Topic outline

  • Course Introduction

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    • Time: 33 hours
    • CEUs: 3.3
    • Free Certificate
    Managers who compile financial reports and stockbrokers working on Wall Street both claim to "work in finance". So, what exactly is it? Finance is the management of a company's money and scarce resources. It is distinct from accounting: while accounting aims to organize and compile past information, finance is geared toward deciding what to do with it.

    Firms keep detailed financial records to distribute organized reports to managers, shareholders, and government regulators. This introductory course focuses on what managers, investors, and government agencies do with this information. It serves several fields of finance and is comparable to courses some universities call "corporate finance" or "financial management".

    Here, we discuss several subfields of finance. We explore determining which projects have the best potential payoff and how to manage investments and value stocks. All finance boils down to one concept: return. It essentially asks: "If I give you money today, how much will I get back in the future?" Although the answer to this question varies widely from case to case, you will know how to find the answer after you finish this course.

    We explore financial concepts such as the time value of money, pro forma financial statements, financial ratio analysis, capital budgeting analysis, capital structure, and the cost of capital. We also introduce stocks and bonds. When you finish, you will understand financial statements, cash flow, time value of money, stocks and bonds, capital budgeting, ratio analysis, and long-term financing, as well as how to apply these concepts and skills when making business decisions.

  • Unit 1: Introduction to Finance

    Whether you work on Wall Street or in a small company, finance is vital to every business. Understanding the fundamentals of finance is essential to business education. In this unit, we examine the goal of financial managers, which is to maximize shareholders' wealth. We also explore the advantages of business organizations operating in the United States.

    In this unit, we introduce how U.S. financial markets work and the general terminology used throughout the field. We also review ethical issues that affect the field of finance. Understanding where ethical dilemmas may arise in the workplace is vital for all employees affected by the decisions they or their management make.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

    • 1.1: Introduction to Concepts in Finance

      Finance is the science and art of managing money. It encompasses the study, creation, and management of money, investments, and other financial instruments. At its core, finance deals with how individuals, businesses, and governments allocate resources over time under conditions of uncertainty. Understanding finance is critical for making informed decisions about saving, investing, and spending money. The core areas of finance include personal finance, corporate finance, public finance, investment management, and financial markets and institutions. Key financial concepts include the time value of money, risk and return, liquidity, diversification, market efficiency, and leverage.

      Mastering financial concepts helps people optimize resource allocation, achieve financial goals, build wealth, and navigate economic uncertainties. This foundational knowledge is a stepping stone to deeper explorations of financial strategies, models, and applications.

    • 1.2: Goal of Financial Management

      The primary goal of financial management is to maximize wealth and that of an organization's shareholders or owners. This objective ensures financial decisions increase the overall value of your investments, the business, and, consequently, the market value of shares. However, achieving this goal requires balancing short-term and long-term objectives while maintaining ethical and sustainable practices.

      Thus, key objectives of financial management include increasing wealth and profit, using resources efficiently, maintaining liquidity, managing risk, enhancing sustainability, considering ethics, and maximizing stakeholder value. Financial managers focus on three key decisions to achieve these objectives: investments, financial decisions, and dividend decisions.

    • 1.3: Business Organization and Governance

      Entrepreneurs create businesses to conduct commercial activities, typically to earn profits. Its structure determines how it is managed, its owners' legal obligations, and its market operation. Understanding various types of business organizations is crucial for making informed decisions about starting, managing, or investing in a business.

      Business organizations include sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies (LLC), and cooperatives (Co-op). Factors influencing the choice of business organization include liability, taxation, capital requirements, control, regulatory requirements, and scalability and longevity. By carefully selecting the appropriate business structure, entrepreneurs can align their goals, resources, and operational needs for long-term success.

    • 1.4: Corporate Governance and Ethics

      Corporate governance refers to the rules, practices, and processes company leaders establish to direct and control it. It outlines the framework for achieving a company's objectives, including how decisions are made, monitoring performance, and maintaining accountability. Effective corporate governance ensures transparency, accountability, and fairness in a company's relationship with all its stakeholders.

