Financial Literacy Workshop
Do you know your financial oversight responsibilities as a Board member?
A key role for the Board of Directors is to be able to read and understand the financial statements and the underlying policies, assumptions and estimates used for their preparation. This will allow them to ask appropriate questions of management.
The directors can delegate many of the detailed financial oversight to the finance or audit committee, but every member of the Board remains personally accountable for the integrity of the financial reporting. This includes the reporting frameworks, internal controls, financial reports and the assessment of financial risk.
Directors should also have an appreciation of the range of valid options management has in preparing the financial statements and the impact that different types of performance motivations might have on the selection of the accounting methods and estimates.
Financial Analysis Workshop - Improve your Board's Financial Literacy
Our Financial Analysis Workshop is a one day, in-house workshop that provides Board members with the basics necessary to help them fulfill their financial oversight responsibilities.
One Day, in-house, customized financial analysis workshop for your Board of Directors.
Contact Us
To discuss holding this workshop for your organization.
Topics covered include:
- Financial reporting responsibilities
- Principles and practices of internal controls
- Financial literacy requirements for Directors
- Challenges created by having different users of Financial Statements
- Cash vs. Accrual accounting
- Understanding the 4 basic Financial Statements
- Revenue recognition considerations
- Principles and problems in expensing vs. capitalizing expenditures
- Cost accounting variations influenced by management motivations
- Accounting for accounts receivable risks
- Amortization and depreciation methods
- Pension plan reporting concepts and analysis
- Appreciating how the numbers link between the financial statements
- Key differences in accounting principles systems like GAAP and IFRS
- Understanding and applying accounting principles
- Techniques for reading and analysing Financial Statements
- Interpreting the notes to Financial Statements
- Determining if Management Discussion and Analysis is appropriate
- Spotting red flags and warning signs in financial reporting
When working with a single company, we use your own financial statements as examples for our analysis to ensure the insight you gain applies directly to your organization.
We facilitate our workshops by:
- using a combination of presenting and exploring concepts and practices
- discussing alternative accounting treatments for typical situations
- encouraging interactive discussions
- analyzing mini-case studies
- practicing techniques using different analytical tools
- interpreting and analyzing your organization's financial statements
Participants have found our workshops very worthwhile and recommend them to a variety of people who need to read, understand and use financial statements including Directors, executives, and middle managers who do not have a strong background in accounting.
OUR CUSTOMERS SAY IT BEST!
"The workshop gave me a much broader understanding of how financial statements can be presented and that it is not simply about putting numbers in the right columns, but more how they can be presented to paint a specific picture. I would recommend this workshop for middle management all the way up to executives and Directors - anyone who needs to read and interpret financial statements. Coupled with his excellent soft skills, Jacques knows and presents the material very well and does so in a simple, clear and logical manner." David Grieve, GLPA Director and VP Operations Fednav International Ltd.
"The session was well structured, had good pace and Jacques kept us focused on the subject matter. He also encouraged everyone to participate and he came well prepared by understanding our business. I was very satisfied with the workshop and I would recommend it to new Directors as well as Boards lacking financial experience." Doug Smith, Chair of the Great Lakes Piotage Authority