Economics and business economics
Understanding choices and numbers
What comes in, what goes out, and what does it cost to make a product? We start with practical questions to learn how to read numbers and explain choices.
The experience behind the Economics learning paths
This section also draws on my experience in administration and bookkeeping between 2000 and 2010, working for industrial and service businesses in Sardinia and Lombardy.
The portal’s learning paths start with practical questions and explain the numbers step by step. Connecting a figure to what it represents helps learners understand the reasoning before carrying out a calculation.
Read about my professional backgroundStart with a question
Before calculating, decide what you want to understand and which period you are considering. Comparing a month with a year without separating the data can be misleading.
What are we measuring: cash movements, sales or costs?
Income, spending and budgeting
A budget organises expected income and spending for a period. In the workshop, we compare the plan with actual figures, then calculate net cash flow.
Price, cost and revenue
A product’s price, total revenue and costs answer different questions. A small model helps us compare them and understand why making sales does not automatically mean making a profit.
Cash and profit: two different views
Cash received tells us about money coming in; revenue relates to the business activity. These can happen at different times: a product sold today may be paid for later.
Every exercise states its data and assumptions. The aim is to understand and check the steps, rather than choose investments or make decisions for a real business.
