01
Results arrive as a wall of numbers
Budgets, results briefings and annual reports are full of terms and tables, and it is hard to know where to look first or what really matters.
Camderson Academy · CA-FA-002
Read the numbers with confidence, whatever your role.
A practical, self-paced course for anyone who sees budgets, reports or company results. Read the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement line by line, see how they connect, measure them with a few clear ratios, compare years and companies fairly, spot early signals worth a closer look and turn what you find into good questions.
About 4 hours · 9 lessons with video · Beginner · No accounting background needed · Self-paced · A live ratio calculator you keep · 30-day money-back guarantee
The numbers shape every team's plans. Reading them is a skill anyone can learn.
02
Profit and cash tell different stories
A record sales year can still leave a company short of cash. Without seeing how the three statements connect, the story is easy to miss.
03
Good questions go unasked
When people are unsure of the numbers, they stay quiet in the meetings where their knowledge of the business would help most.
Learning outcomes
What you will be able to do
Six practical outcomes, each practiced in an exercise and checked in the final assessment or the capstone.
- Explain what the four financial statements show, where they come from and why reading them helps people in every department.
- Read an income statement and a balance sheet line by line, calculating margins and working capital.
- Read a cash flow statement, explain why profit and cash differ, and check how the three statements connect.
- Calculate and interpret margin, liquidity, leverage and efficiency ratios in context.
- Build common-size statements and a trend view to compare years and companies of different sizes.
- Spot warning signs in the statements, notes and auditor's report, and turn them into clear, constructive questions.
The Camderson method
Clear tools that make financial statements readable for every department
The Three-Statement Tour and the Three-Way Tie-Out
Income statement · Balance sheet · Cash flow · Equity · Notes · Net income · Retained earnings · Cash
Read all the statements before drawing conclusions, and check the three links that make them one connected story.
The Four Ratio Families, the Common-Size Lens and the Trend Lens
Margin · Liquidity · Leverage · Efficiency · Share of revenue · Share of assets · Index
Measure a company with a handful of ratios and compare years and companies of any size with care.
The Red Flag Scan and the Notes Map
Seven patterns · Questions, not verdicts · Policies · Debt · Concentrations · Auditor's report
Spot early signals worth a closer look, and find the explanation in the notes before you draw conclusions.
The Numbers Conversation Plan
Prepare · What happened · Why · What next · Listen · Follow up
Bring curious, specific and fair questions to every budget review and results briefing.
Read the whole story. Compare with care. Ask good questions.
Curriculum
Inside the course
Three modules, 9 lessons with worked examples and video
01
Read the Three Statements
See why statements help every department, read the income statement from top to bottom with its margins, and walk the balance sheet to find working capital and what changed.
02
Connect, Measure and Compare
Read the cash flow statement and see why profit is not cash, tie the three statements together, build a ratio dashboard in four families, and compare with common-size statements and trends.
03
Spot Warning Signs and Ask Good Questions
Run the Red Flag Scan, read the notes, management's discussion and the auditor's report, and lead constructive conversations with the Numbers Conversation Plan.
What is included
Skills, tools and templates you keep and use in your work
- 9 lessons, each with a written lesson, worked examples and figures, and a narrated lesson video, at your own pace
- A running example from Tarnwick Outdoor Co., a fictional outdoor gear maker whose whole team learns to read its statements together
- A fillable Workbook with Try it and Reflect pages for every lesson
- Statement Reading Templates (Word) for every teaching tool
- A Tarnwick statements workbook with live formulas (totals, the cash flow tie-out, common-size statements, trends, a ratio calculator, the Red Flag Scan and a peer comparison), a solutions version and a reusable template for any company
- Quick Reference Cards and the Tarnwick Annual Report Pack
- An optional visual companion PDF with every lesson slide
- Knowledge checks for every module and a 20-question final assessment
- A statement review capstone for a public company, your own organization or a fictional garden supply business, reviewed by a person
- A Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion when you pass the final assessment and the capstone
- Access to the Camderson Academy community
Is this course right for you?
This course is for you if
- You see budgets, reports or company results in any role: team lead or manager, product, operations, sales, customer service, marketing, HR, owner, board or committee member
- You want to follow results briefings with confidence and ask useful questions
- You read customers', suppliers' or funders' statements and want to understand what they show
It is not the right fit if
- You need to prepare statements or keep the books (this course teaches reading, not bookkeeping)
- You want investment recommendations or stock picks (the course gives no investment advice)
- You need budgeting and forecasting or week-to-week cash management in depth (CA-FA-003 and CA-FA-004 cover those)
- You need accounting, tax or legal advice about a specific situation (talk with a CPA or another qualified professional)
Your instructors
Taught by Camderson Advisory
Camderson Advisory Services
Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
Camderson Advisory brings experience across healthcare, public service, human resources, operations, and learning and development, and has owned and run small businesses. The team has built and facilitated workplace trainings for hundreds of employees and leaders, and knows that good decisions stick when the whole team understands the numbers together. In this course you and your team learn to read financial statements with confidence and bring good questions to the table.
About
About Camderson Academy
Camderson Academy is the education division of Camderson Advisory Services. Camderson helps leaders build organizations that work without them in the room. Everything we teach has been used in a real organization first.
Training a team?
We offer group enrollment for teams and whole organizations that want everyone, in every department, to read results with the same tools and language. Email connect@camderson.com to talk through your group.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need any experience or a previous course?
No. There is no prerequisite and no accounting background is needed. Every term is explained the first time it appears. Financial Literacy for Business Professionals is a helpful foundation if you would like one, but it is not required.
Who is this course for?
Anyone in any department who sees budgets, reports or company results: team leads and managers, individual contributors in product, operations, sales, customer service, marketing and HR, owners, and board or committee members. The example is an outdoor gear maker, and the methods fit any business, nonprofit or public organization.
How long do I have access?
Your access does not expire. We review the course every year, and any updates are added for you at no extra cost.
How long does it take?
About 4 hours in total, including the written lessons and their videos, the Try it exercises, the knowledge checks, the final assessment and the capstone. Everything is self-paced.
Do I have to use my own organization's statements?
No. You can review a public company's annual report or the fictional Pellingham Garden Supply included in the course. If you use your own organization's figures, use only what you are allowed to share.
Does the course give investment, accounting or tax advice?
No. It is general education about reading financial statements. It never recommends buying, selling or holding any security, and for specific decisions it points you to a CPA or another qualified professional. Its facts are checked against public sources such as the SEC, Investor.gov, the FASB and the SBA.
Is the certificate accredited, or does it carry professional credit?
Neither. You receive a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion after passing the final assessment and the capstone, a statement review that a person reads. It is not an academic credential, is not accredited and does not carry continuing education, CPE or other professional credit.
Is there a money-back guarantee?
Yes. You are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. If the course is not right for you, email connect@camderson.com within 30 days of purchase and we will refund you in full. No questions asked. Your course access ends when the refund is issued.
What tools do I need?
A spreadsheet program that opens .xlsx files (Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers or LibreOffice Calc), a word processor that opens .docx files and a PDF reader. All templates and practice files are included as downloads.
Read the numbers with confidence, whatever your role.
Self-paced, about 4 hours, with a Workbook, Statement Reading Templates, Quick Reference Cards and a live ratio calculator to help you understand results and join the conversation about what happens next.
Backed by our 30-day money-back guarantee.
This course earns a Camderson Academy Certificate of Completion. It is not an academic credential, is not accredited and does not carry continuing education or other professional credit. This course is general education about reading financial statements, not investment, accounting, tax or legal advice.