Financial Reporting for Board Members Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Non-Executive Directors, Board Chairs and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CG-052

Before you join: Participants should have experience serving on a board, committee, senior leadership team or equivalent governance forum, and should be familiar with basic business terms such as revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and budgets.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Board members must make decisions on performance, capital allocation, risk appetite and executive accountability using financial information they did not prepare themselves. Weak questioning of revenue recognition, impairment, liquidity, forecasts or accounting estimates can leave boards exposed to missed warning signs, inaccurate market disclosures and avoidable governance failures. Directors need enough financial reporting fluency to challenge management and auditors without taking on executive management responsibilities.

This course builds the financial reporting knowledge expected of directors and audit committee members. Participants interpret the primary financial statements, assess reporting quality, analyse cash generation and working capital, and identify areas requiring board challenge. The programme covers IFRS reporting principles, critical accounting estimates, audit oversight, internal controls, fraud indicators, related-party disclosures, going concern assessments and management information packs. Participants also examine how budgets, forecasts, investment proposals and financial narratives should support board decisions.

Teaching combines concise technical briefings with financial statement reviews, board-paper case work, group analysis and simulated director questioning. Cases reflect issues commonly faced by banks, listed companies, public bodies, NGOs and multinational groups, including covenant pressure, revenue cut-off, impairment assumptions and weak cash conversion. Participants leave with a board financial reporting review pack containing practical checklists, analysis models and question sets for use in reporting meetings. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

The course is designed for serving and prospective board members, non-executive directors, trustees, audit committee members and senior leaders who receive financial reports as part of their governance role. It is particularly useful for directors without a finance qualification who need to read reports confidently and hold constructive, evidence-based discussions with finance leaders and auditors.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret IFRS-based financial statements and explain the relationships between profit, cash flow and financial position
  • Assess revenue recognition, lease accounting, impairment and provisions using relevant IFRS requirements
  • Analyse liquidity, working capital, debt maturity and going concern information using board-level metrics
  • Apply ratio analysis, DuPont analysis and cash conversion analysis to identify performance drivers
  • Challenge critical accounting estimates using sensitivity analysis, evidence requests and structured questions
  • Evaluate financial reporting controls, audit findings and external auditor independence using COSO principles
  • Identify fraud, related-party and disclosure red flags requiring board escalation or further investigation
  • Construct a board financial reporting review plan for an upcoming reporting cycle

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Read annual reports and board finance packs with greater confidence
  • Ask targeted questions about profit, cash, forecasts and accounting judgments
  • Recognise warning signs requiring escalation to auditors or management
  • Contribute more effectively to audit committee and board discussions
  • Apply a repeatable review process before approving financial statements

For your organisation

  • Stronger board challenge of material accounting judgments and forecasts
  • Earlier identification of liquidity, covenant and cash conversion risks
  • Improved oversight of external audit findings and control deficiencies
  • More disciplined review of financial disclosures and related-party transactions
  • Better alignment between board decisions, financial evidence and risk appetite

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define the board’s financial reporting responsibilities and distinguish them from management duties.

  • Board fiduciary duties under company law, listing rules and governance codes
  • Financial reporting oversight within the board, audit committee and management
  • Materiality judgments and information asymmetry in director decision making
  • Annual report components: strategic report, financial statements and governance disclosures
  • Questioning management without assuming executive responsibility for accounting estimates
  • Escalation routes for suspected misstatement, fraud or control failure

Participants can interpret the main financial statements and connect their underlying accounting relationships.

  • IFRS conceptual framework: recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure principles
  • Statement of financial position relationships among assets, liabilities and equity
  • Income statement drivers: revenue, costs, finance charges and tax
  • Other comprehensive income and changes in equity explained
  • Cash flow statement links to profit and working capital
  • Notes, accounting policies and critical judgments used in board review

Participants can assess major accounting treatments affecting reported earnings, assets and liabilities.

  • IFRS 15 five-step model for revenue recognition and contract modifications
  • Assessing principal-versus-agent conclusions, variable consideration and contract assets
  • IFRS 16 lease liabilities, right-of-use assets and EBITDA effects
  • Impairment indicators under IAS 36 and cash-generating unit testing
  • Provisions and contingencies under IAS 37: probability, measurement and disclosure
  • Deferred tax movements under IAS 12 and forecast implications

Participants can challenge subjective accounting estimates using evidence, sensitivities and structured questions.

  • Critical accounting estimates: impairment, expected credit losses, pensions and provisions
  • IFRS 9 expected credit loss staging and credit-risk assumptions
  • Sensitivity analysis for discount rates, growth rates and commodity prices
  • Fair value hierarchy under IFRS 13 and Level 3 governance
  • Management bias indicators within forecasts, assumptions and year-end adjustments
  • Audit committee challenge questions for subjective measurement judgments

Participants can use financial analysis methods to identify performance drivers and reporting distortions.

