Any executive or manager with responsibilities for the financial health of an organization. Participants are not expected to have any formal accounting experience.
Who is this for?
"This course is very informative and delivers what it promises, giving us very usable skills and tools to use in business. I would recommend it to all managers with responsibility for the financial performance of their company.”
Benefits for you
- 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
"A practical real-world course that inculcated a skill set that will make me more effective in my work.”
Program content
- Content and format of financial statements: accounting standards, current issues
- Making sense of individual statements: the balance sheet, income statement/retained earnings, cash flow statements, notes to statements
- Analyzing statements: analyzing liquidity, leverage, profitability and activity ratios, common size analysis, comparisons with other firms/industries or over time
Special features
There will be a discussion on “earnings management” and “aggressive financial reporting,” and how some companies (e.g. Nortel, WorldCom) used these techniques to manipulate their financial statements. You will also learn how to uncover some of these irregularities in financial statements.
Program leader

Scott Sinclair
Upcoming sessions
For financial assistance opportunities, please refer to Financial Assistance, Scholarships and Team Rates .

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Contact a learning advisor for more details.
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Get in touch
604.822.8400 or 1.800.618.3932
exec.ed@sauder.ubc.caVisit our contact page for more information.
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