      Key components of corporate governance include the board of directors, management, shareholders, stakeholders, regulatory framework, internal controls, and risk management. Good corporate governance exhibits accountability, transparency, fairness, responsibility, ethics, and integrity. Effective corporate governance is vital for maintaining trust, ensuring legal compliance, and fostering sustainable growth. It forms the foundation for ethical decision-making and enhances the company's reputation in the marketplace.

      In 2002, Enron's unethical accounting practices and the fraud WorldCom perpetrated from 1999 to 2002 prompted the U.S. Congress to pass the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to regulate businesses. These high-profile corporate fraud cases cost billions of dollars to investors, employees, and taxpayers. We can trace these large-scale frauds to breakdowns in ethics and financial governance. Everyone working in a business must recognize that checks and balances exist to protect employees, investors, and the public.

    • 1.5: Agency and Conflict of Interests

      Agency and conflict of interest are closely related concepts in finance and management, especially for the relationship between principals (owners) and agents (managers). Understanding them is crucial for addressing issues that undermine organizational performance and stakeholder trust.

      An agency relationship arises when one party (the principal) hires another party (the agent) to perform a task or represent their interests. A conflict of interest occurs when an agent's personal goals or incentives conflict with the principal's goals or interests. These conflicts can lead to suboptimal decision-making or actions that harm the principal.

    • Unit 1 Assessment

  • Unit 2: Financial Statements and Financial Analysis

    Financial statements are formal records that summarize a company's financial performance and position over a specific time period. They help stakeholders assess a company's financial health and make informed decisions. Interested parties include investors, creditors, employees, regulators, researchers, and management.

    Key financial statements include income statements (profit and loss statements), balance sheets, cash flow statements, and statements of changes in equity (equity statements). In addition to helping stakeholders make informed decisions about investments, resource allocation, and operational improvements, these financial statements are critical to performance evaluation, regulatory compliance, transparency and accountability, and attracting investment.

    A key component of financial analysis is evaluating a company's financial statements to assess its profitability. It also determines the company's liquidity, solvency, and operational efficiency and provides insights for investment decisions.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 11 hours.

    • 2.1: Balance Sheets and Income Statements

      A financial balance sheet offers a snapshot of a company's financial position during a specific point in time. It is a cornerstone of financial reporting, offering a foundational view of a company's financial health. Combined with other financial statements, it provides a comprehensive picture of a business's operations and prospects. It details the company's assets, liabilities, and equity, following the fundamental accounting equation. Thus, a balance sheet is important for assessing a company's financial position, liquidity, solvency, growth potential, and creditworthiness.

      An income statement, called the profit and loss statement (P&L), summarizes a company's revenues, expenses, and profits (or losses) over a specific accounting period. It offers insight into the company's financial performance and profitability. The key components of an income statement include revenue (sales), cost of goods sold (COGS), gross profit, operating expenses, operating income (EBIT), non-operating items, tax expenses, and net income (profit/loss).

      Thus, the income statement measures how effectively the company generates revenue and manages expenses, determines net profit or loss during the reporting period, guides management and stakeholders in making operational and financial decisions, and compares financial performance across periods or with competitors.

    • 2.2: Cash Flow and Other Statements

      Cash flow refers to how money moves into and out of businesses, projects, and individual finances during a specific period. Businesses use this critical financial metric to assess liquidity, performance, and financial health. It summarizes cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities during a given period. Managing cash flow involves controlling the timing of cash inflows and outflows to ensure sufficient liquidity. Meanwhile, a cash flow analysis examines the details of cash inflows and outflows during a specific period to assess financial health.

    • 2.3: Analyzing Financial Statements

      Analyzing financial statements involves evaluating a company's financial performance and health using its primary financial reports: the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and sometimes the statement of changes in equity. There are three types of financial analysis: horizontal, vertical, and ratio. Horizontal analysis compares financial data across periods to identify trends and growth rates. Vertical analysis evaluates each financial statement line item as a percentage of a base figure. Ratio analysis uses financial ratios to assess liquidity, profitability, efficiency, solvency, and market performance.

    • 2.4: Forecasting Financial Statements

      Forecasting financial statements is a critical step for planning, valuation, and decision-making. It involves projecting a company's income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement based on assumptions about future business performance, economic conditions, and industry trends. A forecasted financial statement is called a "pro forma" statement.

