Understanding Accounts: P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

Read and use financial statements with confidence: understand the profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow, key ratios, budgets and forecasts.

Who it’s for

Business owners, managers and anyone who needs to understand the numbers, including people who have completed Bookkeeping Basics.

What you’ll be able to do

• Explain how bookkeeping records become a set of accounts
• Read and interpret a profit and loss statement
• Read and interpret a balance sheet
• Explain why profitable businesses can still run out of cash
• Calculate and use key ratios such as margins, current ratio and debtor days
• Build a simple budget and cash flow forecast
• Use accounts, break-even and published company accounts to make decisions

What’s included

• 7 in-depth modules, each with a structured lesson
• 7 module quizzes to check your understanding
• Worked examples and a practical exercise in every module
• About 30 hours of study, at your own pace
• Lifetime access, on any device
• Certificate of completion

How you study

Each module combines a structured lesson with a worked example, a practical exercise and key takeaways, followed by a short quiz. You need 70% to pass each quiz and can retake it as often as you like. Complete every module to finish the course.