Business, Commerce and Management Studies Generic Management

Business Financial Practices Evaluation Skills Training

SAQA US 116365 | NQF 6 | Credits 9 | Duration 6 Days
From $1,382 per delegate

Description

This course equips learners with the skills to evaluate and improve business financial practices within an organisation. Participants will learn to assess financial policies, procedures, and controls, ensuring compliance and efficiency in financial management. The programme focuses on practical evaluation techniques to enhance financial decision-making and reporting.

Learning Outcomes

  • Evaluate the effectiveness of current financial policies and procedures against industry standards.
  • Analyse financial data to identify areas for improvement in financial practices.
  • Apply relevant legislation and regulations to ensure compliance in financial operations.
  • Design recommendations to enhance financial controls and reporting accuracy.
  • Demonstrate the ability to conduct a financial practice audit and present findings.
  • Implement corrective actions based on evaluation results to improve financial performance.

Target Audience

This course is designed for financial managers, accountants, auditors, and business owners who are responsible for evaluating and improving financial practices. It is also suitable for professionals seeking to strengthen their financial oversight and compliance skills.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment.

Course Outline

Day 1: Foundational Financial Concepts

Objectives:
• Understand the purpose and scope of financial evaluation in business contexts.
• Identify key financial statements and their components.
• Explain the role of financial ratios in assessing business health.
• Recognise the regulatory framework for financial reporting in South Africa.

Topics:
• Introduction to business financial practices evaluation
• Overview of financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement
• Basic accounting principles and concepts
• Key financial ratios: liquidity, profitability, solvency
• SAQA and IFRS compliance requirements
• Ethical considerations in financial evaluation

Day 2: Financial Statement Analysis

Objectives:
• Perform horizontal and vertical analysis of financial statements.
• Calculate and interpret liquidity and profitability ratios.
• Analyse cash flow statements to assess operational efficiency.
• Identify trends and variances in financial data.

Topics:
• Horizontal analysis: year-over-year comparisons
• Vertical analysis: common-size statements
• Liquidity ratios: current ratio, quick ratio
• Profitability ratios: gross profit margin, net profit margin
• Cash flow analysis: operating, investing, financing activities
• Trend analysis and variance identification

Day 3: Advanced Financial Metrics and Performance Evaluation

Objectives:
• Evaluate solvency and leverage using debt ratios.
• Assess operational efficiency through activity ratios.
• Apply DuPont analysis to decompose return on equity.
• Interpret market performance indicators.

Topics:
• Solvency ratios: debt-to-equity, interest coverage
• Activity ratios: inventory turnover, receivables turnover
• DuPont analysis: ROE decomposition
• Market ratios: earnings per share, price-to-earnings
• Benchmarking against industry standards
• Limitations of ratio analysis

Day 4: Budgeting and Forecasting Techniques

Objectives:
• Develop a master budget and its components.
• Use variance analysis to evaluate budget performance.
• Apply forecasting methods to predict financial outcomes.
• Integrate sensitivity analysis into budgeting.

Topics:
• Master budget: sales, production, cash budgets
• Flexible budgets and static budgets
• Variance analysis: favourable vs unfavourable
• Forecasting methods: moving averages, regression
• Sensitivity analysis and scenario planning
• Budgeting in South African business context

Day 5: Investment Appraisal and Decision-Making

Objectives:
• Evaluate capital investment projects using NPV, IRR, and payback period.
• Assess risk and uncertainty in investment decisions.
• Apply cost-benefit analysis to business proposals.
• Understand financing options and cost of capital.

Topics:
• Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Payback period and discounted payback
• Risk analysis: sensitivity, scenario, simulation
• Cost-benefit analysis framework
• Cost of capital: WACC calculation
• Financing decisions: debt vs equity

Day 6: Integrated Evaluation and Strategic Recommendations

Objectives:
• Synthesise financial analysis into a comprehensive evaluation report.
• Formulate strategic recommendations based on financial insights.
• Present findings clearly to stakeholders.
• Apply ethical standards in reporting and decision-making.

Topics:
• Comprehensive case study: full financial evaluation
• Writing an executive summary and recommendations
• Presentation skills for financial reporting
• Ethical issues in financial evaluation
• Action planning for continuous improvement
• Course review and assessment

Practicals

No practicals for this training.

