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Quick Look Course Summary:Finance for Non-Finance Managers: Reading the Numbers Fast (3-hour online masterclass)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 8,159 EX VAT 3 Person R 5,295 EX VAT 10 Person R 3,794 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Live online on Zoom or Microsoft Teams - for one person or a whole organisation, anywhere in South Africa.
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Finance for Non-Finance Managers: Reading the Numbers Fast (3-hour online masterclass)
Stop nodding through the monthly numbers: in three hours, learn to read an income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, ask the right questions and hold your own in a budget discussion.
Every month managers receive a pack of numbers they were never taught to read. They approve spending, defend a budget and sit through management-account meetings while terms like gross margin, accruals and working capital go past unexplained. This finance for non-finance managers masterclass is a three-hour live online session built from BOTI's two-day Finance for Non-Financial Managers course, cut down to the parts a busy manager uses most: reading the three financial statements quickly and talking about them with confidence.
The session starts with the language of finance in plain words, then works through the income statement (what was earned, what it cost and what is left), the balance sheet (what the business owns and owes) and the cash flow statement – including why a profitable month can still leave the company short of cash. Delegates calculate a handful of ratios that answer practical questions: is this unit profitable, can we pay our bills, how long do customers take to pay us? The last module is budgets: reading an actual-versus-budget report, spotting a variance that matters and explaining it in a sentence your finance manager would accept.
Every module has an exercise in the PDF workbook using a worked set of statements for a typical South African business, with VAT, PAYE and month-end accruals shown where they appear. Private sessions can use your own management accounts, with the figures anonymised if needed.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Budget owners who read the monthly pack before the meeting, not during it
- Fewer surprises: overspending and cash pressure spotted a month earlier
- Variance explanations the finance team can actually use
- A shared financial vocabulary between operations, sales, HR and finance
- Three hours out of the diary instead of two days
For your delegates
- Confidence to open a set of financial statements and know where to look first
- A plain-language glossary of the terms the finance team uses
- Five ratios that answer the questions managers are actually asked
- A one-page method for explaining a budget variance
- A worked example you keep, plus templates for your own figures
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain the key terms in a management report: revenue, cost of sales, gross and net profit, assets, liabilities and working capital
- Read an income statement and say whether a unit, product or month was profitable and why
- Read a balance sheet and judge what the business owns, owes and has available
- Trace on a cash flow statement why profit and cash are not the same thing
- Calculate and interpret gross margin, net margin, the current ratio, debtor days and return on investment
- Read an actual-versus-budget report, identify the variances that matter and explain them clearly
- Ask the questions a budget owner should ask before approving spending
- Plan your next three finance conversations, with the numbers to support them
Who should attend
Managers who are responsible for money without a finance background: department heads, team leaders, operations, project, sales and HR managers, technical specialists now in management, and business owners who want to read their own accountant's reports. No prior finance training is needed – basic arithmetic and a calculator or spreadsheet are enough.
Course outline
Live session – The three statements, five ratios and a budget report – in one morning
Opening: the language of finance
- How the session runs: the workbook, the worked example and a calculator
- Revenue, cost of sales, expenses, assets, liabilities and equity in plain words
- Cash versus accrual: why a March sale can be May cash, and why VAT is not your income
- Who does what in the finance team and what they need from you
- Exercise: place ten everyday transactions where they land in the accounts
Reading the three statements fast
- The income statement: from revenue to net profit, and the three lines to read first
- Gross profit and operating profit – what each says about your own unit
- The balance sheet: what the business owns, owes and is worth, on one page
- The cash flow statement: why profit is not cash and where the cash went
- Exercise: read the worked statements and answer six questions on screen
Ratios that answer real questions
- Profitability: gross margin and net margin, and what a healthy one looks like in your sector
- Liquidity: the current ratio and how many days customers take to pay
- Return on investment and when it is the right question
- What a ratio can and cannot tell you, and the questions to ask next
- Exercise: five ratios from the worked example, then the same five on your own figures
Budgets, variances and close
- Reading an actual-versus-budget report without getting lost
- Which variances matter: size, trend and whether you can do anything about it
- Explaining a variance in one sentence the finance manager accepts
- Questions to ask before you approve spending or sign off a budget
- Personal action list: the next three finance conversations you need to have
How it is delivered
Live online on Zoom (or Microsoft Teams), 2.5 to 3 hours – typically 09:00-12:00, or a time that suits the team. From one delegate to 500. Handouts are electronic: a PDF workbook with the worked statements, a ratio and variance template and a one-page summary are emailed before the session; delegates need a calculator or a spreadsheet open alongside Zoom. Join a public group, or book it privately for your organisation on a date of your choice, with the exercises built on your own management accounts (figures can be anonymised).
What our clients say
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
“All training sessions were well-coordinated, professionally delivered, and aligned with our scheduling requirements. We were particularly impressed by the high standard of facilitation and the depth of expertise demonstrated throughout the programmes.”
“Throughout both interventions, BOTI demonstrated a high level of professionalism, subject matter expertise, and commitment to quality training delivery. Their ability to effectively manage virtual learning environments and engage participants contributed significantly to the success of the programmes.”
Frequently asked questions
How many people can join?
From one delegate to 500 on Zoom. Smaller groups work through the exercises together on screen; larger groups use polls, chat and breakout rooms so everyone still does the calculations.
Do we get handouts?
Yes, electronically. A PDF workbook with the worked statements, a ratio and variance template and a one-page summary are emailed before the session.
Can we run it privately for our team?
Yes. Choose the date and time, and send us a set of management accounts or a budget report beforehand so the exercises use your own figures; confidential numbers can be anonymised. For a public-sector team we use a departmental budget and an in-year monitoring report instead of a company's statements.
Do delegates need any finance background?
No. The session starts from the basic terms and uses one worked example throughout. Delegates who already know the vocabulary still get full value from the ratio and variance modules.
How does this differ from the two-day course?
The masterclass covers what a manager needs most often: reading the three statements and a budget report. The two-day Finance for Non-Financial Managers course adds how transactions become reports, building and forecasting a departmental budget, break-even and payback decisions, and governance under the Companies Act, King IV, the PFMA and the MFMA.
Is it accredited?
No. It is a non-accredited masterclass and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance by email. For a credit-bearing route, ask us about BOTI's QCTO skills programmes.