Learn how to navigate and gain the knowledge and skills needed to evaluate various financial decisions, such as creating budgets, investing, selling assets, buying savings bonds, and creating and managing capital.
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
- Unit 2: Financial Statements and Financial Analysis
- Unit 3: Time Value of Money
- Unit 4: Stocks, Bonds, and Financial Markets
- Unit 5: Risk, Return, and the CAPM
- Unit 6: Capital Budgeting Techniques
- Unit 7: Corporate Capital Structure
- Unit 8: Working Capital Management
- Explain the objectives of finance;
- Explain financial statement methods and ratio analysis;
- Discuss using time value of money concepts to make financial decisions;
- Compare stocks and bonds as sources of capital and investment;
- Explain the relationship between risk and return in financial valuation;
- Compare methods companies use to make capital budgeting decisions;
- Compare debt and equity in a firm's capital structure; and
- Describe the principles and tools of working capital management.
- Blank paper for notes or scratch work
- Water or a non-alcoholic beverage