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Description

Corporate Finance Essentials: Reading the Accounts, Analysing and Deciding

Understand your company's financial statements and carry weight in decisions that commit cash

  • 1 day — 7 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Many managers take decisions with a direct financial impact without being able to read a balance sheet. They hear about margin, working capital requirements or return on investment without connecting these terms to their own activity. Conversations with the finance function stall for want of a shared language, and trade-offs are made without useful challenge.

One day to acquire that language: read a balance sheet and an income statement, understand where cash comes from, measure the profitability of an activity and build a quantified case to defend a project. The programme is designed for non-specialists and assumes no prior accounting practice.

Learning objectives

  • Read a balance sheet and an income statement and identify the decisive line items
  • Explain how profit is formed and the main margin levels
  • Distinguish profit from cash and identify the causes of a gap between them
  • Analyse the working capital requirement of an activity
  • Build a quantified case to defend an investment project

What makes this programme different

The participants' own financial statements are used as working material
A running case study that follows an operational decision through to its effect on cash
Financial vocabulary systematically translated into operational terms

Programme

1Reading the Financial Statements

Putting words to the figures

  • Structure of the balance sheet and reading the main aggregates
  • Income statement and margin levels
  • Links between the two statements
  • Main adjustments used in financial analysis

2Cash and Financing Requirements

Understanding why cash runs short

  • From profit to cash
  • Working capital requirement and its components
  • Effect of customer and supplier payment terms
  • Financing the operating cycle

3Profitability and Decision-Making

Defending a project with figures

  • Profitability of an activity and the costs taken into account
  • Appraising an investment and the expected return
  • Cost of financing and leverage effect
  • Building a decision file

Who is it for

Operational managers, department heads, engineers and non-financial executives who take decisions.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.