      Pro forma financial statements help showcase the value of a firm when preparing for its sale. They compare the impacts of proposed financial transactions and estimate future costs and expenses under specific business scenarios.

      Key methods for forecasting include the percentage-of-sales method, growth-driver approach, and regression analysis. For effective financial forecasting, you need reliable data to make realistic assumptions, validate projections against peers, analyze best-case, worst-case, and base-case scenarios, build spreadsheets or software models to streamline updates, and update forecasts with new data for changing circumstances.

    • Unit 2 Assessment

  • Unit 3: Time Value of Money

    The time value of money (TVM) is a core principle of finance. It states that money available today is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its earning potential.

    This concept underpins investing, financing, and valuation. The present value (PV), future value (FV), discount rate, compounding, and periods (n) are key components of TVM. We apply TVM to investment analysis, loan amortization, retirement planning, bond valuation, and lease agreements.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.

    • 3.1: The Time Value of Money

      The time value of money (TVM) assumes individuals face economic price increases as time passes (due to the inflation rate) – perhaps a four percent annual inflation rate – or an opportunity to put their savings in an investment account offering an interest rate – maybe five percent per year.

      According to this concept, the $1,000 you receive in two years does not have the same value as $1,000 today. It will have less value today and more tomorrow. Let's say you receive $1,000 today and put this money in an investment account, earning five percent yearly. In two years, you will have more than $1,000.

    • 3.2: Future Value and Compounding

      Future value (FV) with compounding is the amount an investment grows after earning interest over time – the interest is calculated on the initial principal and the previously earned interest. We call this process compounding. It accelerates the growth of an investment compared to simple interest. A key benefit of compounding is that the future value is higher (the impact of compounding is greater) if your money is invested for longer and the interest is compounded more frequently.

    • 3.3: Present Value and Discounting

      The present value (PV) with discounting is the current value of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows, given a specific discount rate. It reflects the idea that money available today is worth more than the same amount in the future due to its earning potential.

      A key element of discounting is that the discount rate is the rate of return required to justify waiting for the future cash flow. Higher rates reduce PV. Consequently, the farther in the future the cash flow occurs, the lower its PV. The PV is commonly used in finance to value investments, projects, and financial instruments.

    • 3.4: Special Applications: Perpetuities, Annuities and Yields

      An annuity refers to the structure of a financial instrument that is a finite series of level payments with a definite end. How do we identify, define, and calculate an annuity's present and future value? This section compares two types of annuities: an ordinary annuity and an annuity due. You will also be able to calculate each of these types of annuities and contrast them to their opposites: perpetuities. Annuities are key to understanding because they mimic the payment structure of a bond's coupon payment. This section is foundational for calculating bond prices.

    • Unit 3 Assessment

  • Unit 4: Stocks, Bonds, and Financial Markets

    In this unit, we explore stocks, bonds, and the financial markets in which they are traded. We often talk about stocks and bonds, but can you articulate the difference? Understanding these financial instruments can help you professionally and personally as you navigate your choices for your retirement savings accounts and other financial decisions. Stocks and bonds are an important source of capital for businesses funding new equipment and projects. For individuals, they present opportunities for their savings to grow over time. Financial markets bring these investors and corporations together so each can achieve their objectives efficiently and transparently.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.

    • 4.1: Stocks

      Stocks represent ownership in a corporation. They signify a claim on a portion of the company's assets and earnings. They are one of the most common investment vehicles and play a crucial role in the financial markets. There are two major types of stocks: common and preferred. Stocks are bought and sold on stock exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) NASDAQ or the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Over-the-counter (OTC) markets trade stocks not listed on major exchanges.

      We value stocks by measuring or analyzing their intrinsic value, market value, price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, dividend yield, and book value. The rewards of investing in stock are through capital gains and dividends. Stock prices are influenced by earnings reports, economic indicators, and supply and demand. Strategies for investing in stock include valuing investing, growth investing, and income investing. Some stock market indexes are the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite.

