Finance for Non-Finance Managers Jeopardy

Income statements, balance sheets, margins, and budgets for managers who never took accounting. Copy this free board and let the class buzz in from their phones.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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The Income Statement

$200
The first line of the income statement, showing total sales, is called this.
What is revenue?
$400
Net income is often called this, after where it appears on the statement.
What is the bottom line?
$600
Revenue minus cost of goods sold gives this.
What is gross profit?
$800
Salaries, rent and marketing that are not part of making the product fall under these, often called overhead.
What are operating expenses?
$1,000
This profit figure adds depreciation and amortization back to earnings before interest and taxes.
What is EBITDA?

The Balance Sheet

$200
Cash, inventory and buildings are examples of these.
What are assets?
$400
Amounts a company owes its suppliers for purchases on credit are recorded as this.
What are accounts payable?
$600
Current assets minus current liabilities equals this.
What is working capital?
$800
Profits kept in the business over the years rather than paid out as dividends appear as this.
What are retained earnings?
$1,000
Paying more for an acquired company than the fair value of its net assets creates this intangible asset.
What is goodwill?

Cash Flow

$200
A profitable company can still fail if it runs out of this.
What is cash?
$400
Money customers owe for goods or services already delivered is called this.
What are accounts receivable?
$600
The cash flow statement's three sections are operating, investing and this.
What is financing?
$800
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures gives this.
What is free cash flow?
$1,000
The number of days between paying for inventory and collecting cash from customers is measured by this cycle.
What is the cash conversion cycle?

Budgets and Variance

$200
Spending less than budgeted on a cost produces this kind of variance.
What is favorable?
$400
Big long-term purchases like equipment and buildings are planned in this kind of budget.
What is a capital budget?
$600
This approach makes every expense be justified from scratch each period rather than starting from last year's number.
What is zero-based budgeting?
$800
A budget that adjusts to the actual level of activity, such as units produced, is called this.
What is a flexible budget?
$1,000
This forecast adds a new month or quarter as each one ends, so it always looks the same distance ahead.
What is a rolling forecast?

Margins and Ratios

$200
A product that sells for $100 and costs $60 to make has this gross margin.
What is 40 percent?
$400
This liquidity ratio divides short-term assets by short-term obligations.
What is the current ratio?
$600
Gain from an investment minus its cost, divided by its cost, gives this three-letter measure.
What is ROI?
$800
Profit after all expenses and taxes, divided by revenue, gives this margin.
What is net profit margin?
$1,000
The break-even point in units equals fixed costs divided by this per-unit amount.
What is contribution margin?

Finance Vocabulary

$200
These costs, like rent, stay the same no matter how much you sell.
What are fixed costs?
$400
Goods waiting to be sold tie up cash in this asset.
What is inventory?
$600
This method records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, not when cash moves.
What is accrual accounting?
$800
This term describes spreading the cost of an intangible asset, like a patent, over its useful life.
What is amortization?
$1,000
This hurdle rate blends the cost of debt and the cost of equity into one percentage, known by four letters.
What is the weighted average cost of capital?

Final Jeopardy — Financial Statements

Listing assets, liabilities, and equity, this financial statement shows a company's position at a single point in time.

What is the balance sheet?

How to run this board

Many managers own a budget long before anyone teaches them to read one. This board covers the three main financial statements, budgeting and variance, revenue, profit, and margin, cash flow versus profit, a handful of common ratios, and the vocabulary that comes up in every finance meeting.

It works well as a checkpoint halfway through a finance-for-managers course, or as a warm-up before budget season. Pair each team with someone from finance if you can, so hard answers get explained instead of just scored.

Clues use simple round numbers so no one needs a calculator. For a stronger finish, add a column built from your own company's published or internal figures.

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