Why a pre-CFA course for Financial Statement Analysis?
The core curriculum for the CFA® Level I exam is covered by most London financial training providers in the equivalent of 8-10 full days. These are delivered in evening, half day or full day sessions over a term of about 12 weeks.
The pressure to keep up with the lectures through private study and exam question practice during the course leaves little time for students to master unfamiliar basic concepts.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Financial Statement Analysis, which accounts for approximately 20% of the Level I curriculum. Many students need time and some individual help to make sense of the conceptual framework of financial analysis.
Our pre-CFA® course for Financial Statement Analysis has been specially designed to equip students with a solid foundation in the necessary skills, and the confidence to sustain the pace of a full CFA® Level I course. Assuming no prior knowledge of accounting or finance, we introduce over 2 days the main topics, methods and techniques you will encounter in the Level I curriculum, but free of exam-related pressure.
Practice calculations and exercises are an integral part of the teaching process and occur throughout the course; culminating in analysis of the financial statements for an actual US corporation
Our objective is that, by the end of the course, students will have acquired the skills and confidence to navigate, understand and analyse a full set of US financial statements, using most of the techniques expected of candidates in the CFA® Level I exam.
Note: the course does not aim to cover all topics to the depth and level of detail required in the CFA® Level I Learning Outcome Statements (LOS). We aim to establish a basic understanding of the key concepts and techniques for those with little or no prior knowledge and experience of financial statement analysis. However, all terminology, techniques and methods used on our courses and in our materials are fully aligned with the relevant CFA® Level I Learning Outcome Statements (LOS) and Reading Assignments.
Pre-CFA® course for Financial Statement Analysis
Course outline:
- Introduction to the balance sheet and the nature of equity
- Basic accounting principles and the 'accounting equation'
- Income statement
- Accruals concept; revenue and expense recognition
- Classification of assets and liabilities
- Valuation of inventories
- Long-term assets, depreciation and impairment
- Statement of cash flows
- Capital structure and calculations relating to shares
- Corporate income taxes including deferred tax
- Contents and structure of full corporate financial statements
- Disclosure, management discretion and earnings manipulation
- US and international accounting standards
- Financial statement ratio analysis
Cost
The cost of the course is £250 per person inclusive of VAT. This covers 7 hours of tuition (excluding short coffee and tea breaks) per day with free loan of a Texas Instruments BA II Plus calculator throughout the course. This is the most popular of the models approved for use by the CFA Institute in their examinations. The course fee also includes handouts, practice calculation and answer sheets, and a printed copy of the slide presentation.