• Review three major beer costs and how to reduce
• Kegs: Option to lease or buy
• Cans: Cost variances in printed, sleeved, labeled
• Beer Loss: Cost examples and impact on margins
• Beer Pricing and Portfolio Margins
• How to price your beer to wholesalers, retailers, and customers
• Margin analysis and requirements for each stakeholder in the 3-tier system
• Beer Pricing Model for analysis and decision-making

Module 5: Brewery Financial Planning and Forecasting

• Financial planning best practices
• Plan outline: Timelines, to-dos, and deadlines
• Key questions and considerations
• Financial planning pitfalls to avoid
• How to build the brewery financial plan with models and examples
• Sales forecast and gross margin plan
• Operating expense plan
• Capital expense plan
• Loan schedules and debt plan
• Tactics to train department managers
• Proven training methods to enable managers to take financial responsibility for their department
• Reporting tools for review and analysis to ensure cost center budgets are properly monitored

Module 6: Brewery Cash flow planning

• Cash flow management best practices
• Techniques to keep cash management front and center
• Daily/weekly practices and cash flow routines
• Strategies to create a financing plan
• Drivers of brewery cash flow 
• Inventory 
• Accounts receivable
• Accounts payable
• Capital expenditures
• Debt payments
• Scorecards to track and measure key cash flow metrics
• Inventory days on hand (DOH)
• Days sales outstanding (DSO)
• Average days to pay
• Return on investment (ROI)
• Debt service coverage ratio (DSCR)
• 3-Step system to improve brewery cash flow
• How to identify where and when cash leaves the business
• Techniques to insert yourself into the cash flow process
• Tools to review past spending and make adjustments

Wrapping things up: Final Exam and Action Items

• Brewery Financial Training Final Exam
• Recap of lessons learned, action items, and next steps