EXLGP 8207 - Financial Management

Course Description

Introduces the financial, organizational, and political implications of public financial management practices. One of the major focuses is the budget process and understanding the elements of a budget in a public sector context. Other topics examined include costs of service delivery, elements of alternative service delivery, and how to monitor service delivery performance. Some techniques used for long-term decision-making are also introduced.

Who Should Take This Course?

Whether you are a financial or a non-financial professional, this course will provide you with expertise to understand the economic, organizational, and political implications of financial issues at the local level. Aimed at individuals interested in moving into higher level responsibilities in the local government field; our student body includes municipal government employees in planning, corporate services, economic development, operations, finance, and more.

Learner Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to: Analyze municipal government financial statements. Explore the concept of fund accounting and the difference between cash and accrual bases of accounting. Examine the municipal budget process, including citizen engagement and the role of spenders and guardians in the process. Evaluate the methods used for forecasting revenue and expenditure budgets. Discuss the importance of full costing for provision of municipal government services and the methods of calculating full costs for services. Explore the concept of alternative service delivery for provision of municipal services and examine the decision-making process for choosing a service delivery mechanism from among a number of service provision mechanisms in municipal government. Discuss the importance of performance monitoring for municipal governments and assess the techniques used in performance monitoring, including the importance of auditing. Critically evaluate the merits of cost-benefit analysis and discounted cash flow technique for long-term financial investments, with specific reference to municipal governments.

Notes

Fully online asynchronous course, accessible through eClass, the University of Alberta’s eLearning management tool. Participate in online discussions with peers from all over Canada and expand your professional network. All learning materials are found through eClass. This is an elective course for the NACLAA Level I certificate.

Recommendations

Applicants intending to complete a program are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to lock in their course requirements.

Applies Towards the Following Programs

• National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration Level I : Elective Courses