The balance sheet is a THE fundamental financial statement, and learning it is essential when studying accounting. This is a big and complex topic, hence we break it down into two sessions. The learning objectives of this module are: Understand the foundation of double-entry accounting; Understand the accounting equation, Assets = Liabilities + Equity; Understand that every transaction in a company affects at least two accounts and the balance sheet remains balanced; Understand how accountants ensure that financial records are accurate and transactions are properly recorded; Get a snapshot of a company’s financial position; Understanding financial health, by knowing what the company owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities), and what remains to the owners (equity); Understand how to assess liquidity and solvency; Look at current assets (like cash and receivables) and current liabilities, and assess a company’s ability to meet short-term obligations; Understand solvency, by comparing total liabilities to total assets, and evaluate a company's ability to meet long-term debts; Understand how much of a company’s assets are financed by owners, and understand capital structure.

This is a continuation of Module 1, we go deeper into the details, and we do a lot of practice to solidify our learning. The objectives remain the same as that of Part 1: Understand the foundation of double-entry accounting; Understand the accounting equation, Assets = Liabilities + Equity; Understand that every transaction in a company affects at least two accounts and the balance sheet remains balanced; Understand how accountants ensure that financial records are accurate and transactions are properly recorded; Get a snapshot of a company’s financial position; Understanding financial health, by knowing what the company owns (assets), what it owes (liabilities), and what remains to the owners (equity); Understand how to assess liquidity and solvency; Look at current assets (like cash and receivables) and current liabilities, and assess a company’s ability to meet short-term obligations; Understand solvency, by comparing total liabilities to total assets, and evaluate a company's ability to meet long-term debts; Understand how much of a company’s assets are financed by owners, and understand capital structure.

The income statement helps us understand performance, which probably is what most people care about the most. This is again a big and complex topic, hence we break it down into two sessions. The learning objectives of this module are: Understand how to measures profitability; Learn to differentiate between revenues vs. expenses vs. profits; Understand bottom line / net income, a key indicator of financial performance; Evaluate the success of the company’s operations; Evaluate operational efficiency, and how a company generates profit from its core operations; Help identify areas where costs can be reduced or revenues can be increased; Understand the components of performance: gross margins, administrative expenses, R&D and marketing, interest expense to bankers, and taxes; Understand how the income statement / company performance affects the balance sheet through equity; Understand the relation between profits and dividends; Understand that concept of accrual accounting: performance and cash flows are not necessarily the same thing.

This is a continuation of Module 2, we go deeper into the details, and we do a lot of practice to solidify our learning. The objectives remain the same as that of Part 1: Understand how to measures profitability; Learn to differentiate between revenues vs. expenses vs. profits; Understand bottom line / net income, a key indicator of financial performance; Evaluate the success of the company’s operations; Evaluate operational efficiency, and how a company generates profit from its core operations; Help identify areas where costs can be reduced or revenues can be increased; Understand the components of performance: gross margins, administrative expenses, R&D and marketing, interest expense to bankers, and taxes; Understand how the income statement / company performance affects the balance sheet through equity; Understand the relation between profits and dividends; Understand that concept of accrual accounting: performance and cash flows are not necessarily the same thing.

The cash flow statement helps us understand cash movements. Perhaps you know it since you are a child: Cash is King! This is again a big and complex topic, hence we break it down into two sessions. The learning objectives of this module are: Understand how to track movements in cash, inflows and outflows; Understand how much cash is generated and used; Understand how to manage liquidity; Distinguish between different cash activities: operations, investments, financing; Understand the sustainability of the business: are we self-sufficient? Are we liquid? Understand the difference between profitability and cash flows; Understand that accrual accounting used in the income statement has to be complemented by understanding cash positions; Track how much cash goes into investments, whether tangible or intangible; Track what cash is borrowed from banks, and other lenders; Understand how much cash is paid to shareholders in terms of dividends, and how much cash is raised through stock sales; Understand non-cash adjustments, and reconcile between profits and cash movements; Understand how cash flows from the cash flow statement flow into the balance sheet.

This is a continuation of Module 3, we go deeper into the details, and we do a lot of practice to solidify our learning. The objectives remain the same as that of Part 1: Understand how to track movements in cash, inflows and outflows; Understand how much cash is generated and used; Understand how to manage liquidity; Distinguish between different cash activities: operations, investments, financing; Understand the sustainability of the business: are we self-sufficient? Are we liquid? Understand the difference between profitability and cash flows; Understand that accrual accounting used in the income statement has to be complemented by understanding cash positions; Track how much cash goes into investments, whether tangible or intangible; Track what cash is borrowed from banks, and other lenders; Understand how much cash is paid to shareholders in terms of dividends, and how much cash is raised through stock sales; Understand non-cash adjustments, and reconcile between profits and cash movements; Understand how cash flows from the cash flow statement flow into the balance sheet.