    • 4.2: Bonds

      The cost of money refers to the opportunity cost of holding cash instead of investing it, depending on the interest rate. An interest rate is the rate at which a borrower pays interest for using money that they borrow from a lender. Inflationary expectations, alternative investments, risk of investment, and liquidity preference are the primary drivers of market interest rates. The term structure of interest rates describes how interest rates change over time.

    • 4.3: Security Markets

      Security Markets are platforms where financial securities, such as stocks, bonds, and derivatives, are issued and traded. These markets play a critical role in the economy by facilitating the flow of capital between investors and organizations needing funding.
      There are five types of security markets: primary, secondary, over-the-counter (OTC), derivatives, and the bond market. Security market functions include capital formation, liquidity provision, price discovery, risk management, and transparency and regulation.

      Key participants in security markets are issuers, investors, brokers and dealers, exchanges, and regulators. The major global security markets are the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in the United States; the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Euronext in Europe; and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) in Asia.

    • 4.4: Convertibles, Options, and Derivatives

      In this section, we compare convertibles, options, and derivatives.

      • Convertible securities are hybrid financial instruments that combine features of debt and equity. They give holders the right to convert the security into a specified number of shares of the issuing company's stock, often at a predetermined price or conversion rate.
      • Options are financial derivatives that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a predetermined price within a specified time frame. Investors use them for hedging, speculation, and income generation.
      • Derivatives are financial contracts whose value is derived from an underlying asset, index, or benchmark. Investors use them for hedging, speculation, and arbitrage in financial markets.

    • Unit 4 Assessment

  • Unit 5: Risk, Return, and the CAPM

    In this unit, we explore the relationship between risk and return. Every investment decision carries a certain amount of risk. Financial managers must calculate whether assuming the risk of an investment is worth taking (if things go badly) versus the reward it could generate (if things go well). Calculating this "riskiness" is part of making sound financial and business decisions.

    For example, suppose you are the financial manager for a large corporation, and your boss asks you to choose between two investment proposals. Investment A is a textile plant in a remote part of a developing country. This plant can generate $50 million in yearly profits. Investment B is a textile plant located in the United States, near a small Virginia town with a rich textile industry tradition. However, investment B's profit capacity is only $30 million due to higher start-up and operating costs.

    Which option do you choose? While investment A can yield significantly higher profits, there is much risk to consider. Investment B has a much lower profit capacity, but the risk is also lower.

    This unit examines the relationship between risk and return. We explore how to compute the level of risk by calculating expected values and the standard deviation. We also discuss handling risk in an investment portfolio and measuring a stock investment's expected performance as it is affected by the overall performance of a stock market.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

    • 5.1: Risk and Reward

      Risk and reward – the potential loss (risk) and gain (reward) – are fundamental concepts in financial decision-making and investing. Understanding the balance between risk and reward helps investors and traders make informed decisions. Investment risk is the possibility of losing some or all of your investment or not achieving the expected return.

      Types of investment risks include market, credit, liquidity, interest rate, currency, systematic, and unsystematic risk. Reward in investments is the potential return or profit from an investment. Types of returns include capital gains, dividends, interest income, and rental income. Meanwhile, we can manage risk through diversification, asset allocation, stop-loss orders, hedging, and risk assessment tools. We can also balance risk and reward by identifying short-term and long-term objectives, understanding our comfort level with market volatility and potential losses, aligning investment choices with our goals and risk tolerance, and regularly reviewing and rebalancing our portfolio as circumstances change.

    • 5.2: Uncertainty in Capital Budgeting

      Uncertainty in capital budgeting refers to the challenges and risks involved in estimating the outcomes of long-term investment projects. Since these projects involve substantial expenditures and long-term horizons, uncertainty in cash flows, costs, economic conditions, and other factors can significantly impact decision-making.

      Sources of uncertainty in capital budgeting include market conditions, economic factors, cost estimates, revenue projections, technological changes, regulatory and legal risks, and project-specific risks.

    • 5.3: Portfolio Risk, Reward, and Diversification

      Portfolio risk refers to the potential variability or uncertainty of the returns of an investment portfolio. It arises from individual asset risks and the interactions between them. Portfolio risk, reward, and diversification are critical concepts in investment management. Together, they provide a framework for constructing portfolios that balance potential returns with acceptable levels of risk.

