Our entire team was inspired.  You opened a new world for the engineers who regularly design and implement tools for financial data but had little knowledge of how to find and interpret financial intelligence.

Business development director, software company

Financial Literacy™ Clinic

Financial data and statements form the most important cornerstone of a more comprehensive understanding of your rivals, your business partners, and the overall business environment. Yet for many business professionals, it's as if financial statements were written in a foreign language.
 
If you can't read the words, it's impossible to understand the literature.  You're left having to use the interpretations of "experts", rather than understanding for yourself what is happening.
 
TKA's Financial Literacy Clinic is a total-immersion basic introduction to using financial analysis to:
  • understand rival companies;
  • forecast their intentions; and
  • grasp the dynamics of the overall business environment.
In the morning of a one-day clinic, we cover the fundamentals of:
  • information flows in the financial reporting process;
  • the three major financial statements and how they interact;
  • how to read and interpret the major SEC filings;
  • other sources of financial information; and
  • key ratios and how to apply them.
 
 
We also cover these key topics:
  • how to analyze privately-held companies;
  • how to measure "organic" operating results;
  • how to assess asset valuations;
  • how revenue recognition can be used to manage earnings;
  • what to look for in statement footnotes;
  • red flags to watch for, and what they could mean; and
  • important current issues in accounting policy.
In the afternoon, we immediately apply what we've learned to analyzing 2-3 companies that you choose.  In one recent clinic, we looked in detail at a key rival and at the host company itself.  Participants were able to use their existing knowledge of their own company to see more clearly how the financial statements portray it.
 
We typically target people who are non-MBAs and who have little or no formal training in financial statement analysis.  However, in several of our recent clinics, we've had client MBAs attend—several with significant operating experience—and they too benefited from the refresh and update on these important topics.