Course Objective 

• Introduction to financial report writing
• Understanding financial information
• General structure of financial reports
• Preparation for report writing
• Writing the report
• Using a focused approach to report content
• Learn the report writing process
• Develop a clear report layout
• Test the effectiveness of the report
• Effective present the reports
• Focus on the objective, purpose and users of financial reports
• Understand the role of financial information within the business
• Review the basic structure needed to build up an effective report
• Gain insight into proven report writing methodology
• Understand how to focus the report content, keeping it short, to the point and extremely powerful
• Tailor the data available to you in the most concise and meaningful way
• Gain valuable tips for the presentation of your financial report to the users and decision makers
• Identify common errors in building reports
• Use techniques to prevent errors
• Display report results clearly in PowerPoint

  Course outline

• Overview on the Different Types of Reports

• Financial statements
• Balance Sheet
• Profit & Loss
• Cash flow statement
• Capital expenditure
• Operating expenditure

•  Introduction to financial report writing

• Understanding financial information
• Writing the report
• Using a focused approach to report content
• The report writing process
• Developing a clear report layout
• Testing the effectiveness of the report

• Standardised Finance Reporting Terminology

• Use of appropriate wording for the organization
• Use of the terms to express the concepts
•  Acronyms that work for your organization
• Business language used in the organization and the finance and accounts teams

• Understand the Reader of the Report

• Writing the report with its reader in mind
• Understanding the receiving end towards a more suitable presentation
• Separating facts from opinion 

• Planning your Report

• Working out the desired outcome of the report
• Delivering the facts without bias
• Anecdotes – How to provide evidence

• Structuring the Report

• Executive summary
• Background
• The business case
• Alternatives
• The economics
• Express an opinion

• Overview of Excel

• Make Excel work for you
• Exploring the use of Excel for reporting
• Major differences between Excel versions
• Tool selection – is Excel the best solution?
• Advantages and disadvantages of Excel as a reporting tool

• Using Reporting To Promote Accountability

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Metrics reporting
• Overview of dashboards and scorecards
• Pros & cons of pivot tables
• Formulas & other Excel tools
• Essential formulas & tools to know and how to use them

• Applying absolute and relative cell referencing (e.g. A1, $A$1, or A$1)
• Named Ranges

• Basic formulas: SUM, IF, AND, SUMIF and VLOOKUP
• Selecting the correct formula
• Adjusting formulas manually
• Working with dates
• Error Prevention

• Common Errors when Building your Excel Reports

• Modelling techniques to reduce potential for error
• Identifying common errors
• Building a simple error check formula
• Assumption documentation

• Source Referencing and Assumptions

• Methods of assumptions documentation
• Linking to source referencing
• Writing operation instructions
• Budget reporting

•   Variance analysis

• Creating an actual vs budget vs forecast report
• Building a variance analysis with ‘alert flags’
• Presenting the results and charting

• Source Referencing and Assumptions

• Using charts or tables to display data
• Creating a dynamic chart which changes according to variables
• Summarizing report data into a few key points
• Displaying data in PowerPoint