1 CPE One of the most crucial skills for any manager to develop, financial or otherwise, is an ability to pick up and read a set of financial statements. Financial statements tell important stories about how a business has performed, its level of financial strength, and the availability of cash generated. Unfortunately, these stories are often not explicitly stated and require understanding and further analysis.
In this course, we work through a set of financial statements highlighting the key points of relevance. We also learn about ratio analysis, which helps us generate a deeper level of insight into the financial results by making comparisons to prior periods and to peers. This is a foundational course that will deepen your understanding of what the numbers mean.
Learning Objectives
- Discover how to analyze financial statements to evaluate profitability, operational performance, financial strength, and cash flow.
- Discover how to use ratio analysis to evaluate financial performance against trends, prior performance, and industry statistics.
- Discover how to work through a set of financial statements highlighting the key points of relevance
Last updated/reviewed: August 22, 2023
66 Reviews (295 ratings)
Reviews
Dinah Sarman-Moschetti
(Accounting Manager at Global Executive Management Services)
There was good information in the course. However, I have a background in preparing financial statements, so much of it was repetitive, explaining the basics of a PL versus a Balance Sheet. So I would zone out a bit and then realize there was something unique I wanted to hear and I'd try to tune in at that point. I guess I was looking for something just a bit different. The instructor is knowledgeable, and I appreciated that; but his little saying at the end of EVERY video was only mildly cute the first time - it got old. Otherwise, it really is a decent course and the PDF glossary is useful!
Anonymous
()
Good coverage in the course. I thought it could have had a better flow and more insightful real world examples. One takeaway I did not like was when it was suggested strategy could be ignored to focus on metrics. This seemed like an odd takeaway from the example. Could go without the tagline at the end of each video as well.
Anonymous
(VP, WFM and BusTech)
Admittedly, this topic isn't my strong suite, which required reviewing portions of the presentation multiple times to fully grasp key concepts. Nonetheless, a good refresher; however, I would have benefited with more robust supporting materials to reference throughout the course.
Anonymous
(Staff Accountant)
Good course with an in-depth review of what different parts of a financial statement mean including each section and the notes. Included real world examples. Also included a useful list of ratios, how they are calculated, what they are used for, and industry standands.
Anonymous
(Senior Internal Auditor)
Like the way Blair Cook explained that ratios alone cannot explain how well a company is doing unless they benchmark them to other company or compared it to previous year's result. In fact, companies in different industries have different view on ratios.
Anonymous
(Finance)
This is a good review that covers a lot of material in a short amount of time. Enjoyed the strong presentation style. Due to the density of the content, this course may be intense for those with no prior exposure to financial statements.
Anonymous
(accountant)
Course was very informative and instructionally sound. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in financial statements as well as a refresher. I enjoyed Mr. cook's enthusiasm and will be taking another course produced by him.
Anonymous
(Senior Internal Auditor)
The course materials were relevant and helpful in achieving the learning objectives. The instructor was very effective in presenting the course materials, and the time allotted for the course was sufficient.
Michael Grogan
(- at -)
Good overview for anyone with limited exposure to financial statements and those that may not have been involved with analyzing or reviewing financial statements for some time. Fast pace, good information.
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Lots of information given. It was laid out well with good explanation of how the ratios yielded information to rendered sound financial decisions. The supporting material very informative and helpful.
Anonymous
(Snr Accounting Consultant, CPA)
Professor Cook - this course was really enlightening course. It is true sometimes one just thinks about producing financial statements without going a step further of reading the statements.
Anonymous
(-)
Good lesson with a lot of information to come away with, although I didn't feel like a pro at the end of the lesson. This is a lesson that needs a couple of views to be effective.
Anonymous
(Operations Controller)
Cool presentation, some more text and giving this slides also as pdf to the audience would be helpful, even though the pdf with the ratios is very helpful (good summary)
Joshua Bourquard
(Accounting Manager Financial Reporting a.. at TPx Communications)
Good overall analysis of the financial statements with added commentary of how businesses should function or use the financials to better understand day to day analysis.
Michael Izzo
(Sr Financial Reporting Analyst at Catholic Health Initiatives)
Awesome job covering every aspect of analyzing financial statements. Especially enjoyed the last section analyzing a company investment prospects using the internet.
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Intense for the time allotted. Especially for those who are not financial professional. Might want to break this course down into separate components of an hour each
Lawrence DeParis
(Founder & CEO at C-Level Solutions LLC)
Great overview of how to ascertain the "story behind the numbers". Explained clearly by Mr. Cook and accompanied with very relevant and user-friendly visual aids.
Anonymous
(CPA/Investment Advisor)
Good course and good information, a bit long for the content covered, but I suppose that would be helpful for someone without a background in this sort of content
Devery Adair
(CFO at PLI Industries LLC)
Very good information. Would have like the material to be covered over an extended amount of time to allow time to analyze the statements along with instructor.
Cindy McClarty
(Human Resource Manager at Integrity Staffing Solutions)
I love Blair Cook's courses. I am in HR and not at all numbers oriented, yet I'm able to start with 0 knowledge and get 100% on the exams-GREAT instruction!
