Reporting, accounting & technical finance
IFRS vs. GAAP, revenue recognition, consolidation, the close process, and board-level financial communication.
Accounting is where CFO credibility is won or lost. Get it right and nobody notices. Get it wrong and you are explaining a restatement to the board, the auditors, and possibly the regulator. This block makes sure you are never on the wrong side of that line.
Start with the standards that govern everything you report. You will navigate the real differences between IFRS and GAAP, master revenue recognition under IFRS 15 and ASC 606, and understand why IFRS 16 dragged three trillion dollars of leases onto balance sheets and what that means for your ratios and covenants. These are not academic distinctions. They move earnings, they move debt, and they move investor perception.
Then we fix the machine that produces the numbers. You will learn how to run a fast close without breaking accuracy, how to consolidate a group through intercompany eliminations, minority interests, and foreign exchange, and how to prepare for an IPO before the bankers ever call. The close is where discipline shows. A slow, messy close tells everyone your finance function is not in control.
Finally, we tackle communication, because numbers that nobody understands are worthless. You will build a board pack that actually informs instead of the bloated versions most companies tolerate. You will manage the audit committee relationship that quietly determines your survival. And you will handle non-GAAP metrics with the credibility the SEC now demands, so your adjusted numbers strengthen your story rather than invite suspicion.
This is the technical core of the CFO role, presented without the textbook padding. By the end you will report with authority, close with speed, and communicate with the kind of clarity that makes boards trust you.
What you'll master
- Navigate the key IFRS and GAAP differences that reshape reported earnings and debt
- Apply revenue recognition and lease accounting standards to your own transactions
- Compress your close cycle while protecting accuracy and control
- Consolidate a group through intercompany eliminations, minority interests, and FX
- Prepare the finance function for IPO scrutiny before the process begins
- Build a board pack and audit committee relationship that earn genuine trust
- Present non-GAAP metrics with credibility that satisfies investors and the SEC
Modules
Covers the core accounting standards a CFO must apply: IFRS versus GAAP, revenue recognition, and lease accounting.
Explains how to run a fast, accurate close, consolidate group entities, and prepare for an IPO.
Focuses on producing strong board packs, working with the audit committee, and presenting non-GAAP metrics credibly.
Walks through how to apply judgement in revenue recognition, lease and financial instrument accounting, impairment, provisions, and other key estimates.
Covers how external audits assess materiality, how control frameworks safeguard reporting, and how clean data delivers one trusted set of numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Reporting, accounting & technical finance block cover?
It covers the technical core of financial reporting for a CFO: IFRS versus GAAP differences, revenue recognition, lease accounting, the close process, group consolidation, IPO readiness, board and audit committee communication, plus controls, external audit and finance data quality. The content is organised in 5 modules of 3 lessons each, 15 lessons in total. It sits inside the CFO Track.
Who is this useful for if I am not a CFO?
It fits anyone who owns or reviews reported numbers: group controllers, heads of consolidation, finance directors preparing a first IPO process, and audit committee members who need to challenge management. Investors and general managers who read financial statements rather than produce them will get value from the standards and non-GAAP lessons, less from the close mechanics.
What is the practical difference between IFRS and GAAP for a finance leader?
The two frameworks treat several items differently enough to change reported earnings, reported debt and therefore covenant headroom and investor perception, which is why the differences are treated as an operating issue rather than an academic one. Revenue recognition under IFRS 15 and ASC 606 and lease accounting under IFRS 16 are the areas where the gap shows most in practice. The first lesson of the block works through those differences.
Do I need to master the standards before working on the close process?
No. The standards and the close are separate problems: one is about how you measure a transaction, the other about how fast and reliably your organisation produces consolidated numbers. The block starts with standards then moves to the close and consolidation, but if your immediate pain is a slow month-end you can go straight to the fast close and consolidation module.
What does group consolidation actually involve?
Three mechanics dominate: eliminating intercompany transactions and balances, handling minority interests when subsidiaries are not wholly owned, and translating foreign currency entities. Each is a common source of restatement risk when the group grows through acquisition. A dedicated lesson covers the three together, alongside a lesson on running the close faster without losing accuracy.
How should non-GAAP metrics be presented to investors?
With a clear reconciliation to the reported figures, consistent definitions over time, and adjustments you can defend line by line, because regulators including the SEC now scrutinise adjusted numbers closely. Presented that way, adjusted metrics reinforce your narrative; presented loosely, they invite suspicion about what is being hidden. A lesson in the board communication module covers the credibility and disclosure expectations.