Financial Statements and Budgeting Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Financial Analysts, Finance Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-FM-071

Before you join: Participants should understand basic business arithmetic, including percentages, ratios and simple spreadsheet calculations.

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

Financial managers and non-finance managers are routinely asked to explain results, defend budget requests, identify emerging cash pressure and turn financial data into decisions. This requires more than reading headline profit figures. They must understand how transactions move through the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, assess what ratios and trends are signalling, and distinguish a temporary variance from a structural problem.

This course develops the practical finance skills needed to interpret financial statements and build, manage and review budgets. Participants work through accrual accounting, financial statement structure, working capital, cash flow forecasting, ratio analysis and financial performance reporting. They then apply driver-based budgeting, cost behaviour analysis, capital expenditure appraisal, scenario planning, flexible budgets and variance analysis. By the end of the course, participants can explain financial performance clearly, create defensible budgets and forecast the financial effects of operational decisions.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with worked financial examples, group case analysis, spreadsheet-based calculations, budgeting simulations and structured reporting tasks. Cases reflect decisions such as managing overdue receivables, controlling payroll costs, approving capital projects and responding to missed revenue targets. Participants leave with reusable templates for statement analysis, budget preparation, cash forecasting, capital appraisal and variance reporting, alongside an individual application plan.

The course suits finance professionals who need stronger planning and reporting skills, as well as operational managers who hold budget responsibility or contribute financial information to planning cycles.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements using linked financial statement analysis
  • Calculate profitability, liquidity, efficiency and solvency ratios from published or internal accounts
  • Prepare a 13-week rolling cash forecast using operational receipts and payment assumptions
  • Build driver-based operating budgets for revenue, headcount, procurement and overhead costs
  • Apply break-even, contribution margin and cost behaviour analysis to planning decisions
  • Evaluate capital expenditure proposals using net present value, internal rate of return and payback
  • Analyse flexible-budget and forecast variances to identify root causes and corrective actions
  • Present financial results, forecasts and budget recommendations through concise management reporting

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Explain reported profit, cash movement and balance sheet changes with confidence
  • Produce clearer budget submissions supported by operational drivers and assumptions
  • Identify early warning signs in working capital, cash flow and margin performance
  • Assess capital requests using recognised investment appraisal methods
  • Lead more informed budget and performance conversations with senior stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Improves the quality and traceability of departmental budget submissions
  • Strengthens cash planning through disciplined receipts, payments and working capital forecasts
  • Enables earlier investigation of adverse margin, cost and revenue variances
  • Creates more consistent evaluation of capital expenditure proposals
  • Improves management reporting with clearer financial explanations and assigned actions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how accounting transactions connect the three primary financial statements.

  • Purpose and interdependence of income statement, balance sheet and cash flows
  • Accrual accounting distinguishes recognition timing from cash collection and payment
  • Double-entry postings connect transactions to account balances and trial balance
  • Accounting equation tests asset, liability and equity movements
  • Chart of accounts structure supports departmental reporting and budget ownership
  • Materiality and consistency guide useful management and external financial reporting
  • Reading notes identifies accounting policies, estimates and contingent obligations

Participants can analyse income statement performance and explain the main drivers of profitability.

  • Income statement formats separate gross margin, operating profit and finance costs
  • Classifying revenue, expenses, gains and losses under accrual accounting
  • Gross margin, EBITDA and operating margin calculated from reported results
  • Common-size analysis expresses income statement lines as percentage of revenue
  • Trend analysis compares monthly, quarterly and annual performance patterns
  • Non-recurring items adjusted when assessing sustainable operating performance
  • Management commentary reconciles drivers behind actual-versus-prior-period movements

Participants can assess liquidity, funding pressure and working capital performance from balance sheet data.

  • Balance sheet classifications distinguish current and non-current operating balances
  • Working capital cycle links receivables, inventory, payables and cash
  • Liquidity ratios assess short-term payment capacity and funding pressure
  • Solvency ratios measure debt service capacity and capital structure risk
  • Asset turnover reveals capital intensity and operational efficiency
  • Ageing schedules expose overdue receivables, slow inventory and supplier concentration
  • Reconciling balance movements explains financing, investment and operating changes

Participants can interpret cash flow movements and prepare a short-term rolling cash forecast.

  • IAS 7 classifies operating, investing and financing cash flows
  • Indirect cash flow method reconciles profit to operating cash generation
  • Direct method identifies receipts and payments from underlying cash records
  • Non-cash adjustments include depreciation, provisions, deferred tax and asset disposals
  • Free cash flow calculation distinguishes operating cash from capital expenditure
  • Cash conversion cycle quantifies days sales outstanding, inventory and payables
  • 13-week rolling cash forecast built from receipts, payroll and supplier data

Participants can diagnose financial performance and present findings in decision-ready management reports.

  • Ratio selection aligns analysis with profitability, liquidity, efficiency and solvency questions
  • DuPont analysis decomposes return on equity into operating drivers
  • Benchmarking compares results against budgets, prior periods and peer businesses
  • Vertical and horizontal analyses reveal material shifts requiring investigation
  • Red flags identify earnings management, cash strain and balance sheet risk
  • Executive financial narratives distinguish symptoms, root causes and management actions
  • Dashboard design prioritises decision-useful KPIs, trends, thresholds and commentary

Participants can structure a controlled budget process with clear ownership and assumptions.

