How to Read Your Financial Statements

A course for owners and managers who receive statements from an accountant or software and do not know what to look at or what to ask. It uses one running example, a made-up building-supplies trader, with a complete and internally consistent set of statements for two years in AED. Every figure is built from raw numbers and recomputed, so the balance sheet balances and the cash flow ties to cash.

What is inside

• 8 lessons of 1,200 or more words: the three statements and how they connect; reading the profit and loss; reading the balance sheet; reading the cash flow statement and the profit-to-cash bridge; ratios that matter for an SME (margins, current and quick ratio, receivable, inventory and payable days, debt to equity); spotting problems in a second company with planted red flags; budgets, management reports and talking to your bank; and a 12-step method to read a full set in 20 minutes, with a practice case.
• Each lesson has a worked example, mistakes to avoid, three exercises with answers and key points. Ratio thresholds are labelled 'a common rule of thumb, not a UAE benchmark'.
• 48 workbook tasks with model answers (Word and PDF), including 'your own numbers' templates and ratio calculations from given statements.
• 48 quiz questions, one correct answer each, with an answer key that explains every option; many are calculations.
• A ratio cheat sheet (text) and blank statement templates (Word), a completion checklist (no certificate) and an 8-day study plan of about 18 hours.

Who it is for Owners and managers of UAE small businesses, and bookkeepers who want to explain statements to an owner. No accounting training is needed.

What it does not cover Tax computation, audit, valuation or lender criteria. Corporate tax and the reporting framework your company uses are questions for your accountant, and the course says so in callouts.

What it is NOT: it is not legal, tax, immigration or accounting advice, it does not tell you what any rule, fee or deadline is for your case, it promises no result, and it leads to no exam or certificate. UAE rules change, so every rule outside a small set of well-established VAT and employment points is sent to the official source or your adviser. All companies and figures are made up. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government body, bank or platform.

Requirements: a PDF reader and Word or a compatible editor. A calculator helps. Version 1.0, written November 2026. Single business use.