Intermediate module
Reading a business like an owner
The three financial statements without the accountant's frown — what they really tell you about whether a company makes money, survives bad years, and deserves your capital.
1The three statements
- 1
The income statement: does it actually make money?
Revenue, the costs that eat it, and the difference between looking profitable and being profitable.
12 min read
- 2
The balance sheet: can it survive a bad year?
What a company owns, what it owes, and why debt is the thing that kills businesses in downturns.
12 min read
- 3
Cash flow: where profit goes to tell the truth
Why profit is an opinion and cash is a fact — and how to spot the gap.
11 min read
2Turning statements into judgement
- 4
The ratios that actually matter: ROE, ROCE, margins, turnover
A handful of ratios turn three statements into a verdict on quality — if you know which ones to trust and how they connect.
14 min read
- 5
Working capital: the cash quietly trapped inside a business
The cash frozen in inventory and unpaid invoices decides whether growth funds itself or quietly bleeds a company dry.
13 min read
- 6
What makes a business genuinely good: moats and returns on capital
Why a durable competitive advantage, not this year's growth, is what lets a business keep earning high returns on capital for years.
14 min read
3Reading the report & spotting trouble
- 7
Reading an annual report in 30 minutes
A practical route through a 300-page document, and the sections that actually matter.
13 min read
- 8
Forensics 101: red flags hiding in the numbers
How the statements, read together and against each other, betray the accounting tricks that flatter a failing business before it collapses.
14 min read