Business, Commerce and Management Studies Finance, Economics and Accounting

Evaluate Financial Position of an Entity Training

SAQA US 242561 | NQF 6 | Credits 8 | Duration 5 Days
From $1,242 per delegate

Description

This course equips learners with the skills to evaluate the current and future financial position of an entity using financial statements and ratios. Participants will analyse financial health, identify trends, and make informed recommendations for strategic decision-making.

Learning Outcomes

  • Analyse financial statements to determine the current financial position of an entity.
  • Apply financial ratios to evaluate liquidity, solvency, profitability, and efficiency.
  • Evaluate historical financial data to identify trends and forecast future performance.
  • Interpret financial information to support strategic decision-making and risk assessment.
  • Demonstrate the ability to communicate financial findings and recommendations effectively.

Target Audience

This course is ideal for financial managers, accountants, business analysts, and entrepreneurs who need to assess an entity's financial viability and performance.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment

Course Outline

Day 1: Introduction to Financial Statements and Accounting Principles

Objectives:
• Understand the purpose and users of financial statements
• Identify the basic accounting principles and concepts
• Recognise the components of the statement of financial position
• Differentiate between assets, liabilities, and equity
• Explain the accounting equation

Topics:
• Overview of financial reporting and its importance
• Key accounting concepts: going concern, accrual basis, consistency
• The accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity
• Elements of the statement of financial position
• Introduction to the statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income

Day 2: Analysing the Statement of Financial Position

Objectives:
• Interpret the structure and content of a statement of financial position
• Classify assets and liabilities as current or non-current
• Calculate working capital and liquidity ratios
• Assess the entity's financial structure and solvency
• Identify potential red flags in financial position

Topics:
• Classification of assets and liabilities
• Current vs non-current distinctions
• Liquidity ratios: current ratio, quick ratio
• Solvency ratios: debt-to-equity, interest coverage
• Common-size analysis of the balance sheet

Day 3: Analysing the Statement of Profit or Loss and Cash Flows

Objectives:
• Interpret the statement of profit or loss and its components
• Calculate profitability ratios and margins
• Analyse the statement of cash flows for operating, investing, and financing activities
• Assess cash flow adequacy and liquidity
• Link profitability and cash flow to financial position

Topics:
• Revenue recognition and expense matching
• Gross profit margin, operating profit margin, net profit margin
• Return on assets and return on equity
• Cash flow from operations, investing, and financing
• Free cash flow and cash flow ratios

Day 4: Advanced Financial Analysis and Ratio Interpretation

Objectives:
• Compute and interpret efficiency and leverage ratios
• Perform trend analysis and horizontal/vertical analysis
• Evaluate the entity's performance over time and against industry benchmarks
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in financial health
• Prepare a comprehensive financial analysis report

Topics:
• Efficiency ratios: asset turnover, inventory turnover, receivables turnover
• Leverage ratios: debt ratio, equity multiplier
• DuPont analysis framework
• Trend analysis and year-over-year comparisons
• Industry benchmarking and peer comparison

Day 5: Integrated Case Study and Reporting

Objectives:
• Apply all analytical tools to a comprehensive case study
• Synthesise findings into a clear financial position evaluation
• Formulate recommendations for improving financial health
• Present findings in a professional report
• Demonstrate understanding of ethical considerations in financial reporting

Topics:
• Comprehensive case study: financial statements of a real or simulated entity
• Step-by-step analysis: liquidity, profitability, efficiency, solvency, cash flow
• Identifying financial risks and opportunities
• Writing an executive summary and recommendations
• Ethical issues: creative accounting, fraud detection

Practicals

16 hours of practicals To be conducted online or on-campus or in-house
Overview

Practical sessions provide hands-on experience in analysing real financial statements using spreadsheets and accounting software. Learners will compute ratios, interpret trends, and prepare evaluation reports under supervision.

Practical Activities
  • Practical 1: Extracting Data from Financial Statements — Learners extract key data from provided financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow) and populate a spreadsheet template. (4h)
  • Practical 2: Ratio Calculation and Interpretation — Using the extracted data, learners calculate liquidity, profitability, efficiency, and solvency ratios, then interpret the results. (4h)
  • Practical 3: Trend and Comparative Analysis — Learners perform horizontal and vertical analysis over three years and compare ratios to industry benchmarks. (4h)
  • Practical 4: Comprehensive Evaluation Report — Learners compile a full financial position evaluation report including executive summary, analysis, and recommendations. (4h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total
Component Out of Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored) 100% 30%
Daily Average (multiple choice) 100% 20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice) 100% 50%
Final Total 100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

Certificate of Completion

Awarded to delegates who achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher on the Final Total (Practicals 30% + Daily Average 20% + Final Test 50%).

How it works
  • Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
  • Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
  • You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
  • If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.
Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.

Upcoming Training Sessions
Online training — attend live sessions from anywhere via our virtual classroom.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Mon 07 Sep 2026 Fri 11 Sep 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 28 Sep 2026 Fri 02 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 19 Oct 2026 Fri 23 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 07 Dec 2026 Fri 11 Dec 2026 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 11 Jan 2027 Fri 15 Jan 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 15 Feb 2027 Fri 19 Feb 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,242 Register
Mon 01 Mar 2027 Fri 05 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,242 Register
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Mon 07 Jun 2027 Fri 11 Jun 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,242 Register
Mon 28 Jun 2027 Fri 02 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,242 Register
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Mon 06 Dec 2027 Fri 10 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,242 Register
Mon 27 Dec 2027 Fri 31 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,242 Register
Mon 17 Jan 2028 Fri 21 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,242 Register
On-Campus training — face-to-face sessions at our training venues across Africa and beyond.
Showing all 533 sessions across 26 venues
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Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Mombasa, Kenya Winter 2026 $3,834 Register
Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Mbabane, Eswatini Winter 2026 $2,916 Register
Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Nairobi, Kenya Winter 2026 $3,834 Register
Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Maseru, Lesotho Winter 2026 $2,916 Register
Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Windhoek, Namibia Winter 2026 $3,078 Register
In-House training — we bring the trainer to your organisation, tailored to your team.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Mon 22 Jun 2026 Fri 26 Jun 2026 Your Premises Winter 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 14 Sep 2026 Fri 18 Sep 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 05 Oct 2026 Fri 09 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 26 Oct 2026 Fri 30 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 14 Dec 2026 Fri 18 Dec 2026 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 18 Jan 2027 Fri 22 Jan 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 22 Feb 2027 Fri 26 Feb 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,615 Register
Mon 08 Mar 2027 Fri 12 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 15 Mar 2027 Fri 19 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 22 Mar 2027 Fri 26 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 14 Jun 2027 Fri 18 Jun 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 05 Jul 2027 Fri 09 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 26 Jul 2027 Fri 30 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 13 Sep 2027 Fri 17 Sep 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 04 Oct 2027 Fri 08 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 25 Oct 2027 Fri 29 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 13 Dec 2027 Fri 17 Dec 2027 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 03 Jan 2028 Fri 07 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,615 Register
Mon 24 Jan 2028 Fri 28 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,615 Register
Training Discounts
Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% off per 5 delegates, up to 40% for 100+

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