Reading Financial Statements Without the Guesswork
Most investors skim balance sheets and hope for the best. We teach you to spot what actually matters—the ratios that reveal problems, the trends that signal opportunity, and the metrics professionals watch before making decisions.
Start Learning in September 2025
The Numbers Tell Stories If You Know Where to Look
Back in 2018, a student came to me frustrated. She'd been buying stocks based on price charts and recommendations. When I asked what the company actually did or whether it made money, she went quiet.
That conversation shaped how we teach now. Financial statements aren't obstacles to avoid—they're maps showing where a business has been and clues about where it might go. But schools don't teach you to read them properly.
You'll work through actual reports from Australian companies. Not theoretical examples, but real filings with messy footnotes and accounting choices you have to interpret. We cover revenue recognition issues, debt covenant structures, and cash flow patterns that separate stable businesses from those under strain.
Three Analysis Frameworks You'll Actually Use
Forget memorizing hundreds of ratios. These three approaches handle most investment situations you'll encounter in Australian markets.
Quality Screening
Six metrics that reveal whether a company generates genuine profit or just accounting profit. You'll learn why return on equity matters more than earnings per share, and when high margins signal trouble instead of strength.
Stress Testing
Running scenarios to see what happens if revenue drops 20% or interest rates rise. Most investors skip this part, then panic when markets turn. You won't.
Peer Comparison
A company might look solid until you compare it to competitors. We teach you to build comparison tables that expose weaknesses and highlight genuine advantages across Australian sectors.
Common Problems We Address
Students often arrive with the same frustrations. They've read articles about valuation but can't apply concepts to real companies. They understand theory but freeze when opening an annual report.
Accounting Choices Cloud Reality
Companies have flexibility in how they report numbers. We show you how to adjust financial statements so you're comparing apples to apples, especially when analyzing different industries or international operations.
Information Overload Paralyzes Decisions
A typical annual report contains 150 pages. You don't need all of it. We teach you the 20% that provides 80% of useful insight, and which footnotes actually matter for investment decisions.
Ratios Contradict Each Other
High growth with negative cash flow—is that promising or problematic? Strong revenue but shrinking margins—sustainable or concerning? You'll learn to weigh competing signals and form coherent conclusions.
Market Prices Don't Match Analysis
Your analysis says a stock is overvalued but the price keeps rising. We cover the relationship between fundamental analysis and market behavior, and when to trust your work versus reconsidering assumptions.
Working Through Real Company Analysis
Theory makes sense until you face actual financial statements. These projects mirror what you'll do throughout the program—taking messy reality and extracting useful insights.
Retail Sector Comparison
Three Australian retailers with different strategies. You'll build models comparing inventory turnover, same-store sales growth, and lease obligations. One company looked cheapest on price but had concerning trends in working capital that suggested trouble ahead.
Manufacturing Business Assessment
A company with growing revenue but deteriorating returns. You'll trace why—was it pricing pressure, rising input costs, or poor capital allocation? The exercise teaches you to dig beyond headline numbers and understand operational reality.
Keiran Thornhill
I spent twelve years analyzing companies for institutional investors before realizing most people never get access to this training. Not because it's complicated—though it takes practice—but because it isn't taught outside professional settings.
Now I run workshops helping Australians read financial statements properly. The goal isn't turning you into an analyst. It's giving you enough skill to make informed decisions about where your money goes.
Our Teaching Approach