UNDERSTANDING FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
- Income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow structure
- Interconnection among financial statements
- Key accounting principles and adjustments
- Analytical limitations of financial statements
TREND AND HORIZONTAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
- Trend and horizontal analysis
- Vertical analysis: common-size financial statements
- Multi-period trend evaluation and forecasting
- Seasonal and structural performance shifts
RATIO ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
- Profitability ratios: gross margin, operating margin, ROA, ROE
- Liquidity ratios: current ratio, quick ratio, working capital
- Solvency ratios: debt-to-equity, interest coverage, leverage
- Efficiency ratios: inventory turnover, asset turnover, receivables days
- Market valuation ratios: EPS, P/E, book value per share
- DuPont analysis: ROE components
- Ratio interpretation in industry contexts
- Adjusting ratios for seasonal/cyclical effects
CASH FLOW ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
- Direct vs. indirect methods of cash flow
- Free cash flow significance
- Working capital efficiency and the cash conversion cycle
- Comparing net income and operating cash flow
- Identifying red flags and distortions
COMPARATIVE AND BENCHMARKING ANALYSIS
- Intra- and inter-company comparisons
- Use of industry benchmarks
- Adjustments for consistency and comparability
- Sector-specific KPI interpretation
- Limitations of benchmarking
EVALUATING FINANCIAL RISK AND STABILITY
- Financial distress signals and red flags
- Leverage structure and debt coverage analysis
- Altman Z-score model and credit indicators
- Earnings manipulation detection
- Rating agencies frameworks
PRESENTING FINANCIAL ANALYSIS INSIGHTS
- Structuring executive-level financial reports
- Data visualization with Excel (tables, charts, dashboards)
- Communicating insights for decision-making
CAPSTONE MINI-PROJECT
Participants will work in groups to analyze a real company’s financial statements and present an executive analysis summary, supported by Excel visuals and key ratio interpretations.