Specialist Preparation Program in Financial Analysis and Financial Statements

Program facts

Study fee

Free

subjects

5

lessons

20

Estimated time

13 hours

Content last reviewed

22 October 2026

Access period

30 days

Study language

Arabic and English

About the program

The specialist learns to inspect a complete statement set before calculating ratios, recording period, perimeter, currency and accounting policies. Units progress from position, equity and cash bridges through revenue, margins, working capital and financing to cash sensitivities, peer alignment and a decision memo. Fictional cases include calculations and checkable solutions. The program distinguishes reported figures from analytical adjustments and assumptions and identifies when notes or an authorized reviewer are needed. It does not confer an accounting license, audit opinion or personal investment-advice authority.

Practical relevance

Exercises produce a source sheet, numeric bridges, liquidity and cash schedules, and a memo separating fact from inference. Every calculation can be reconstructed from fictional case data.

Why this program

Profit can rise while cash weakens, and a ratio can improve on incomparable bases. The program provides a method for testing these tensions with statements and notes rather than isolated metrics.

What you will learn

• Prepare a consistently defined statement pack, close position, equity and cash bridges, and document adjustments and sources.
• Decompose revenue, margin and profit changes, reconcile profit to cash, and test adjusted earnings within disclosure limits.
• Calculate liquidity and working-capital days, classify cash flows, and forecast a thirteen-week cash trough.
• Reconstruct debt, returns and free cash flow, and triangulate risk signals against rival explanations and decisive evidence.
• Test performance and cash drivers, align peer comparisons, and write a reviewable, bounded analytical decision.

Who it is for

• Financial analysis and accounting practitioners seeking defined specialist tasks.
• Credit or planning staff who need traceable checks within their delegated authority.
• Analysts and internal reviewers who prepare analytical memos and want every conclusion tied to traceable evidence from the statements.
• People who need a methodical reading of financial statements before recommending a credit or planning decision within their authority.

Curriculum

1. Subject 1 Open for free

   Build an analysis-ready statement set

   Before comparing, define period, perimeter, currency and scale, then close the position and equity bridges. A share issue is not revenue, and cash dividend timing need not equal equity recognition. Read notes before adjusting profit or comparatives; an analytical adjustment stays beside the reported measure. The source sheet keeps original values, formulas and unit checks and treats missing inputs as unavailable rather than zero.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Set statement boundaries before comparing 28 min
   2. Connect statements through equity movements 26 min
   3. Read policies and build adjustments 28 min
   4. Build a traceable analysis workbook 28 min
2. Subject 2

   Dissect performance and earnings

   Common-size analysis locates changed cost rates without proving their cause. A profit bridge adds signed revenue, cost, expense, interest and tax effects. Reconcile profit to cash through noncash items, receivables, inventory and payables; an asset-sale gain is not operating cash. Adjusted earnings require a reproducible bridge, symmetric periods, recurrence review and tax awareness.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Analyze revenue trends and common-size performance 28 min
   2. Bridge profit and isolate cost effects 28 min
   3. Reconcile profit with operating cash 28 min
   4. Test adjusted and recurring earnings 28 min
3. Subject 3

   Liquidity and working capital

   Current ratio is a snapshot, not a payment schedule. Define quick assets and separate restricted cash. Calculate receivable, inventory and payable days with compatible bases before the conversion cycle. Tie cash across operating, investing, financing and currency effects, keeping any analytical reclassification distinct from published presentation. A thirteen-week forecast reveals trough, buffer and financing gap before action.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Measure liquidity without year-end distortion 28 min
   2. Analyze collection, inventory and payment days 28 min
   3. Classify cash flows and close the cash bridge 28 min
   4. Build a thirteen-week cash stress test 38 min
4. Subject 4

   Leverage, returns and risk

   Reconstruct borrowing without double-counting current portions and show how leases and restricted cash change net debt. Profit-based interest cover does not pay loan principal. ROE decomposition separates margin, asset turnover and equity multiplier without proving causes. Define free cash flow and keep asset-sale proceeds separate from operations. Divergent revenue, receivables and cash call for aging and rival explanations, not an accusation.

   4 lessons · 2 hours

   1. Reconstruct debt and interest coverage 28 min
   2. Decompose returns on assets and equity 28 min
   3. Capital spending and explicitly defined free cash flow 30 min
   4. Triangulate warning signals and rival explanations 28 min
5. Subject 5

   Analytical judgment and communication

   Build sensitivities from units, price, cost and collection to find the cash break point without invented probabilities. Peer alignment requires compatible period, currency, perimeter and revenue and profit definitions; declining a ranking can be correct. A memo ties each number to source, separates interpretation from hypothesis and names action and review date. In the integrated case, close position, equity and cash bridges before judgment and request evidence that could reverse it.

   4 lessons · 2.5 hours

   1. Driver sensitivities and the cash break point 30 min
   2. Compare peers after aligning their bases 30 min
   3. Write a reviewable analytical memo 30 min
   4. Integrate a statement pack into a bounded decision 54 min

Subjects unlock in sequence as you progress.

Strengths

• Reproducible bridges across the four statements.
• Liquidity and debt interpretation that respects timing and restrictions.
• Conditional judgment that names the evidence that could change it.

Evidence basis

Cited accounting principles are linked to specific official IFRS Foundation passages. Analytical ratios and models are explicitly defined, and teaching numbers are fictional.

Assessment

Assessments follow the program blueprint and may use module assessments, a final assessment, or a combination, under the approved attempt policy.

Assessment attempts: 2 per assessment, 7 days apart

The pass mark is announced before the program is published.

Certificate

The credential confirms completion and successful assessment; it does not represent professional licensure unless explicitly and lawfully stated.

Every certificate has a public verification code. Verify a certificate

Verification example: a real issued certificate

Program questions