      Types of risk in a portfolio include systematic risk (market risk) and unsystematic risk (specific risk). Portfolio reward refers to the potential return or profit the portfolio generates. The expected return is the weighted average of the expected returns of individual assets. However, diversification involves spreading investments across various assets to reduce unsystematic risk. The benefits of diversification are that it reduces portfolio volatility by combining assets with different risk and return profiles and improves the risk-reward tradeoff.

    • 5.4: Risk of Stock Investments and Market Betas

      Risk in stock investments refers to the uncertainty or variability in returns due to factors affecting the stock market or individual companies. Beta (β) measures a stock's volatility relative to the overall market, typically represented by a benchmark index like the S&P 500. These concepts are essential for understanding the fluctuations of individual stocks relative to the market and assessing their contribution to portfolio risk.

    • 5.5: The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM)

      In this section, we combine what you have learned about the cost of capital, net present value, and risk into one widely used model: the CAPM model. Investors use the CAPM model to compute a company's capital costs for net present value calculations.

      For example, prosecutors use this model to estimate a company's stock value, as with the 1984 breakup of AT&T into seven companies. The CAPM model is also used to calculate stock valuation. Financial managers use this tool to value stock and determine which stocks are the better options for investors based on their rates of return and how they compare to the overall stock market return.

    • Unit 5 Assessment

  • Unit 6: Capital Budgeting Techniques

    In this unit, we see examples of how financial managers use financial tools to make capital investment decisions. We explore the concept of capital budgeting and how to evaluate investment projects using the net present value calculations, internal rate of return criteria, profitability index, and the payback period method. In particular, this unit will teach you how to determine which cash flows are relevant (should be considered) when making an investment decision.

    For example, suppose you are asked to recommend buying or not buying a new building. As the financial manager, it is your task to identify cash flows that, in some way or another, affect the value of the investment (in this case, the building) and calculate whether the money spent on the project upfront is more or less than the value received. In this unit, we also learn how to calculate "incremental" cash flows when evaluating a new project, which can also be considered as the difference in future cash flows under two scenarios when a new investment project is being considered.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.

    • 6.1: Capital Budgeting

      Capital budgeting involves evaluating and selecting long-term investments that align with an organization's strategic goals. It is a systematic approach to evaluating potential investments or projects, ensuring optimal resource allocation. The capital budgeting process involves identifying investment opportunities, estimating cash flows, evaluating projects, selecting projects, and implementing monitoring processes.

      Capital budgeting evaluation criteria refer to the methods investors use to assess and choose investment projects. These criteria help determine whether a project is worth pursuing based on its expected financial benefits, costs, and risks. Key evaluation criteria include the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), payback period, discounted payback period, profitability index (PI), modified internal rate of return (MIRR), and accounting rate of return (ARR),

    • 6.2: Net Present Value

      The net present value (NPV) is one of the most widely used tools in capital budgeting. NPV measures the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a project's life. It reflects the value added by undertaking the project.

    • 6.2: Internal Rate of Return

      Internal rate of return (IRR) is a critical metric investors use in capital budgeting to evaluate and compare projects. IRR is the discount rate when the net present value (NPV) of an investment equals zero. Thus, the IRR is the rate of return where the present value of cash inflows equals the present value of cash outflows. Essentially, it is the break-even discount rate for a project.

    • 6.3: Profitability Index

      The profitability index (PI) is a financial metric used in capital budgeting to assess the relative profitability of an investment project. It represents the ratio of the present value (PV) of cash inflows to the initial investment.

    • 6.4: Payback Period Method

      The payback period method is a simple capital budgeting technique investors use to determine how long it takes for an investment to recover its initial cost through cash inflows. It is a straightforward way to evaluate a project's liquidity and risk.

    • 6.5: Cash Flow Analysis and Other Factors

      Cash flow analysis evaluates the inflows and outflows of cash within a business or project. It provides critical insights into financial health and viability. Beyond simply tracking cash, it serves as a basis for assessing investments, profitability, feasibility, financial risk, and sustainability.

