Includes accounting basics such as major accounts (cash, accounts receivable, depreciation, COGS, etc), reading and understanding the main financial statements (balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements) as well as important accounting concepts such as matching, conservatism and revenue recognition.  I use a proprietary method I developed to demonstrate how financial statements are created and illustrate the component meanings.  Also included are practical considerations such as book value-vs-intrinsic value, cash flow-vs-income, capital leases-vs-operating leases, GAAP-vs-non-GAAP and the differences between management, financial, tax & regulatory accounting.  Concludes with a discussion of financial reporting, accounting standards, accounting firms and accounting scandals.  The presentation describes the process of double entry bookkeeping (debits and credits) but is not sufficient to prepare participants to be accounting practitioners.

Relevant Audience:  Managers, owners and investors who must understand financial statements.