← Erudite Africa Center of ExcellenceFinancial ManagementSME Financial Management ProgramAdvanced · Executive Certificate
Financial Management for SMEs: Strategic Financial Management
Plan, finance, protect and measure a growing Ethiopian SME, and make it investor-ready
Build a three-year financial model with scenarios, prepare investor-ready financials, compare bank loans, equity, leasing and development finance, manage credit, liquidity, FX and fraud risk, and run the business on a KPI dashboard and balanced scorecard.
Start the course
0 of 6 modules completed
What you will be able to do
- Build integrated three-year projections with driver-based revenue and base, downside and upside scenarios
- Prepare an investor-ready financial package, normalize EBITDA and organize due diligence and a tax health check
- Choose and negotiate the right mix of bank loans, equity, capital goods leasing and development finance
- Manage credit, liquidity, foreign exchange, interest rate and fraud risk with practical controls
- Build a clean Excel financial model with a scenario switch, loan and lease schedules, sensitivity tables and a KPI dashboard
- Run the business on a balanced scorecard and enterprise health indicators, and plan growth the balance sheet can carry
- For
- SME owners and managing directors, CFOs and finance managers of growing Ethiopian businesses, and advisers, accountants and consultants preparing SMEs for bank, lease or equity finance. Best taken after the Level 1 and Level 2 SME financial management courses, or with experience preparing financial statements and budgets.
- Study time
- About 6 hours online, in 6 modules (5 days in the classroom version)
- Each module
- Short lessons, animated visuals, Ethiopian examples, decisions to make, the laws and directives that apply and worked calculations, then a quiz
- Assessment
- A 20-question final exam; pass mark 70%
- Certificate
- Erudite Africa Center of Excellence Executive Certificate
- Access
- Module 1 free for registered users; the full course, exam and certificate for subscribers
The 6 modules
- Module 01Free previewFinancial Planning and ForecastingTurn a growth plan into linked three-year projections, build revenue from real drivers and test the plan under base, downside and upside scenarios.6 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Module 02Investment ReadinessPrepare investor-ready financials, show the true earnings of the business, pass financial, tax and legal due diligence and meet what banks need before they lend.6 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Module 03Financing SMEsMatch each need to the right source of money: bank loans, equity investment, capital goods leasing and development finance, and compare their true cost.6 lessons · 70 min · quiz
- Module 04Financial Risk ManagementIdentify and manage the financial risks of a growing SME: customer credit risk, liquidity and covenant risk, foreign exchange and interest rate risk, and fraud.6 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Module 05Advanced Excel for SMEsBuild a clean, checkable financial model in Excel with a scenario switch, sensitivity tables, loan and lease schedules, a KPI dashboard and a monthly monitoring routine.6 lessons · 65 min · quiz
- Module 06Business Performance ManagementRun the business on a balanced scorecard and enterprise health indicators, plan growth the balance sheet can carry and report to the board in a steady rhythm.6 lessons · 60 min · quiz
- Workplace simulationA quarter as finance manager at Bishoftu Pasta and Flour PLCWork as finance manager: 11 real-life items, decisions with consequences and a hand-over note. Pass with 70% to qualify for the certificate.
- Final examFinal exam and certificate20 applied questions across all 6 modules. Pass with 70% to download your certificate.
Capstone project
A complete financial management system and investor-ready financial package for an SME
Develop a complete financial management system and investor-ready financial package for an SME: your own business, a client or the Adama Pack case. Using the course workbook, you will build a three-year model with scenarios, a financing plan, a KPI dashboard and balanced scorecard, and a data room checklist, and present them as the package a bank or investor would receive.
- 1Enter three years of actual results (or the Adama Pack Year 0 figures) and the drivers for three projected years on the Assumptions sheet, with the source and owner of each driver
- 2Complete the base, downside and upside drivers, use the scenario switch to produce linked projected statements for each case, and show that the balance check is zero in every year
- 3Build the financing plan: sources and uses, the loan and lease schedules and a lease versus buy comparison at the after-tax cost of borrowing, then choose the financing mix and explain why
- 4Prepare the valuation summary and normalized EBITDA, and calculate the DSCR, covenant headroom and break-even revenue in each scenario
- 5Set up the KPI dashboard and the balanced scorecard with targets taken from the base case, traffic-light thresholds and owners
- 6Complete the investor data room checklist, including a tax health check, and list the gaps with owners and dates
- 7Write a two-page financial narrative and present the package to your facilitator or board as you would to Bank A or an investor
What you hand in
- The completed workbook: three-year model with working scenario switch, loan and lease schedules, lease versus buy and valuation summary, all checks at zero
- A KPI dashboard and balanced scorecard with targets, owners and thresholds
- A financing plan with sources and uses and the recommended mix, with DSCR in each scenario
- The investor data room checklist with tax health check results and a two-page financial narrative
Templates and tools
- SME financial model and investor package (Excel)
A workbook with assumptions and a base, downside and upside scenario switch, three-year projected income statement, balance sheet and cash flow with checks, loan and lease schedules, lease versus buy, valuation summary, KPI dashboard, balanced scorecard and an investor data room checklist, prefilled with the Adama Pack Industries example.
How to earn the Executive Certificate
- Complete all six modules and their quizzes
- Pass the workplace simulation with 70% or more
- Pass the 20-question final exam with 70% or more
- Blended and classroom cohorts: submit the capstone project, assessed by an Erudite facilitator against the deliverables above
- Classroom delivery: attend all five training days in full
Built on
- Erudite Africa training curriculum: Financial Management for SMEs, Level 3 Advanced, Strategic Financial Management (October 2026)
- Income Tax Proclamation No. 979/2016 as amended by No. 1395/2025; VAT Proclamation No. 1341/2024 and VAT Registration Directive No. 1104/2025; Federal Tax Administration Proclamation No. 983/2016 as amended by No. 1434/2026
- Capital Goods Leasing Business Proclamation No. 103/1998 as amended by No. 807/2013; Investment Proclamation No. 1180/2020; Investment Incentive Regulation No. 586/2026
- Commercial Code Proclamation No. 1243/2021 and Financial Reporting Proclamation No. 847/2014 (IFRS for SMEs, AABE filing)
- NBE Directives No. NBE/INT/13/2026 (interest rates), SBB/95/2025 (capital adequacy), FXD/01/2024 and FXD/05/2026 (foreign exchange)
- Published good practice on financial modeling, quality of earnings review and the balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton)
Examples and companies are fictional. Tax rates and rules are shown as they stood when the course was written; always check the current proclamations, directives and guidance from the Ministry of Revenues before filing, and take professional advice for your own case.