Course Syllabus
Welcome to BUS202: Principles of Finance
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 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.
Course Introduction
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.
This course includes the following units:
- 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
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- 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.
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
This course's primary learning materials are articles, 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 at this link.
Some parts of this course may have been created or reviewed with the support of artificial intelligence (AI). To make sure you receive accurate, high-quality, and academically sound learning materials, all AI-assisted content is carefully checked and approved by Saylor Academy's faculty and subject matter experts.
Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score
Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. 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. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam, you will not complete this course or receive a certificate of completion. You can attempt the exam as many times as you want.
There are end-of-unit assessments in this course that are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take them as many times as you want until you understand the concepts they cover.
You can see all of these assessments at this link.
Continuing Education Credits
The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays the program hours you completed and continuing education credits (CEUs). CEUs document successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 3.3 CEUs.
Tips for Success
BUS202: Principles of Finance is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take 33 hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.
Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:
- Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
- Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.
Technical Requirements
This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.
To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don't have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require you to log in.
For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.
Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App
You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.
Fees
This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and a free course completion certificate.