Data Literacy for Finance & Accounting
Finance and accounting professionals protect data quality from the point it enters the ledger, design metrics other functions cannot easily game, forecast and explain variance honestly, and communicate numbers beyond finance. In 45 minutes and four assessed units, for anyone who works with financial data day to day. No new software to learn.
- Easy-to-follow course
- 4 quizzes at 80% in every course
- Narration and captions on every screen
- Written and fact-checked in 2026
Watch the introduction, then see the interactions your learners will use.
One licence for your LMS, 12 months, for the learners you buy for, delivered as one SCORM package. Priced per learner, with volume discounts.
What your team will learn
Upon course completion, employees will gain a full and clear understanding of:
- How to protect data quality from the point figures first enter the ledger, and use reconciliation as a data-quality control
- How to spot the common ledger errors, coding, cut-off, duplicates and manual journal risk, before they distort a report
- How to design KPIs and targets for other functions that hold up, rather than quietly inviting the wrong behaviour
- How to present a forecast honestly as a range, and explain variance by cause rather than blame
- How to translate finance's own figures clearly for a board, a manager or a budget holder
- How to build the habits that make people trust your numbers without needing to double-check them
Who it is for
Written for finance. No technical background is needed, and nothing in it assumes a previous course.
This course from Blocknorth teaches finance and accounting professionals to protect data quality from the point it enters the ledger, design metrics other functions cannot easily game, and forecast and explain variance honestly. Built for anyone who works with financial data day to day, not for learning new accounting software.
Course contents
4 units. Each ends with a 10-question quiz; 8 correct unlocks the next unit.
Data Quality Where It Starts (Ledgers and MI)
- Why finance is the organisation's data steward, and why errors here travel further than errors almost anywhere else
- Chart of accounts consistency, coding and cut-off errors, and manual journal risk
- Reconciliation as a data-quality control, and two real, well-documented spreadsheet-error cases
- Management information versus statutory reporting, and judging materiality honestly
Designing Metrics Others Can't Easily Game
- Why finance so often architects metrics for functions it does not manage
- Applying Goodhart's law to a target finance designs for someone else
- The classic ways a finance-designed metric gets gamed, and how to spot each one
- Building a balancing measure into a metric, and co-designing metrics with the team they measure
Forecasting and Variance With Honesty
- Why a single point forecast is nearly always wrong, and presenting a range instead
- Rolling forecasts versus the annual budget-and-forget habit
- Variance analysis that finds the cause, price, volume or mix, one-off or recurring
- The classic trap of a timing difference that looks like a real miss
Communicating Numbers Beyond Finance
- Finance's translation role, the same figures serving very different audiences
- Leading with the decision implication, not the accounting mechanics
- Plain English versions of common finance jargon, accruals, capex versus opex, EBITDA and working capital
- The false-precision trap from a finance angle, and building lasting trust in your numbers
Details
| Length | About 45 minutes, self-paced, resumes where the learner left off |
|---|---|
| Format | SCORM 1.2 package. Runs in any conformant LMS (Moodle, Cornerstone, Docebo, SAP SuccessFactors, TalentLMS and others) |
| Assessment | 4 unit quizzes, 10 questions each, 80% to pass. Score and completion reported to your LMS |
| Accessibility | Optional narration and captions on every screen, keyboard navigation, responsive on PC and tablet |
| Language | UK English |
| Publisher | Blocknorth |
| Written and fact-checked | In 2026, reviewed each quarter |
What a licence includes
One licence for your LMS, 12 months, for the learners you buy for, delivered as one SCORM package. Priced per learner, with volume discounts.
See pricing →Questions buyers ask
Will it run in our LMS?
Yes, if your LMS supports SCORM 1.2, which almost every LMS does. You upload one zip file, assign it, and completions and scores report back automatically. We confirm compatibility for your platform before you buy, and the free sample package lets you test it in place.
Can we try it before we buy?
Yes. Ask for the free sample package and you will have Unit 1 of a foundation course as a real SCORM 1.2 file, so you can check it runs in your own LMS. Request it with the form below and you will have it within 1 working day.
What do we receive?
The SCORM package, a one-page quick-start for your LMS administrator, the course listing sheet for your catalogue, and preview images. Updates to the course during your licence are supplied at no charge.
How does a licence work?
You licence the course for the learners you buy for, for 12 months, on your own LMS, and you receive one SCORM package. Pricing is per learner with volume discounts as your numbers grow, and we licence from ten learners upwards.
Where teams go next
Request a quote or the sample package
Tell us the course and roughly how many learners. You will have a quote, or your sample package, within 1 working day.
Prefer email? sales@businesstechnologytraining.com