Financial Analysis & Reporting
Overview
Financial analysis reveals how an organisation is really performing. This course builds skills in analysing financial statements, calculating and interpreting ratios, assessing cash flow and financial health, and preparing clear financial reports and commentary for management.
Who should attend
Accountants, financial analysts, credit and audit staff, and finance managers.
Training methodology
Interactive presentations, practical exercises, case studies, group discussions, role-plays where relevant, and a personal action plan that participants apply in their own work.
Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Analyse income statements, balance sheets and cash flows
- Calculate and interpret key financial ratios
- Assess liquidity, solvency and financial health
- Benchmark performance against peers
- Prepare clear financial reports and commentary
Course outline
Day 1Financial Statements Review
- Structure of the statements
- Accounting policies and quality
- Notes and disclosures
- Reading annual reports
- Exercise
Day 2Ratio Analysis
- Profitability ratios
- Efficiency ratios
- Liquidity ratios
- Leverage ratios
- Ratio exercise
Day 3Cash Flow Analysis
- Operating, investing and financing flows
- Free cash flow
- Quality of earnings
- Warning signs
- Case study
Day 4Performance Assessment
- Trend and common-size analysis
- Benchmarking
- DuPont analysis
- Credit assessment basics
- Company analysis
Day 5Financial Reporting
- Management reports
- Financial commentary
- Dashboards
- Presenting to non-financial managers
- Final exercise
