Financial Essentials
Course Specifications
Course number: 088444
Software: Microsoft® Office Excel® 2007
Course length: 2.0 day(s)
Course Description
Companies are composed of a number of job roles and varying degrees of responsibility. Some roles are so different that two people within the same company may never come in contact with each other over the entire length of their employment. All employees, though, are working towards the same goal—the financial success of the company. However, individuals cannot be expected to contribute to the financial success of the company unless they understand the principles upon which finance is based. In this course, you will explore the fundamentals of finance and discover how all areas of the company contribute to its financial well-being. 

Course Objective: You will explore the fundamental concepts of finance.

Target Student: This course is intended for business professionals who intend to pursue a career in finance or managers who are interested in understanding the fundamental principles of finance.

Prerequisites: Windows® Office Excel 2003: Level 1 is the only prerequisite skill. You might be interested in the following related courses: Problem-Solving Skills,Negotiating Skills,Business Presentations, and Advanced Communication Skills.

Delivery Method: Instructor led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities.
Hardware Requirements
For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware components: 
•	A 1 GHz Pentium-class processor or faster.
•	A minimum of 256 MB of RAM. 512 MB of RAM is recommended.
•	A 10 GB hard disk or larger. You should have at least 1 GB of free hard disk space available for the Office installation. 
•	A CD-ROM drive.
•	A mouse or other pointing device.
•	A 1024 x 768 resolution monitor is recommended.
•	Network cards and cabling for local network access.
•	Internet access (contact your local network administrator).
•	A printer or an installed printer driver.
•	A projection system to display the instructor’s computer screen. 
Platform Requirements
•	Microsoft® Windows XP
Software Requirements
•	Microsoft® Office Professional Edition 2007
•	Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2 
Performance-Based Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: 
•	describe critical aspects of the budgeting process, including budgeting matters and methods of budgeting. 
•	investigate the three major components of a budget. You will also examine the process of managing a budget. 
•	determine the internal and external parties affected by a company's operations. You will also examine the cash-based and accrual-based methods of accounting. 
•	thoroughly examine the makeup of an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement. 
•	use common-size financial statements to conduct both a trend evaluation and a competitive evaluation. You will also look at the many financial ratios that offer valuable information about a company's ability to generate revenue, meet financial obligations, and manage debt. 
•	examine the decision-making process when considering potential investments. You will also explore a number of financial formulas that will help you assess the value of such investments. 
Course Content
Lesson 1: Budgeting Fundamentals
Topic 1A: Budgeting Benefits
Topic 1B: Budgeting Methods

Lesson 2: Managing a Budget
Topic 2A: Prepare a Budget
Topic 2B: Control a Budget

Lesson 3: Exploring the Ground Rules of Finance
Topic 3A: Who Needs Finance?
Topic 3B: Track Revenue and Expenses

Lesson 4: Using Financial Statements
Topic 4A: The Income Statement
Topic 4B: The Balance Sheet
Topic 4C: The Cash Flow Statement

Lesson 5: Evaluating Performance
Topic 5A: Make Comparisons 
Topic 5B: Determine Liquidity
Topic 5C: Determine Activity
Topic 5D: Determine Profitability
Topic 5E: Determine Solvency

Lesson 6: Making Investment Decisions
Topic 6A: The Investment Decision-Making Process
Topic 6B: Conduct a CVP Analysis
Topic 6C: Project Appraisal Techniques

Appendix A: Market Demand Calculation Details

Appendix B: Table of Discount Factors

Appendix C: Activity Worksheets