Financial Statement Analysis Program

You know that feeling when you're staring at a balance sheet and the numbers just... blur together? We've been there. This program strips away the mystery and gives you the tools to actually understand what's happening in a business. No fluff, no shortcuts—just practical skills you can use the day after class ends.

This isn't about memorizing ratios or impressing people with jargon. It's about knowing whether a company is genuinely healthy or just good at looking shiny in quarterly reports. And honestly? That's a skill that never goes out of style.

Financial analysis workspace showing detailed reports and data visualization

What You'll Actually Learn

We start with the basics—income statements, balance sheets, cash flow reports. But here's where it gets interesting. You'll learn to spot the warning signs that management teams try to hide. The subtle shifts in working capital. The footnotes that tell the real story.

By week six, you'll be dissecting annual reports like someone who's been doing this for years. We work with real financial statements from ASX-listed companies, not sanitized textbook examples. Sometimes the numbers tell happy stories. Often they don't. Both are valuable lessons.

  • Reading between the lines of financial reports and understanding what management isn't saying
  • Building financial models that actually reflect business reality rather than wishful thinking
  • Conducting ratio analysis that goes beyond plugging numbers into formulas
  • Identifying red flags in cash flow statements before problems become disasters
  • Evaluating business performance across different industries and economic conditions

Program Structure

Foundation Phase

We build your understanding from the ground up. You'll learn how financial statements connect to each other and why certain accounting choices matter more than others.

Financial statement components, accounting principles, industry-specific considerations, regulatory frameworks in Australian context

Analysis Techniques

This is where theory meets practice. You'll work through real company financials, learning to calculate and interpret the metrics that matter for different business models.

Liquidity ratios, profitability metrics, leverage analysis, efficiency measurements, trend analysis across reporting periods

Advanced Applications

The final phase focuses on complex scenarios. Mergers, restructuring, distressed companies. You'll learn to analyze situations where standard approaches need adjustment.

Valuation methods, comparative analysis, forecasting techniques, special situations, risk assessment frameworks

Your Instructors

Callum Thornfield, lead financial analysis instructor

Callum Thornfield

Program Lead

Spent twelve years analyzing companies for institutional investors before deciding teaching was more rewarding. Still consults on complex cases, which means the examples you'll see are current and relevant. Has a habit of using mining company financials as cautionary tales.

Petra Viklund, financial modeling specialist

Petra Viklund

Modeling Specialist

Builds financial models for living and teaches others to avoid the mistakes that make models useless. Believes that if your model needs more than three pages to explain, you've overcomplicated it. Former equity research analyst with a gift for making complex concepts accessible.

Siobhan Rafferty, industry analysis expert

Siobhan Rafferty

Industry Analysis

Twenty years in corporate finance means she's seen every trick companies use to make bad numbers look acceptable. Now teaches students to see through the polish and find the substance. Her specialty is retail and consumer businesses, where margins tell fascinating stories.

Next Intake: September 2025

The program runs for fourteen weeks with evening sessions twice weekly. We keep class sizes manageable—eighteen students maximum—because this kind of learning works better when everyone gets individual attention.

Classes meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. You'll need about six hours weekly for reading and practice work outside class time. It's not overwhelming, but it's not casual either.

Important Dates

1

Applications Open: June 2, 2025

Submit your expression of interest along with a brief statement about your background and what you're hoping to gain from the program. We're looking for commitment rather than credentials.

2

Application Deadline: August 15, 2025

We'll review applications on a rolling basis, but spaces fill quickly. You'll hear back within ten days of submitting your application.

3

Program Begins: September 8, 2025

First session includes orientation and foundational concepts. Come prepared with questions about anything finance-related that's ever confused you. We'll address them all eventually.

Get Program Details