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Q: Do I have to bring a laptop?
A: Yes. You do need a laptop for the workshop. A laptop means you are able to develop your budgets electronically using the DairyNZ Excel templates. If you don't have a laptop it would be great if you can borrow or hire one for the workshop. This would enable you to transfer the budgeting documents onto your home computer afterwards.
Q: What if I have a home PC not a laptop?
A: If you are able to borrow or hire a laptop to use at the workshop you can save your budgets onto the flash drive you will be given on the first day, in which case you can transfer the files onto your PC afterwards.
Home computers are not really portable, but power will be available at the venues if you wanted to bring your home PC and set it up for the workshop. Please contact Shannon Corbett for more information if you are considering this option.
Q: What software will be used?
A: MS Excel DairyNZ budget templates will be used. These budgets are available to download on www.dairynz.co.nz/budgets but will be given to you at the workshop.
Q: What do I need to bring?
A: It would be great if you could bring all or some of the following (as applicable):
- DairyBase Reports (if you are registered and have reports)
- Accounts for the past two seasons
- Milk production for past three years (monthly if possible)
- Calendar of events for your farm business
- Loan details (summary monthly principal and interest)
- Hire Purchase information
- Estimated opening balance for 1 June 2012
- Sharemilker agreement
- Personal budget (particularly if you are 1st year going into own farm business)
- Laptop (don't forget the power cord!)
- Calculator.
Q: What if I don't have a set of accounts to bring?
A: The workshops are designed for farm business owners with a set of accounts allowing them to produce meaningful budgets for a coming season.
However, if you will be running your business in the 2012-13 season and don't have any accounts yet, you can still attend as we will be able to help you put a budget together and learn the key principles.
Q: We have a budget we have already started. Should we bring it along?
A: If you have already started putting together a budget then you have a head start for the workshop. Definitely bring along budgets or anything that might be useful for helping to budget for the season ahead.
Once you have completed a budget for 2012-13 you will be able to consider different scenarios such as payout, production and expense changes and how they affect your cashflow.
Q: We work in Cashmanager RURAL. Can I bring this along and develop my budget with that instead?
A: The aim of the workshops is to help you get your budget up and running on farm, so if you use Cashmanager RURAL then we recommend you transfer the budget you develop at the workshop into Cashmanager. Cashmanager Rural has lots of features and reports that will help you manage your business more effectively. However, the cashflow workshops are designed to teach the fundamentals of budgeting.
Q: We work with BankLink. Do we need to bring any of that information?
A: If you have monthly BankLink statements for your farm business then that information is very helpful when putting together a cashflow for the season. Especially as all your transactions are coded so you can look at historical expenses such as animal health and feed. Definitely bring along statements or reports you think will be useful.
Q: What if a workshop in my area is full?
A: Spaces are limited and if a workshop is fully booked we will continue to take registrations of interest from farmers who would like to attend if another workshop is run. Please register your interest online and note your town or region and interest in attending any additional workshops: www.dairynz.co.nz/cashflow
Q: How will I get the budgets working at home?
A: The Tutor will discuss how to set up simple systems at home so that updating and monitoring your budgets isn’t time-consuming. Most of the work with budgeting happens before the season starts putting them together, after that it’s largely a case of monitoring and making changes in order to stay on track.
At the workshop you will be given contact details for help with any budgeting or technical problems when you are working on the budgets at home .
A: The workshops are subsidised by the DairyNZ levy. A charge of $100 or $150 +GST (for levy payers) and $200+GST (for non levy payers) is a contribution towards the venue, food and resources.
Q: What is provided for my registration fee?
A: The registration fee you pay will cover the cost of the two-day workshop to develop your budgets (from 10am till 3pm), with morning tea and lunch each day.
Q: We work in a team with our farm consultant and rural banker. Can they come along too?
A: If you work with a Rural Professional who is keen to come along and help you develop budgets for your farm business then they are welcome to attend. No registration fee is necessary as they are attending the workshop to help you; a contribution towards catering is all that is required. When you register please let us know who is coming with you for both/either days.
Q: Who is running these workshops? Is it my local Consulting Officer?
A: Your local Consulting Officer may attend the workshop to help support you as you develop your budgets. However, a tutor from Dairy Training Ltd will be running the workshop. The workshops are relatively small enabling you to ask questions and have some one-on-one help from the tutor or a CO over the two days.
Any further questions? Please contact
Shannon Corbett,
Ph 021 223 7174
Email: shannon.corbett@dairynz.co.nz
DairyNZ, P.O. Box 160, Lincoln University 7647
