BUS601: Financial Management

Welcome to BUS601: Financial Management

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn how accounting and financial management are applied to the critical decisions made by a firm and their effects on a firm's value by reviewing the statements that make up the firm's financial package.

Course Introduction

Making financial decisions is something that we do in our personal lives, as well as in the business environment. On a personal basis, we may consider the interest rates charged by various credit cards or the best terms we can receive on a home mortgage. A business is also involved in regular financial analysis and uses that analysis to make business decisions. Companies face decisions on allocating funds to invest in plant and equipment needs, new product introductions, research and design activities, staffing levels, market expansion plans, and so much more. A good understanding of financial principles is the basis for making sound decisions in any of these areas. Management is charged with the responsibility to create value for their shareholders. That value results from making good decisions on investing the firm's capital in such a way as to realize a positive return. It is also critically important that management not only understand the basic financial principles and theories but also how to apply them in the firm's day-to-day operations.

• Unit 1: Managerial Accounting
• Unit 2: Financial Statement Analysis
• Unit 3: Financial Management
• Unit 4: Risk and Return
• Unit 5: Managing Capital
• Unit 6: Valuation
• Unit 7: Financial Planning and Forecasting

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• demonstrate a degree of accounting and financial literacy;
• explain a firm's financial package, including the income statement, statement of retained earnings, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows;
  
• apply the results of financial analysis to the decision-making process;
  
• evaluate a firm's performance through an analysis of its financial package;
  
• explain the steps in developing a capital budget, determining the cost of capital, and how to calculate cash flows for projects;
  
• recognize the importance of free cash flow as a measure of firm performance;
  
• calculate the time value of money (TVM), and apply the results to investment decisions; and
  
• calculate the cost of a firm's debt and equity, and recognize the impact on the cost of capital.
  

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

The primary learning materials for this course are readings, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access, and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. In order to pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.

There are also end-of-unit assessments in this course. These are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Tips for Success

BUS601: Financial Management is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or set schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 55 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a pace that is comfortable for you and allows you to make regular progress. It's a good idea to also schedule your study time in advance and try as best as you can to stick to that schedule.

Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:

• Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
• As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.

Suggested Prerequisites

To take this course, you should have completed the following courses (or have equivalent background and experience):

• BUS103: Introduction to Financial Accounting
• BUS105: Managerial Accounting
• BUS202: Introduction to Finance

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and to attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.

• To access the full course including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access some of the course without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.

For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are all available for no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.