It’s key to think practically when presenting financial statements and financial information. So how can you present financial information successfully?
Generally, accountants present regular financial statements that we’re all familiar with, but the concepts can be applied to all other types of financial information. This might include financial information used to supplement or enhance the presentation of financial data such as:
Commentary on financial statements
Management reports
Financial summaries
Non-financial data i.e. your entity’s operations, sales activities, production metrics, etc.
The skill is not about providing advice on financial standards or compiling financial statements but concentrating on practical suggestions that you can use when standing before your audience. I’m sure as you are reading this you can think of times that you knew you weren’t getting your point across. So what’s the best way to present financial information to a range of stakeholders?
We have identified 8 key tips that you can use to present financial information to an audience which are:
1. Think about the numbers
You need to make the transition between financial statement preparer to financial statement presenter. So think about the numbers from the perspective of others in order to make your points clear.
Think about the message you are looking to convey and try and understand what the focus of your audience will be.
3. Avoid jargon
When designing reports, take the organisation’s most meaningful measures into account and convey them in a simple way that will be understandable across departments and skills.
4. Use visual software
People tend to respond well to visuals in presentation as it makes information easier to take in. Use software such as Excel, Tableau and Powerpoint to create simple visuals that engage and inform.
5. Read your audience
Try and understand the different groups, are they internal or external stakeholders, or a mixture of both.
6. Match content with expertise
What you are presenting might be complex but the audience may also be well versed in the topic. Ensure your presentation technical is matching the expertise of the audience.
Look at the business form a businessperson’s perspective and not necessarily and accountant’s perspective.
8. Practice presentation delivery
Prepare, practice and put the content in a logical order. Make sure to ask your audience regularly for questions and recap the key points.
Presentations should generally be kept short, to the point and simple so the main message is communicated and understood. The crucial part about presenting financial information is that it is understood by everyone it is directed at.
Conclusion
If you want to know more about how to present financial information we have a CPD course available worth 2 units that you can complete online. Once you complete it, we will send you a certificate you can download and share across your networks.
A good financial presentation is heavy on visuals. Colorful graphs and charts don't just look pretty; they communicate information much more rapidly and make it more accessible to those who aren't so good with numbers and tables.
The summary should include the most critical financial metrics, such as revenue, profits, and cash flow (Braxton, 2022). A clear and concise summary will help board members understand the company's financial status and guide their focus during the presentation.
One of the best ways to communicate financial information is to use visuals and stories that illustrate your points and make them memorable. Visuals, such as charts, graphs, tables, or diagrams, can help you simplify and summarize your data, highlight trends and patterns, and compare and contrast different scenarios.
Fair presentation requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions, other events, and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, income and expenses set out in the Framework.
Financial data visualizations are methods of visually (usually pictorially) representing financial data such as profit & loss, sales figures, income & expenses, assets & liabilities, and equity. Some common examples include charts, graphs, maps, infographics, diagrams, and virtual dashboards.
There is a paragraph setting out the order in which notes to the financial statements are normally presented: this begins with a statement of compliance, then a summary of significant accounting policies, supporting information for individual line items following their sequence in the primary statements, and finally ' ...
The income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows are required financial statements. These three statements are informative tools that traders can use to analyze a company's financial strength and provide a quick picture of a company's financial health and underlying value.
Be sure that any major changes in the financials are discussed in detail. Create clear and understandable reports. Make sure that the data is presented with the conditions of transparency and materiality, and that the reports are customized to the specific audience. Avoid complex jargon and technical terms.
The standard requires a complete set of financial statements to comprise a statement of financial position, a statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income, a statement of changes in equity and a statement of cash flows.
Financial statements are compiled in a specific order because information from one statement carries over to the next statement. The trial balance is the first step in the process, followed by the adjusted trial balance, the income statement, the balance sheet and the statement of owner's equity.
Turn it into a story. Simply talking through a long list of facts and figures is going to be difficult for your audience to concentrate on for long and you will be likely to lose their attention. Instead, try to take your audience on a journey and tell a story.
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