Kevin Murray
(Business Partner - Strategic Projects at The Wesson Group)
This a very good course and covers a lot of material. The use of real financial statements provides a great visual reference for the calculations.
Numeriano De la Cruz Jr
(Accounting Manager at -)
A great course for revisiting financial ratios and analysis. It gives an insight on how to effectively comprehend financial statements in detail.
Anonymous
()
It was ok but there should have been a slideshow. A slideshow would have made things much easier to understand. Otherwise it was good.
Anonymous
(Owner)
Great information on how to interpret the ratios and also the reasoning as to "why". Would take more classes from this instructor.
Anonymous
(CFO)
Excellent presentation of how to read financial statements with practical examples from publicly traded company statements.
Anonymous
()
Another one of Blair Cook's solid courses. I have taken most that he offers on this site and hope there is more to come.
Anonymous
(Sr. Accountant)
Instructor presented materials with granular detail and great examples. Presentation materials were extremely beneficial.
Georgios Baltos
( at EUI)
I liked the course, that was a very useful from many points of view. I like a practical information from this course.
Anonymous
(Manager Internal Audit Europe)
A very good course to recap financial analysis techniques and methodology using public company financial statements.
Anonymous
(CPA)
Good information - would have better results if taking a breath and either slowing down or improving materials -
Janine Korovesis
(Controller at Google)
This course was a helpful introduction to reading financial statements. The ratio discussion was quite helpful.
Anonymous
(-)
Nice introduction to reading "financial statements like a pro" - it goes over relevant ratios to help analyze.
Kevin Stapleton
( at Preferred Plastics)
great instructor. really enjoyed the way the teaching method. provided useful content in a compact format.
Anonymous
(Financial Reporting Manager)
Very informative and to the point. Easy to understand explanations. Useful PDF file with ratios provided.
Anonymous
(Compliance Officer)
Informative in-depth walkthrough about how to interpret financial statements and key performance ratios.
Anonymous
(CSR)
Excellent discussion on how to analyze and understand the meaning of the various financial statements.
Anonymous
(Director, Accounting)
Very informative and helpful to understand how to read the financial statements and analyze.
Inna Shmukler
(Controller at Fornetix LLC)
Very informative and very well organized. Lot's of useful information. Highly recommend.
Anonymous
()
Instructor spoke too quickly and covered vast amounts of material for a one hour class.
Crystal Sittser
(Experienced Manager at Wouch Maloney CPAs)
Covers a lot in a short period. I appreciated the investor website overview the most.
Anonymous
()
Course is very well suited for the basics understanding of corporate financial marks.
Anonymous
(Finance Director)
Very good course for understanding key metrics when evaluating financial statements.
Kayla Garbison
(Account Executive at Yelp)
Good course! Moves through the information very quickly so make sure to take notes.
Anonymous
(Senior Accountant)
Good explanation of the financial statement announces by giving practical examples
Anonymous
(Accounting Manager)
Passionate instructor and great real-world examples to make the concepts stick.
Anonymous
(Controller)
Decent overview of evaluating financials. Useful for non-accounting managers
Anonymous
(Contractor)
appreciate the financial literacy glossary and ratio reference guide! 10/10
Anonymous
()
The information in this course was provided in clear and concise manner.
Mark Quinn
(CFO at AlkemyX)
excellent overview for newer financial people or non financial folks .
Prashant Shah
(Manager-FP&A at jda)
This is good course. I recommend to everybody to take this course.
Anonymous
()
This was a good refresher course on financial statement basics.
Kenneth Bruch
( at Ultradent Products, Inc.)
Nice presentation and overview. Instructor is very passionate.
Anonymous
()
Interesting course, Well structured and presented by Mr, Cook.
Anonymous
(Finance)
The glossary is beautiful, simplified, and well-organized!
Anonymous
(Accounting/HR)
This seems really outdated as the example 10-K is from 2011.
Larisa Demling
(Accounting Manager at Signature Flight Support)
Great to have this all summarized in a single presentation.
Anonymous
(Reinsurance Accounting Manager)
Great course to analyze a Company's financial statements.
Anonymous
(Director - Billing Data Integrity)
I really enjoyed this course and it was very informative
Doug Norfleet
(Assistant Controller at Energy Impact Partners)
Great illustrative stories to explain some of the topics
Matt Osmundsen
(Category Finance Director at Energizer Holdings, Inc.)
Great course! Very informative.
Anonymous
(-)
Good refresher and good detail.
Anonymous
(Senior Treasury Analyst)
great overview of financials
Benjamen Adams
(Not Provided at Adams Group)
Truly beneficial course.
Anonymous
()
Important refreshers
Anonymous
(Salaried Consultant)
Good examples.
Anonymous
(Director - Transaction Services)
Good course.
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Intermediate
No Advanced Preparation or Prerequisites are needed for this course.
Education Provider Information
Company:
Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA
95113
Contact:
For more information regarding this course, including complaint and
cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to
.
Blair CookDirector of Clarke Inc
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