The boardroom finance course that gives you exactly what you need to question, challenge, and lead with real confidence.
Understand the numbers. Reduce personal risk. Increase your contribution.
Many highly experienced directors feel quietly uncomfortable when the conversation turns to financial statements, liquidity ratios, or audit committee reports. If the financial language isn't second nature, it's harder to challenge, harder to scrutinise, and harder to add your full value in the boardroom. For any director with a duty to provide effective challenge and objective scrutiny, that gap carries real personal risk.
Finance Essentials for Non-Finance Directors is designed to address exactly that. In one intensive, practical day, you'll build a confident, working understanding of the financial concepts, corporate reporting requirements, and governance expectations that matter most at board level — equipping you to fulfil your obligations more fully and contribute with greater authority, without needing any prior finance training.
The sessions are highly interactive, drawing on the lived experiences of all delegates and using real-world case studies throughout. The drive for greater diversity of thought in the boardroom is right and necessary, and this course ensures that a varied background is never a barrier to full participation at the top table.
For directors with a full diary, one well-structured day is often more valuable than three. This course is designed to deliver everything you need at board level, and nothing you don't.
Participants can expect a challenging, yet highly rewarding programme.
Who Should Attend?
This course is for board members, senior leaders, and professionals who want a strong, practical grasp of board-level financial information, with no formal finance background required. It's particularly well suited to:
- Aspiring, new, and established non-executive directors
- Executive directors without a finance background
- Trustees and governors of charities, schools, or public bodies
- Senior managers moving into board-level roles
- Professionals who have completed other courses but want more depth
- Anyone wanting to ask sharper questions of their CFO or finance team
What you'll walk away with:
By the end of the day, you will have learnt how to:
- Read and interpret financial statements — income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow — with confidence
- Understand solvency, liquidity, and going concern, and know when to probe further
- Challenge budgets, forecasts, and financial proposals using the right vocabulary and techniques
- Understand the board's financial responsibilities
- Engage with — and constructively challenge — your finance director and audit committee
- Contribute up to 6 hours towards your annual CPD record
The course covers:
The programme runs 09:00–17:00 across three core areas, with interactive exercises and real-world case studies woven throughout.
Corporate Reporting
- Fundamental financial concepts and terminology
- External financial reporting – the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement, Strategic Report, and Directors’ Report
Financial Management
- Budgets, forecasts, what-if scenarios, and sensitivity analysis
- Analysing and interpreting financial statements and reports
- Sources of finance
- Solvency, liquidity and going concern
- Valuation techniques
- Strategic financial management
Governance and Finance
- The Board’s financial responsibilities
- Stakeholder expectations and shareholder value
- Internal Audit, External Audit and the Audit Committee
- Current issues
What Past Participants Say:
“Excellent course. I have completed 2 other similar courses that didn't go into enough depth.”
“This was exactly the level of detail I required to feel confident as a Board member questioning accounts.”
“The course content exceeded my expectations.”
“Good exercises and interaction.”
“As a result of the course I feel much more confident about this area than before.”
Your Course Leader: Nick Blackwell FCA
Nick Blackwell brings a rare combination of frontline financial experience and exceptional teaching ability to this course.
A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Nick qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC, where he worked across audit, assurance, and transaction services in the UK and Switzerland. He went on to spend eight years at Lehman Brothers as a Director in European Equities, with responsibility spanning financial control, audit liaison, and senior management support across the business.
Since moving into professional education, Nick has spent nearly two decades as a senior lecturer and programme designer with Emile Woolf International, delivering CPD and professional qualification training across accounting, financial management, governance, risk, and audit at all levels. He is also a Visiting Fellow at Henley Business School.
As CEO of the Non-Executive Directors' Association, Nick has a deep understanding of what boards need — and what non-finance directors specifically need to perform at their best. He brings that perspective directly into the room, making complex financial concepts accessible, relevant, and immediately applicable to the boardroom context.
CPD hours:
Attending this course contributes up to 6 hours of CPD. Your booking confirmation email can be used as evidence of attendance.
FAQs:
Do I need any finance background to attend? - No. This course is specifically designed for people with little or no formal finance training. You'll start from first principles and build a solid, practical understanding across the day.
How is the day structured? - The course runs 09:00–17:00 BST via online classroom. There are multiple mini-breaks throughout the day to keep delegates alert and focused. Sessions are interactive, using case studies and group discussion throughout, rather than just one-way presentation. Delegates consistently rate this as one of the most valuable parts of the experience.
Can I get an invoice for my organisation? - Yes, an invoice can be arranged on request at the time of booking. Many attendees have their place funded by their organisation or board.
What technology do I need? - A stable internet connection and a device with a camera and microphone. Full joining instructions will be sent ahead of the course date.
Ready to feel fully confident in the boardroom? Join fellow board members and NEDs for a practical, rewarding day that will permanently change how you engage with financial information, and allow you to be at your most effective.