    • Unit 6 Assessment

  • Unit 7: Corporate Capital Structure

    Does it matter whether a company's assets are financed with 50 percent from a bank loan and 50 percent from investors' money? Should this form of capital structure – where 50 percent of assets come from debt and 50 percent from equity – influence how a company succeeds in business? This unit addresses these questions by focusing on the theory of capital structure. Specifically, it explores the concept of capital structure. It introduces the most common formula to compare a company's return to the cost of capital: the weighted average cost of capital (WACC). We also explore how tax policy affects a company's true cost of capital.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

    • 7.1: Capital Structure Finance Theory

      Capital structure refers to the mix of debt and equity that a company uses to finance its operations and growth. Capital structure finance theory explores how this mix affects a firm's value, cost of capital, and risk profile. The key components of capital structure are equity financing and debt financing.

      Theories related to capital structure include Modigliani and Miller's (M&M) Theorem, Trade-Off Theory, Pecking Order Theory, Signaling Theory, and Agency Costs Theory. Also, factors influencing capital structure are business risk, tax benefits, growth opportunities, market conditions, industry norms, and management preferences. You can measure capital structure using the debt-to-equity ratio, debt-to-capital ratio, or interest coverage ratio.

    • 7.2: Cost of Capital, Capital Structure, and Weighted Average Cost of Capital

      The cost of capital represents the firm's cost of financing and is a critical factor in determining its capital structure. The interaction between the cost of capital and capital structure directly affects a firm's valuation, financial strategy, and investment decisions.

      The components of cost of capital include cost of equity, cost of debt, and cost of preferred stock. Meanwhile, the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the average rate of return required by all capital providers (debt and equity), weighted by their proportion in the firm's capital structure. WACC is important because it reflects the discount rate for evaluating investment projects and, thus, the firm's overall risk and financing cost.

    • Unit 7 Assessment

  • Unit 8: Working Capital Management

    Working capital management refers to how companies make their day-to-day financial decisions. Managing current assets and liabilities efficiently ensures companies have enough cash flow to meet their regular obligations and maximize their financial return.

    The four main focus areas in working capital management are cash, accounts receivable, inventory, and accounts payable. Companies try to use their assets and liabilities effectively as they balance the trade-off between liquidity and profitability.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.

    • 8.1: Overview of Working Capital Management

      Working capital management involves overseeing a company's short-term assets and liabilities to ensure the business can meet its operational expenses and short-term debt obligations while maximizing profitability.

      Striking the correct balance between liquidity and efficiency is a critical aspect of financial management. Decisions about working capital involve the day-to-day choices all companies make to keep their operations running. While they may not seem as critical as stock issues and capital budgeting, poor short-term management is a primary reason businesses fail. Understanding these concepts is essential for everyone in an organization.

    • 8.2: Cash Management

      Cash management is the primary concern of most entrepreneurs when they start a business. How will you collect funds in time to pay your bills? Households are concerned about cash management for the same reasons. For example, although I may make enough money to pay my bills, I risk penalties or worse if the timing of when the cash I earn hits my bank account and the date when my bills are due is not in sync.

    • 8.3: Managing Accounts Receivable

      Accounts receivable (AR) refers to the money customers owe businesses for goods and services delivered on credit. Effective AR management is essential for maintaining healthy cash flows and ensuring liquidity. The objectives of AR management are to improve cash flow, minimize bad debt, enhance customer relationships, and optimize working capital.

    • 8.4: Inventory Management

      Manufacturing companies turn raw materials into finished products. Merchandising companies buy products and resell them. Both types of companies must manage their inventory. If you order too much, you risk obsolescence, spoilage, and the inability to sell. If you order too little, you may lose sales you could have made and risk upsetting your customers. In this section, we explore how companies manage their inventory to minimize costs.

    • 8.5: Sources of Short-Term Financing

      This section explores options companies have for short-term borrowing. Imagine you run a catering business. You just got hired to cater your first big corporate job. The company will pay the invoice you send them afterward, but you need to buy the menu ingredients and hire workers beforehand. Where do you get the cash to accept the job before getting paid? Similarly, what are your financing options if your business is seasonal?

    • Unit 8 Assessment

  • Study Guide

    This study guide will help you get ready for the final exam. It discusses the key topics in each unit, walks through the learning outcomes, and lists important vocabulary. It is not meant to replace the course materials.

  • Certificate Final Exam

    Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

    To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.

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