  • Budget purpose links resource allocation, accountability, planning and performance control
  • Annual budget calendar sequences assumptions, submissions, challenge and approval
  • Driver-based budgeting translates operational volumes into financial resource requirements
  • Incremental budgeting tests baseline spending and justified cost movements
  • Zero-based budgeting rebuilds selected costs from activities and service levels
  • Responsibility centres assign revenues, costs, profits and investment decisions
  • Budget governance defines owners, version control and approval tolerances

Participants can build operating budgets from commercial, staffing and cost assumptions.

  • Revenue budgets combine price, volume, mix and collection assumptions
  • Cost behaviour separates fixed, variable, stepped and semi-variable expenditure
  • Contribution margin supports break-even analysis and short-term pricing decisions
  • Headcount budgets model vacancies, recruitment timing, salaries and benefits
  • Procurement spend plans incorporate contracts, inflation, usage and supplier terms
  • Production budgets link sales demand, inventory policy and capacity constraints
  • Scenario assumptions document base, upside and downside operating cases

Participants can evaluate investment proposals using financial returns, risks and approval criteria.

  • Capital expenditure budgets distinguish maintenance, replacement, growth and compliance investments
  • Business cases define benefits, costs, timing, risks and accountable sponsors
  • Net present value discounts forecast cash flows using required returns
  • Internal rate of return compares project yield with hurdle rates
  • Payback period highlights liquidity exposure but ignores later cash flows
  • Sensitivity analysis tests volume, price, cost and discount-rate assumptions
  • Capital approval gates connect funding releases to evidence and milestones

Participants can investigate budget variances and update forecasts with corrective actions.

  • Flexible budgets restate expected costs using actual activity volumes
  • Price and volume variances isolate commercial and operational performance drivers
  • Labour rate and efficiency variances explain workforce cost deviations
  • Spending and usage variances assess controllable overhead performance
  • Forecast versus budget analysis updates year-end expectations and corrective actions
  • Waterfall charts communicate favourable and adverse movements to decision makers
  • Root-cause analysis converts variance signals into assigned management actions

Participants can strengthen financial control, reporting discipline and their own budgeting practices.

  • Rolling forecasts refresh assumptions, timing and resource decisions throughout the year
  • Forecast accuracy measures compare prior estimates with actual outcomes
  • Internal controls protect budget data, approvals and reporting integrity
  • COSO principles connect control activities, information flows and monitoring
  • Management reporting packs combine financial results, forecast and variance commentary
  • Action plans assign decisions, owners, dates and measurable follow-up
  • Personal application plan identifies immediate reporting and budgeting improvements

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

What you take back to work

  1. Three-statement financial analysis worksheet
  2. 13-week rolling cash forecast template
  3. Driver-based operating budget model
  4. Capital expenditure business case template
  5. Flexible-budget variance analysis report
  6. Financial reporting action plan

Who should attend

  • Financial Analysts — need to convert accounting data into decision-ready analysis and forecasts
  • Finance Managers — need consistent methods for budgeting, reporting and performance review
  • Management Accountants — need practical tools for planning cycles and variance investigation
  • Budget Holders — need to prepare, manage and explain departmental budgets
  • Operations Managers — need to understand the financial consequences of operational decisions
  • Project Managers — need to assess project costs, cash requirements and investment cases

Skills and tools covered

Financial statement analysisBudget developmentCash flow forecastingVariance analysisCapital investment appraisalManagement reporting

Tools and standards

IFRS, IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows, COSO Internal Control Framework, DuPont analysis

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish concepts, followed by worked examples drawn from financial reporting and budget cycles. Participants analyse financial statements, calculate ratios, prepare forecasts, test budget assumptions and interpret variances through individual and group activities. Budgeting simulations show how commercial, staffing and cost decisions affect profit and cash. Facilitated discussions focus on reporting choices, management actions and common control failures. Participants conclude by identifying practical improvements for their own reporting and budgeting responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic business arithmetic, including percentages, ratios and simple spreadsheet calculations. Some exposure to invoices, budgets, management reports or financial statements is helpful, whether gained in a finance or operational role. Participants should be comfortable reading tables of financial data and discussing business performance. Prior accounting qualifications, advanced Excel skills, audit experience and knowledge of IFRS are not required. The course explains core accounting relationships before applying them to budgeting, forecasting and performance analysis.

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

Participants should be comfortable with percentages, simple calculations and reading financial tables. Prior accounting qualifications are not required, but some exposure to budgets, invoices or management reports will help.

Bring a calculator and, if attending in person, a laptop if possible for financial modelling activities. Participants may also bring a non-confidential budget, report or planning challenge they want to improve.

It is designed for finance professionals, budget holders, operational managers and project managers with planning or reporting responsibilities. It is particularly useful for staff moving into roles that require budget ownership.

The course focuses on using financial statements and budgets to make and explain management decisions. It teaches accounting relationships and spreadsheet-based calculations, but it is not a bookkeeping qualification or an advanced Excel programme.

Participants can use the provided templates to review departmental results, prepare budget assumptions, forecast cash and investigate variances. The application plan identifies specific reporting or budgeting improvements to implement after the course.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided across financial statement interpretation, cash forecasting, budget construction, capital appraisal, variance analysis and reporting.

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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