Reading your accounts to steer the business
The income statement, the balance sheet and the intermediate management balances, read in the order they serve decisions. Three worked modules following Nadia's workshop and its €480,000 turnover. First course of the management accounting series.
Foundational3 modules51 minModule 1 free to read
2026 rules — verified on September 6, 2026
Figures are tied to dated, sourced tax constants. A module whose rules have changed is flagged for review, and is unpublished automatically beyond 90 days.
This content is part of the path: Steering my business by the numbers· Step 1 of 9· Next step: Financial ratios
By the end of this course, you can…
These outcomes are the modules' own: the promise cannot say anything the course does not teach.
- Read an income statement from top to bottom and name each family of expenses
- Tell apart the three tiers: operating, financial and exceptional
- Place an expense in the right tier and see why that changes the diagnosis
- Spot the two lines that correspond to no payment at all
- Place any item between assets and liabilities, and say what it finances
- Tell a long-term use from a current one, and a stable resource from a short debt
- Read a net book value and reconstruct what has been depreciated
- Work out a working capital figure and say whether it covers the need
- Run the cascade of balances, from turnover down to the bottom line
- Compute a value added figure and say what it actually measures
- Read a gross operating surplus and see why a banker looks at it first
- Compare two businesses of different sizes without being misled by amounts
The programme, module by module
Each module has its own page. Durations are derived from the actual text, never announced by hand.
- Module 117 minFree — no accountThe income statement, line by lineWhat you will be able to do
- Read an income statement from top to bottom and name each family of expenses
- Tell apart the three tiers: operating, financial and exceptional
- Place an expense in the right tier and see why that changes the diagnosis
- Spot the two lines that correspond to no payment at all
- Module 217 minIncluded in the full courseThe balance sheet: what you own, what you oweWhat you will be able to do
- Place any item between assets and liabilities, and say what it finances
- Tell a long-term use from a current one, and a stable resource from a short debt
- Read a net book value and reconstruct what has been depreciated
- Work out a working capital figure and say whether it covers the need
- Module 318 minIncluded in the full courseIntermediate balances: margin, value added, EBITDAWhat you will be able to do
- Run the cascade of balances, from turnover down to the bottom line
- Compute a value added figure and say what it actually measures
- Read a gross operating surplus and see why a banker looks at it first
- Compare two businesses of different sizes without being misled by amounts
What you take away
A handout you keep, not just a page you read. The sections are derived from the course itself: what is announced here is exactly what gets generated.
Participant handout (PDF)
PDF
- Learning objectives (3)
- Key figures (3)
- Mistakes to avoid (3)
- Official sources (3)
Exercise workbook (Word)
Word
- Learning objectives (3)
- Key figures (3)
- Mistakes to avoid (3)
- Official sources (3)
Answers live in a separate appendix: the participant handout and the workbook stay distributable before the exercise.
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Educational content, current with the sources cited. It does not replace advice tailored to your situation. These courses are neither certifying nor CPF-eligible: they prepare for no certification registered with the French RNCP or specific register.