  • Common-size analysis separating margin movement, mix effects and cost growth
  • Ratio analysis: liquidity, solvency, profitability, efficiency and covenant headroom
  • DuPont analysis connecting return on equity to operating drivers
  • Cash conversion cycle calculation using receivables, inventory and payables
  • Free cash flow reconciliation from EBITDA to available cash
  • Trend analysis distinguishing recurring performance from one-off accounting effects

Participants can assess short-term liquidity, financing risk and going concern disclosures.

  • Operating cash flow assessed against profit, dividends, debt service and capital expenditure
  • 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data
  • Going concern assessment under IAS 1 and material uncertainty disclosures
  • Debt maturity profiles, refinancing assumptions and covenant compliance monitoring
  • Working capital warning signals in ageing schedules and supplier terms
  • Board liquidity dashboard with triggers, owners and escalation actions

Participants can evaluate financial reporting controls and oversee internal and external audit assurance.

  • COSO internal control framework applied to financial reporting risk
  • Entity-level controls, reconciliations, journal entries and segregation of duties
  • Risk-based audit planning, materiality and audit evidence explained
  • External auditor independence, non-audit services and appointment oversight
  • Internal audit assurance mapping against key financial reporting controls
  • Management representation letters and unadjusted misstatements reviewed by directors

Participants can identify reporting integrity risks and evaluate required governance responses.

  • Fraud triangle indicators in revenue, procurement, payroll and management override
  • Whistleblowing arrangements, investigation protocols and protected disclosure governance
  • Related-party transactions identified under IAS 24 disclosure requirements
  • Market-sensitive information, profit warnings and disclosure committee responsibilities
  • Post-balance-sheet events under IAS 10: adjusting and non-adjusting treatment
  • Restatement decisions, regulator correspondence and stakeholder communication principles

Participants can evaluate planning information and capital proposals presented for board approval.

  • Integrated business planning links strategy, budgets, forecasts and capital allocation
  • Board review of budget assumptions, scenario ranges and downside cases
  • Variance analysis separating price, volume, mix, timing and productivity
  • Investment appraisal using NPV, IRR, payback and sensitivity analysis
  • Capital expenditure governance: business cases, stage gates and benefits tracking
  • Management information packs designed around decisions, thresholds and exceptions

Participants can prepare for reporting meetings using a structured board review process.

  • Board pack architecture: headline messages, trends, risks and decisions required
  • Financial narrative reconciled to statutory statements, forecasts and key performance indicators
  • Audit committee agenda structured around judgments, controls and auditor findings
  • Director questioning techniques: probe assumptions, seek evidence and test alternatives
  • Red-flag review checklist for deteriorating performance and reporting quality
  • Personal application plan for the next reporting cycle

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Board financial reporting review checklist
  2. Financial statement ratio analysis model
  3. Cash flow and liquidity dashboard template
  4. Critical accounting estimate challenge questions
  5. Audit committee reporting agenda template
  6. Personal reporting-cycle application plan

Who should attend

  • Non-Executive Directors — to challenge financial reports and management assumptions effectively
  • Board Chairs — to lead informed discussion of performance, risk and reporting judgments
  • Audit Committee Members — to oversee external audit, internal controls and reporting quality
  • Trustees — to discharge financial stewardship duties for charitable and public-interest entities
  • Chief Executives — to present credible financial narratives and forecasts to the board
  • Senior Executives — to understand the financial questions directors should ask of their reports

Skills and tools covered

Financial statement interpretationBoard-level financial analysisCash flow assessmentAudit committee oversightReporting risk challengeGovernance disclosure review

Tools and standards

IFRS Accounting Standards, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, DuPont analysis, 13-week rolling cash forecast

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish reporting concepts, followed by annual report extracts, board papers and sector-based cases. Participants analyse financial statements, compare forecast assumptions, review audit findings and prepare questions for management. Small-group work tests alternative interpretations of financial results and disclosure decisions. Simulated board and audit committee discussions develop concise, evidence-based challenge. Individual application planning connects the methods to each participant’s own board calendar, reporting packs and committee responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience serving on a board, committee, senior leadership team or equivalent governance forum, and should be familiar with basic business terms such as revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and budgets. Prior exposure to board papers, management accounts or annual reports is useful. No accounting qualification, audit experience, IFRS technical training or advanced spreadsheet skill is required. The course explains financial reporting concepts from a director’s oversight perspective rather than training participants to prepare statutory accounts.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should understand basic business terms such as revenue, costs, assets, liabilities and budgets. You do not need an accounting qualification, audit background or prior IFRS training.

Bring a calculator if you prefer using one for financial analysis, plus any non-confidential board finance pack or annual report you wish to consider. Course materials, cases and analysis templates are provided.

The course suits non-executive directors, trustees, audit committee members, board chairs and senior executives with governance responsibilities. It is especially relevant to participants who review financial information but do not prepare statutory accounts.

This course focuses on board oversight, challenge and decision making rather than bookkeeping, journal entries or producing financial statements. It concentrates on the questions directors should ask of management, auditors and financial reports.

Participants can use the reporting review checklist, financial analysis model and question sets at board and audit committee meetings. The application plan helps them prepare for the next reporting cycle, forecast review or audit discussion.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten modules, with time for technical briefings, financial statement analysis, case work, discussion and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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