Financial Acumen for PR Professionals

Financial acumen at the most basic level gives PR pros several advantages to get ahead and noticed.

PR pros should stay on the top of their game. Gaining a keen handle on financial statements and their client or organization's main competitor's financial reports will keep strategic PR professionals ahead in the game.

Besides acknowledging the ROI as the most important KPI and shouting fun movie quotes about money on a whim, PR professionals can use three financial statements to increase their business acumen.

Three financial statements to master include the income statement, the balance statement, and the cash flow statement.

Financial statements show the net income, net revenue, retained earnings, and retained equity. The gross margin, net margin, profit margin, and earnings per share may be calculated.

A PR professional with a keen eye can determine whether the company can expand or not and whether long-term debt exists, and the amount of time to pay the debt. All help determine growth or not.

Each also plays a factor in understanding several different circumstances.

PR pros equipped with basic financial knowledge can better understand how others use financial information.

For instance, companies with consistent, efficient, scalable, and smooth operational growth, as indicated in financial statements, could signal that they will be approached by competitors or deserve a pay increase. Also, investors may be interested in the company. A company the PR pros represents may acquire a new company or need a loan.

Another handy benefit from knowing about the financial data attained from the financial statements, is speaking intelligently, publicly about a company's financials. PR pros may want to curate a smart partnership or understand their main competitor's financials. Circumstances can arise that require attention. On the defense, a PR pro could correct a reporter on the spot for having misread the financials.

Understanding a company's financial position keeps a PR pro one step ahead.