Punch Above Your WeightThe premiere business event to celebrate North East enterprise
Events
We run a small number of events each year for business owners and the people coming up behind them.
They are deliberately small, they are taught by the people who do the work, and you will never be the least financial person in the room. Everything below is open to clients and non clients alike.
Next dates
Knowing Your Numbers
A one day course for people who have to understand the numbers in a business and were never taught them.
- Dates
- Tue 10 November 2026
Tue 12 January 2027 - Time
- 9.30 to 4.30
- Where
- Durham
- Places
- Eight on each date
Who it is for
Business owners and Directors; the people who have to understand the numbers in their business
By half past four you will be able to
- Read a set of accounts and say, in three sentences, what is happening in that business
- Explain the difference between profit and cash, and spot when the two are pulling apart
- Work out the breakeven point for your business or your department
- Say which customers, jobs or products make money, and which are being carried
- Read a monthly management pack and know which three questions to ask about it
- Understand what your own decisions do to the numbers, before you make them
The day
Morning oneThe profit and loss account, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement, then the six ratios worth knowing.
Morning twoMargin, breakeven, pricing and what a discount really costs, then budgets and variances.
Afternoon oneCash, the thirteen week forecast, and what buying something does to your bank balance before it does anything to your profit.
Afternoon twoReading a real monthly management pack, the five numbers you should see every month, and the ten questions that work.
Coffee from 9.00. Lunch provided.
You bring your own accounts and work on those, not a case study. That is only possible with eight people in a room, which is why there are eight.
Nobody is ever asked to show their numbers to the room.
What is included
- The day, and lunch
- A printed workbook you work in and take away, with six homework tasks in the back
- Six spreadsheet tools, including a breakeven calculator and a thirteen week cash forecast
- An hour, one to one, on your own company's figures two or three weeks later. It is not a sales meeting and nothing in it goes anywhere
- A ninety minute online session about four weeks after the day, where the group comes back with what they found. For the November group that is Tuesday 8 December
- A standing invitation to the Numbers Clinic, sixty minutes online every quarter, for as long as you want it
£295 plus VAT Standing price £595
Half price because this is the first time we have run it. You would be the founding cohort, and we want your opinion at the end of the day.
Questions people ask
What should I bring?
Your most recent set of accounts, and last month's management figures if you can get hold of them. Nobody is ever asked to show their numbers to the room at any point in the day.
What if I am not the finance person?
Nobody in the room will be. The day is built for people who were never taught this, and everyone there is at roughly the same starting point. We do not take bookkeepers or finance staff, precisely so that stays true.
Can I send more than one person?
Yes, though with eight places we usually ask for no more than two from the same business, so there is a spread of experience in the room.
How do I pay?
We invoice you and you pay by bank transfer. Your place is confirmed when the invoice is settled. If you would rather pay by card, say so and we will send a payment link.
What happens after the day?
An hour one to one on your own figures two or three weeks later, and a ninety minute online session about four weeks after the day where everyone brings back what they found. For the November group that session is on 8 December, and we will confirm the January group’s date when you book. You also get a standing invitation to our quarterly Numbers Clinic.
What if it is full?
If November is full, there may still be places on 12 January, so tell us anyway. If both dates are full, we will put you on the list for the next one, and you will hear about it before it goes anywhere else.
Ask about a place
Tell us a little about yourself and we will come back to you within a day. No payment is taken here.
The one page summary
Download it and pass it on.
Coming next
Let's Talk About Money: A Year in Business
Twelve monthly mornings, from February 2027.
Two hours on the second Wednesday of the month, following the life of a business from the first idea through to the day it is sold. Starting, Running, Growing, Leaving.
Attendance is open, so you come to the mornings you need rather than signing up for a year. The first three are free.
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