Good Business Sense

The Good Business Sense programme consists of 2 levels of business management training for all farmers in Northern Ireland.

Introductory Good Business Sense – 4 Sessions
Intermediate Good Business Sense – 3 Sessions

1. Introductory Good Business Sense

The Introductory Good Business Sense course is particularly relevant to those within the family who keep farm records and animal movement notification forms.

The topics covered in the introductory course incorporate many of the issues important to today's farm businesses. Relevant practical examples and case studies are used during each training session to enable those taking part to apply the information gained to their own farm businesses.

Session 1: - Livestock Traceability (Duration 2½ hours)

This session involves training on the accurate completion of:

Herdbooks
Flockbooks
Movement permits and
Birth and Death notifications.

It will emphasise the importance of accurate and timely completion of these documents for livestock traceability purposes. The status’s applied to cattle when these documents are not completed correctly are explained.

The practical training exercise will involve a case study of an example herd to complete movement records/birth and death notifications and to update herdbooks as appropriate.

In addition current issues on Brucellosis and TB controls are discussed as well as APHIS on-line and the LFACA.

This session will also cover the importance of the IACS form to the farm business and key points to check during its completion.

Session 2: - Farm Records (Duration 2½ hours)

This session will focus on the importance of farm records:

To help you make management decisions,
To meet the legal requirements for you farm and
To ensure your Single Farm Payment is not penalised.

Examples of record sheets will be explained and you will have the opportunity to complete them.

Session 3: - Keeping Track of Farm Finance (Duration 2½ hours)

This session will look at the benefits of having a good cash flow and cash flow planning to the farm business.

It will outline the financial records required by law for a farm business and explain the terminology relating to financial accounts.

Training will focus on practical examples. Participants will investigate the format of cash flow books, make entries and track the financial position of an example farm business over the course of a year. Projecting cash flow and its benefits will also be discussed.

The session also discusses good banking practice involving:

What your bank manager needs to know
Cheque books
Standing orders/Direct debits and
Overdrafts

Session 4: - Partial Budgets (Duration 2½ hours)

This session shows how you can use a partial budget to assess the impact of a business change on profitability. In addition the cost comparison tool is described. This involves you assessing which option is best for you when there are different ways to address a farm problem.

Practical examples are used to illustrate the Partial Budget and Cost Comparison tools and participants are given the opportunity to use these tools themselves.

2. Intermediate Good Business Sense

The Intermediate Good Business Sense course aims to provide a progression route for those completing the introductory course. It is applicable to any member of the farm family and in particular to those within the family who keep records and accounts for the farm business.

Workshop 1 - Completing Farm VAT returns (Duration 2 x 2½ hours)

This workshop which runs over two sessions, provides training in the keeping of VAT records, the calculation of VAT owed or to be claimed and the completion of the VAT 100 form. The practical training exercise will involve two case studies of completing farm VAT returns for two quarters.

Workshop 2 - Calculating enterprise Gross Margins (Duration 3 x 2½ hours)

This workshop which runs over three sessions, will demonstrate how information recorded for VAT purposes can be used to produce a Gross Margin for an enterprise on the participants home farm. An enterprise Gross Margin is an indicator of the enterprises profitability. Participants will be shown how to assess their Gross Margin calculated and recommend areas for improvement.

Workshop 3 - Time management (Duration 2½ hours)

This workshop examines how you spend your time on farm and suggests ways for you to make better use of your time so you can achieve the same results. Research results about the time spent on farm work are discussed and a significant number of time saving tips are presented.

Accreditation

The Good Business Sense training programme is accredited by the Northern Ireland Open College Network (NIOCN)

Units at level 2 currently available within the Good Business Sense programme for assessment include:

Farm records for subsidy claims and livestock traceability
Financial recording

Assessment is by means of a 'portfolio of evidence' and successful candidates will receive unit accreditation for the units they complete.

Units at level 2 and 3 currently available within the Good Business Sense programme for assessment include:

Completing Farm VAT returns
Calculating Enterprise Gross Margins
Time Management