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Executive Education

Financial Statement Analysis for the Non-Accountant

Improve your ability to interpret key financial tools

Financial statements are the pulse of a business, and one of the clearest indicators of its health. This program will provide you with a basic understanding of financial statements and the use of key financial analysis tools. You will use actual financial statements to learn and apply the techniques being examined.

Participants are not expected to have any formal accounting experience.

Any executive or manager with responsibilities for the financial health of an organization. Participants are not expected to have any formal accounting experience.

  • Gain a basic understanding of generally accepted accounting principles, financial analysis tools and various types of financial statements
  • Understand the relationships between investment, operational and financing decisions
  • Identify the danger signals when assessing the viability of an enterprise
  • Be able to interpret key financial figures and their impact on your business
  • Recognize the limitations of financial statements
  • Better comprehend financial information seen in the media

Content and Format of Financial Statements

  • Accounting standards, current issues

Making Sense of Individual Financial Statements

  • The balance sheet, income statement/retained earnings, cash flow statements, notes to statements

Analyzing Financial Statements

  • Analyzing ratios: liquidity, leverage, profitability and activity ratios
  • Common size analysis
  • Making comparisons over time or vs. other firms/industries

Special features

There will be a discussion on “earnings management” and “aggressive financial reporting,” and how some companies (e.g. Enron, WorldCom) used these techniques to manipulate their financial statements. You will also learn how to uncover some of these irregularities in financial statements.

Scott Sinclair

Faculty

Scott is a faculty member at the UBC Sauder School of Business. He has been actively involved in professional accounting education for more than 35 years. He was the principal author for the CA School of Business in Western Canada between 2000 and 2010, and has won multiple awards for teaching excellence. He has also worked with Coopers & Lybrand Chartered Accounts, serving small business and mining clients.

Upcoming sessions

calendar Program dates
price_tag Fees and Taxes
notebook Format
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Aug 17 - 18, 2023
$2195.00 + tax (5%)

In-person

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8:30am – 4:30pm in Vancouver, BC

8:30am – 4:30pm in Vancouver, BC

UBC Robson Square
Nov 23 - 24, 2023
$2195.00 + tax (5%)

In-person

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8:30am – 4:30pm in Vancouver, BC

8:30am – 4:30pm in Vancouver, BC

UBC Robson Square

Participating organizations

Success stories

"This course delivers what it promises, giving us very applicable skills and tools to use on the job. I would recommend it to all managers with responsibility for the financial performance of their company.”
"A practical real-world course that inculcated a skill set that will make me more effective in my work.”

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