Few farmers understand cost structures and the strategic decisions that differentiate successful farms from those
struggling financially. Traditional Enterprise Analysis hasn’t provided answers growers need to determine what
decisions are contributing to success or failure. Ratio analysis is not well understood and seldom connected to
goal setting and decision-making. This presentation is a primer course that showcases new initiatives in the
farm management arena to implement professional managerial accounting systems. It also illustrates the often
overlooked linkage between financial analysis and strategic decision making.
Specific technical topics and learning outcomes that can result from attending this session include:
• Evolution from enterprise analysis to managerial accounting – why and how?
• Building a foundation for performance measurement – use of ratio analysis to evaluate whole farm
business performance
• Using the Dupont Model to assess the impact of performance in operational efficiency, capital asset
management, and use of debt leverage; illustrate how the Dupont Model can be used to simulate the
impact on bottom line performance from specific strategic shifts
• Sorting out Accounting and Economic Analyses
• Identifying manageable segments and developing standardized profit/cost center report formats
• Handling unusual transactions – how do you assure the initial transaction entry provides the ability to
have integrity in both external financial reports and internal managerial accounting reports

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