In today's fast-paced business environment, companies frequently face complex decisions that hinge on a detailed understanding of financial data. However, extracting meaningful insights from financial statements and performing effective financial analysis can be daunting. Financial Analysis: A Business Decision Guideis designed to address this challenge. This course offers a deep dive into various analysis tools that can bolster business decisions, such as price optimization, constraint management, and credit granting. It covers crucial aspects like financial leverage, capital structure, foreign exchange risk, financial forecasting, and discounted cash flow analysis. By providing techniques for valuing acquisitions and explaining how to interpret financial statements, this course empowers professionals to make informed, strategic business decisions based on robust financial analysis.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:
Chapter 1
Specify the situations in which different types of financial analysis could be used.
Specify the issues to consider when making recommendations as the result of financial analysis.
Chapter 2
Identify the financial statements, their contents, and how they are formatted
Chapter 3
Cite the key accounting concepts that can alter the information presented in the financial statements
Chapter 4
State the methods used to interpret the information in the financial statements
Chapter 5
Identify the components of the cost-volume-profit relationship, and how they are used
Chapter 6
Identify the advantages of the various pricing methodologies
Chapter 7
Cite the issues that can impact the cost of a cost object, and whether that cost is recognized
Chapter 8
Identify key constraint concepts and how they can be used to improve profitability
Chapter 9
Specify the concepts under which credit is granted to customers, as well as indicators of possible future delinquency
Chapter 10
Identify the financing choices available to a company
Chapter 11
Cite the impact and risks of financial leverage on a business as well as when leverage is more likely to be used
Chapter 12
State the issues impacting the capital structure of a business, as well as situations in which the capital structure should be reviewed
Chapter 13
Identify the measurements used by investors to track the adequacy of dividend payments
Chapter 14
Identify the risks and mitigating actions associated with foreign exchange
Chapter 15
Cite the risks and mitigating actions associated with interest rates as well as the terms of the various interest rate hedging instruments
Chapter 16
State the elements of a system of forecasting and budgeting
Chapter 17
Identify the issues impacting the rate of growth of a company
Chapter 18
Identify the elements of the cost of capital, and note how the cost of capital is calculated
Chapter 19
Cite the basis for the use of discounted cash flows, the types of annuities, and how discounted cash flows can be used
Chapter 20
State the methods available for analyzing requests for capital projects, and the issues to be reviewed when examining such requests
Chapter 21
Specify the concepts involved in the lease or buy decision process, the information to include in or exclude from the decision, and the circumstances under which different lease types would be used
Chapter 22
Identify the techniques used to place a value on a target company
Chapter 23
Cite the methods used to measure and improve shareholder value, and the situations in which certain methods are more applicable
Major Topics
Overview of Financial Analysis
Accounting Issues Impacting the Financials
Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
Cost Object Analysis
Credit Decisions
Financial Leverage
Dividend Analysis
Interest Rate Risk Analysis
Managing the Rate of Growth
Discounted Cash Flow Techniques
The Lease or Buy Decision
The Enhancement of Shareholder Value
