A dairy’s accounting system can provide the data for making sound financial management decisions. But too often producers rely on it simply for tax purposes because they don’t know how to use their own data to make informed decisions about their operations.

Penn State Dairy Alliance and Penn State Cooperative Extension offices in Mercer, Butler and Lawrence counties are working together to offer educational workshops in December and January to show dairy producers, bookkeepers, and accounting staff how to organize their accounting systems to yield this important management information.

Workshop participants will learn how to implement proper accounting principles and practices in their everyday accounting transactions. They will also learn how to organize their data to provide valuable management information to the decision-makers of the business, as well as how to read and interpret the various reports that a well-organized accounting system can provide.

Two classes will be offered:

ä Understanding and Implementing Basic Accounting Principles and Practices — Learn how to implement the basics of proper accounting to maintain an accurate set of financial records with instructor Brad Hilty, information management specialist with Penn State Dairy Alliance.

This class is offered from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 17 at Brown’s Country Kitchen, Portersville, Butler County.

ä Introduction to QuickBooks for Dairy Accounting — Learn how to effectively use Quickbooks to organize an accounting system that is based on a standardized chart of accounts designed specifically for dairy businesses with Hilty and local accountants certified in QuickBooks instruction.

This class is offered from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office in Mercer County, Mercer.

Participants must register in advance for one or both workshops and details can be found online at: www.das.psu.edu/dairy-alliance/education/managing-accounting.

The registration fee is $45 per class for the first person from the dairy/business; $25 per class for each additional person; for both classes, $80 per person and $40 for each additional person. To register, call Dairy Alliance at 888-373-7232. Registration by credit card is accepted online at the Web site.