Master Financial Analysis Through Real Business Scenarios
Our profitability analysis program starts October 2025. Learn how businesses actually track performance, interpret financial data, and make informed decisions that stick.
Discuss Program Details
Nine Months of Hands-On Financial Practice
Starting in October 2025, you'll spend nine months working through actual business cases from Australian companies. Not textbook problems—real situations where someone had to figure out if a decision made financial sense.
We've structured the program around three core phases. Each phase builds on what you learned before, but we're not rushing through concepts just to check boxes.
- Foundation months focus on reading financial statements without panic
- Middle phase tackles margin analysis and cost behavior patterns
- Final stretch applies everything to multi-department scenarios
- Weekly sessions run Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings
What You'll Actually Work Through
Each module centers on a specific type of business challenge. You'll see how different industries handle similar problems and why the same formula doesn't always work everywhere.
Statement Reading Without Drama
Balance sheets and income statements explained like someone's actually trying to help you understand them. We start with small business examples before moving to complex operations.
Cost Behavior and Margin Reality
Fixed costs, variable costs, and everything in between. You'll calculate contribution margins for product lines and figure out when something's worth selling even if it seems unprofitable.
Break-Even Points That Make Sense
Not just the formula—understanding what break-even actually means for decision-making. We look at scenarios where traditional break-even analysis falls short and what to do instead.
Variance Analysis for Real Operations
When actual results differ from budget, someone needs to explain why. You'll practice spotting meaningful variances versus random noise and writing explanations that help rather than confuse.
Department Performance Evaluation
How do you judge if a department's doing well when it doesn't directly generate revenue? We examine transfer pricing, allocated costs, and other headaches that come up in real organizations.
Multi-Scenario Decision Framework
Your final project involves analyzing a mid-sized business facing three strategic options. You'll build financial models, identify assumptions, and present recommendations like you're advising the actual owner.
Thorsten Bellamy
Thorsten spent twelve years as a financial controller for manufacturing companies around Wagga Wagga before switching to teaching. He's seen enough margin miscalculations and budget disasters to fill several notebooks. His approach focuses on practical application—he'll show you the theory, but he's more interested in whether you can actually use it.
Saffron Kettridge
Saffron worked in cost accounting for retail and hospitality businesses before joining our program. She's particularly good at explaining why cost allocation matters even when it feels like pointless busywork. Her case studies come from businesses she's actually advised, with details changed to protect client confidentiality.
Ludvig Penfold
Ludvig handles the final module where everything comes together. He's been a CFO twice and a consultant more times than he bothers counting. His feedback on your final projects tends to be detailed—expect comments about assumptions you didn't realize you were making.
Parthena Woolsey
Parthena joins us for the modeling-intensive sections. She built financial models for agricultural businesses and small manufacturers for fifteen years. Her specialty is teaching people to build models that other humans can actually understand and modify later.
Skills You'll Have by July 2026
These are the practical capabilities that develop through consistent work with real business scenarios.
Read Financial Statements Confidently
You'll be able to look at a set of financial statements and understand what's actually happening in the business. Not just the obvious stuff—you'll spot trends and issues that require deeper investigation.
Calculate Meaningful Profitability Metrics
Beyond basic formulas, you'll know which metrics matter for different types of decisions. Product profitability, customer profitability, department performance—each requires a slightly different analytical approach.
Analyze Cost Behavior Patterns
You'll recognize how costs actually behave in different business contexts. This helps with budgeting, pricing decisions, and understanding why profit doesn't always scale linearly with revenue.
Build Functional Financial Models
Your models won't be perfect, but they'll work. More importantly, someone else could open your spreadsheet and figure out what you did without spending an hour hunting for hidden assumptions.
Communicate Financial Insights Clearly
Maybe the most valuable skill—explaining financial analysis to people who don't have financial backgrounds. You'll practice writing summaries that inform rather than overwhelm.