Finance for Accountants takes the accounting knowledge to the level of financial analysis, enabling the accountant to play a strategic role.

The Challenges for Accountants:

  • Extending reporting to strategic financial analysis and advice
  • Gaining assurance in finance areas beyond a typical accounting education
  • Learning to assess performance from the perspective of an investor, executive or owner
  • Being an active participant in capital allocation, investment and value creation decisions
  • Effectively and persuasively communicate financial information to non-financial audiences

About This Course

Riverstone’s Finance for Accountants program builds the finance skills of accountants to enable them to deliver more value to the business. The course provides a comprehensive overview of the important business finance and accounting topics such as business valuation, financial modelling, investment analysis and performance evaluation. By building their analytical skills and business acumen, attendees are able to contribute more effectively to strategic financial discussions, business decision-making and contribute value to the business outside of their traditional technical role. This highly practical course is taught using business case studies.

  • Enhance the value accountants can add to the organisation
  • Enhance financial and accounting teams’ commercial acumen
  • Enhance the financial analysis and business advice capability
  • Develop in-house expertise to assist with investment, valuations and strategic decision-making
  • Understand financial analysis for more than accounting and compliance purposes
  • Apply concepts of business valuation, investment and capital management
  • Analyse business performance and metrics from a financial and commercial point of view
  • Create and use financial models to inform decision making
  • Present financial information and advice to a variety of stakeholders

Module – 1

Importance of Cash Flows Statement – Heart of any business

  • How to analyze Cash Flow Statement
  • Difference between Accounting profit and Cash profit
  • Forecasting cash flows

 

Module – 2

Approach to Company analysis

  • Different methods used for company analysis
  • Competitive positioning and industry mapping
  • Evaluating promoters and management team
  • Analysis of financial statement analysis

 

Module – 3

Advanced Financial statement analysis

  • Derivation of advance ratios – EV, P/BV, EBIDTAR/DEBT, Cash multiple, Project IRR, Equity IRR, Debt IRR
  • Validity of ratio analysis in projections, decision making, valuations, etc
  • Capital budgeting techniques – Payback, Discounted Payback, NPV, IRR, Modified IRR, Profitability Index
  • Assessment of risk and profitability

 

Module – 4

Fund Raising – Various sources and preparation

  • How to assess capital requirements for a company
  • Various fundraising options
  • Direct equity – private market, public market, listed and unlisted market
  • Equity-linked debt – mezzanine funding, convertible securities, etc
  • Debt funding – bridge funding, subordinated debts, securitization, and structured finance
  • How to prepare a company for fundraising
  • Managing key performance indicators
  • Critical terms for various funding sources

 

Module – 5

Valuation – Company Valuation

  • Introduction to Business Valuation Various types of valuation methods and their applicability for different industries and companies
  • Approach to Asset Value vs. Equity Value
  • Intrinsic valuation, Book Value, and other methods
  • DCF: various concepts and applicability
  • Understanding of PV, FCFF, FCFE, UFCF, LFCF, Terminal Value
  • Key pitfalls

 

Module – 6

Valuation – Relative and Multiples based method

  • Process of valuation based on comparative multiples – Compilation, adjustments, and rationalization
  • How to calculate and apply fundamental multiples for valuation – Price Earning multiple, Price to Book multiple, Enterprise Value to EBITDA, EV/FCF, FCF/BV, EV/EBITDA, EV/Capex, EV/Subscriber, EV/EBITDAR, EV/Capacity, etc
  • How to choose comparable companies and past transaction
  • Key issues and pitfalls
  • Critical adjustments in the compilation and analyzing precedent transactions
  • Application of control or leadership premium, synergies, cash flows, illiquidity, and minority discounts, etc

 

Module – 7

Valuation of Bonds

  • Bonds basics
  • Factors affecting Bond prices
  • Pricing of Bonds
  • Interrelationships with other Macro Economic Variables

 

Module – 8

Strategic transactions for an organization Global Partnerships, Merger & Acquisition (M&A) and Leveraged buyouts (LBO)

  • How to analyze a company for Strategic Partnership, M&A or LBO
  • Strategic decision-making process – valuation and issues
  • Keys focus areas
  • How to manage the post-acquisition process

 

Module – 9

Due Diligence for Capital Raising/Buyouts/Sale of business

  • How to prepare a company for due diligence
  • Creating a due diligence plan
  • Balancing the role of internal and external service providers
  • How to resolve post due diligence observations

 

Module – 10

Building adjustments in financial models to make them ready for analysis

  • Focus on flexibility and integrity of financial models
  • Some key sheets which can be added
  • Additional analysis – sensitivity, scenario, variance, etc
  • Another funding requirements, dilution, returns, etc
  • Importance of growth and its impact on financial analysis
  • Some quick calculations in excel formulas and other tools

 

Module – 11

How to Raise Project Finance

  • Suitability of Project finance and its sources
  • Keys things analyzed by banks
  • Key terms and obligations

Offered as a public course at our scheduled locations throughout Australia, an on-site in-house course at your workplace or a credit card sized e-learning course. The duration and delivery options of the course can be tailored to your organisation’s requirements.

  • Friday, September 11, 2026.
  • Friday, December 18, 2026.