How to Read Financial Statements: Build Financial Literacy. (Udemy.com)

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

NEW 2026 UPDATE

This course has been updated for the age of AI with an all-new section on using ChatGPT and other AI tools to analyze financial statements, interpret financial ratios, compare companies, avoid common AI mistakes, and build your own Personal Financial Analysis Assistant using downloadable prompts and workflows.

"The number one problem in today's generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy."

— Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve

Financial statements are the language of business.

Whether you're an investor, manager, entrepreneur, consultant, business student, or simply someone who wants to become more financially literate, understanding financial statements is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

Yet many people never learn because traditional accounting courses focus on bookkeeping, debits and credits, and journal entries instead of teaching students how to understand what financial statements are actually saying.

This course takes a different approach.

Rather than teaching you how to prepare financial statements, you'll learn how to read, interpret, and use them to evaluate real companies and make better business decisions.

Using actual financial statements from companies including Whole Foods, Sherwin-Williams, and Facebook (now Meta), you'll build your understanding step by step—from the fundamentals to more advanced financial analysis.

Instead of memorizing accounting rules, you'll learn how experienced managers, investors, lenders, and business professionals use financial statements to evaluate a company's financial health and performance.

What You'll Learn

You'll learn how to:

✓ Read and understand Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and Statements of Cash Flows

✓ Understand the fundamentals of accrual accounting and why profit differs from cash flow

✓ Analyze real companies using actual annual reports

✓ Apply the DuPont Return on Equity framework to understand what drives business performance through:

• Profit Margin

• Asset Turnover

• Financial Leverage

✓ Understand what financial ratios reveal about profitability, efficiency, and financial strength

✓ Speak the language of business with greater confidence

NEW: Analyze Financial Statements with AI

Artificial intelligence has changed the way professionals analyze financial information.

AI can summarize annual reports, explain financial statements, calculate ratios, compare companies, and identify trends in seconds.

But AI is only as valuable as the questions you ask—and it can sometimes make convincing mistakes.

In this new section you'll learn how to:

✓ Upload annual reports into ChatGPT

✓ Ask better financial analysis questions

✓ Use AI to explain financial statements in plain English

✓ Analyze companies using the DuPont Return on Equity framework

✓ Compare competing companies using AI

✓ Recognize common AI mistakes including hallucinations, incorrect calculations, missing context, and overconfidence

✓ Build your own Personal Financial Analysis Assistant using a downloadable Prompt Pack and practical workflow

Throughout this section you'll learn one important principle:

AI is a powerful assistant—but it is not a substitute for financial literacy.

Understanding financial statements allows you to verify AI's conclusions, ask better questions, and make more informed business and investment decisions.

Why This Course Is Different

Many accounting courses teach you how to prepare financial statements.

This course teaches you how to understand them.

You'll learn from real companies—not textbook examples—and you'll develop practical skills you can immediately apply at work, in business school, or when evaluating investments.

The new AI module extends those same skills into today's business environment, showing you how to combine timeless financial literacy with modern AI tools.

Who This Course Is For

This course is ideal for:

• Business professionals

• Managers

• Entrepreneurs

• Investors

• MBA and business students

• Consultants

• Anyone who wants to become more financially literate

No prior accounting knowledge is required.

If you can read a newspaper, you can learn to read financial statements.

What You'll Receive

• More than 20 concise video lessons

• Interactive quizzes throughout the course

• Real company case studies

• A complete AI update module

• A downloadable Personal Financial Analysis Assistant Prompt Pack

• A practical workflow for analyzing companies with confidence

By the end of this course, you'll understand the language of business, know how to analyze real companies, and be able to combine timeless financial literacy with today's AI tools to become a more effective business professional, investor, and decision maker.

I look forward to seeing you in the course.