This course is made up of exercises and case studies delivered alongside the theory — no separate practical sessions are required to complete it.

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course and a final summative test at the end.

Daily Exercises — 30%

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 30% to the final total.

Final Test — 70%

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 70% to the overall mark.

Final Total
Component Out of Weight
Daily Average (multiple choice) 100% 30%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice) 100% 70%
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 (Daily Average 30% + Final Test 70%).

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
Fri 11 Sep 2026 Fri 18 Sep 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,382 Register
Thu 01 Oct 2026 Thu 08 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,382 Register
Wed 21 Oct 2026 Wed 28 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,382 Register
Wed 09 Dec 2026 Wed 16 Dec 2026 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,382 Register
Tue 12 Jan 2027 Tue 19 Jan 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,382 Register
Mon 15 Feb 2027 Mon 22 Feb 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,382 Register
Fri 05 Mar 2027 Fri 12 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,382 Register
Thu 11 Mar 2027 Thu 18 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,382 Register
Wed 17 Mar 2027 Wed 24 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,382 Register
Tue 08 Jun 2027 Tue 15 Jun 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,382 Register
Mon 28 Jun 2027 Mon 05 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,382 Register
Fri 23 Jul 2027 Fri 30 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,382 Register
Thu 09 Sep 2027 Thu 16 Sep 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,382 Register
Wed 29 Sep 2027 Wed 06 Oct 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,382 Register
Tue 19 Oct 2027 Tue 26 Oct 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,382 Register
Wed 08 Dec 2027 Wed 15 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,382 Register
Tue 28 Dec 2027 Tue 04 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,382 Register
Mon 17 Jan 2028 Mon 24 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,382 Register
On-Campus training — face-to-face sessions at our training venues across Africa and beyond.
Showing all 492 sessions across 26 venues
Start End Venue Season Price Action
Mon 10 Aug 2026 Mon 17 Aug 2026 Pretoria, South Africa Winter 2026 $2,074 Register
Tue 11 Aug 2026 Tue 18 Aug 2026 Abu Dhabi, UAE Winter 2026 $5,584 Register
Wed 12 Aug 2026 Wed 19 Aug 2026 Durban, South Africa Winter 2026 $3,262 Register
Wed 12 Aug 2026 Wed 19 Aug 2026 Mauritius Winter 2026 $4,180 Register
Thu 13 Aug 2026 Thu 20 Aug 2026 Cape Town, South Africa Winter 2026 $3,424 Register
In-House training — we bring the trainer to your organisation, tailored to your team.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Mon 14 Sep 2026 Mon 21 Sep 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,798 Register
Fri 09 Oct 2026 Fri 16 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,798 Register
Thu 29 Oct 2026 Thu 05 Nov 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,798 Register
Thu 17 Dec 2026 Thu 24 Dec 2026 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,798 Register
Wed 20 Jan 2027 Wed 27 Jan 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,798 Register
Tue 23 Feb 2027 Tue 02 Mar 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,798 Register
Mon 08 Mar 2027 Mon 15 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,798 Register
Fri 19 Mar 2027 Fri 26 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,798 Register
Thu 25 Mar 2027 Thu 01 Apr 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,798 Register
Wed 16 Jun 2027 Wed 23 Jun 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,798 Register
Tue 06 Jul 2027 Tue 13 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,798 Register
Mon 26 Jul 2027 Mon 02 Aug 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,798 Register
Fri 17 Sep 2027 Fri 24 Sep 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,798 Register
Thu 07 Oct 2027 Thu 14 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,798 Register
Wed 27 Oct 2027 Wed 03 Nov 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,798 Register
Thu 16 Dec 2027 Thu 23 Dec 2027 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,798 Register
Wed 05 Jan 2028 Wed 12 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,798 Register
Tue 25 Jan 2028 Tue 01 Feb 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,798 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+

View Sessions & Register Get A Quote Download Course Brochure
Have an account?

Sign in to track your applications and manage your cart.

Related Courses

Other Business, Commerce and Management Studies courses at NQF level 6 learners on this page also viewed.

Browse the full Business, Commerce and Management Studies category for business, commerce and management studies training programmes.
GET A QUOTE / APPLY COURSE CATALOGUE