Accountant's Guide to Financial Management

Course Description

This course is designed for accountants who must have financial knowledge but has not had formal training in finance. Topics include: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act financial reporting requirements, uses and analysis of financial statements, financial forecasting and cash budgeting, risk and return, valuation of stocks and bonds, time value of money, investing and financing, leverage, optimal capital structure, portfolio selection, management of financial resources, and international finance. The goals of the course are fourfold:

1. It provides an understanding and working knowledge of the fundamentals of financial decision making and strategy that can be put to practical application in day-to-day jobs of accountants and managers.

2. It also concentrates on providing a working vocabulary for communication.

3. It uses examples and illustrations, with emphasis on the practical application of financial concepts, tools, and methodology.

4. It also includes checklists, guidelines, rules of thumb, diagrams, graphs, and tables to aid your comprehension of the subjects discussed.

Learning objectives

• a:5:{i:0;s:127:"Recognize the key features of the financial management of a multinational corporation (MNC), including foreign exchange issues.";i:1;s:39:"Identify ways to control currency risk.";i:2;s:55:"Recognize different types of foreign exchange exposure.";i:3;s:38:"Recognize ways to rate political risk.";i:4;s:52:"Identify various international sources of financing.";}
• a:6:{i:0;s:64:"Recognize the advantages of using bonds for long term financing.";i:1;s:47:"Identify the types of bonds that can be issued.";i:2;s:103:"Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of the different kinds of stock and other equity securities.";i:3;s:59:"Identify the types and characteristics of equity financing.";i:4;s:44:"Recognize the role of the investment banker.";i:5;s:76:"Distinguish difference between a private and public placement of securities.";}
• a:6:{i:0;s:74:"Identify how operating leverage affects a firm and compute total leverage.";i:1;s:113:"Recognize the primary objective of capital structure decisions and the influences on capital structure decisions.";i:2;s:77:"Understand the components of working capital and how to compute work capital.";i:3;s:91:"Recognize different methods of managing accounts receivable and how they affect cash flows.";i:4;s:118:"Recognize ways to better manage inventory, including the economic order quantity and the ABC inventory control method.";i:5;s:90:"Recognize the different short-term financing instruments and when one is most appropriate.";}
• a:15:{i:0;s:73:"Recognize the components required to compute the return of an investment.";i:1;s:71:"Define the risk-return trade-off used in understanding diversification.";i:2;s:81:"Identify the types of risks reported by beta in its use in designing a portfolio.";i:3;s:92:"Using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), calculate portfolio return and portfolio risk.";i:4;s:64:"Using the Arbitrage Pricing Model (APM), compute rate of return.";i:5;s:80:"Recognize the key inputs and concepts underlying the security valuation process.";i:6;s:53:"Distinguish between preferred stock and common stock.";i:7;s:56:"Recognize the various methods of common stock valuation.";i:8;s:46:"Compute costs of financing for long-term debt.";i:9;s:37:"Identify the overall cost of capital.";i:10;s:64:"Recognize factors used in computing the overall cost of capital.";i:11;s:26:"Define the capital budget.";i:12;s:58:"Identify capital budgeting methods used to grow a company.";i:13;s:84:"Recognize how different project conditions can affect ultimate investment decisions.";i:14;s:44:"Recognize the types of depreciation methods.";}
• a:6:{i:0;s:83:"Recognize steps in projecting financial needs by using the percent-of-sales method.";i:1;s:52:"Identify major steps in preparing the master budget.";i:2;s:91:"Recognize how the cash budget can be used to more effectively conduct financial management.";i:3;s:57:"Recognize the concept and use of the time value of money.";i:4;s:48:"Calculate the present value of a future payment.";i:5;s:68:"Recognize the definitions for annuities and minimum rates of return.";}
• a:4:{i:0;s:63:"Identify which factors are used in evaluating a firm’s stock.";i:1;s:76:"Recognize a comprehensive set of financial ratios and how to interpret them.";i:2;s:48:"Recognize how ROI can be enhanced by management.";i:3;s:99:"Identify the basic components of the Du Pont formula and how it can be used for profit improvement.";}
• a:10:{i:0;s:46:"Identify the objectives of managerial finance.";i:1;s:76:"Distinguish between profit maximization and stockholder wealth maximization.";i:2;s:50:"Recognize factors that affect the value of a firm.";i:3;s:41:"Recognize the role of financial managers.";i:4;s:59:"Recognize the various legal forms of business organization.";i:5;s:55:"Identify the basic financial statements used by a firm.";i:6;s:72:"Recognize how the balance sheet portrays a company's financial position.";i:7;s:53:"Identify the components of a statement of cash flows.";i:8;s:84:"Recognize how footnote disclosures are used, and requirements for segment reporting.";i:9;s:59:"Recognize reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley 404.";}

Final examination expiration date:

The program participant will have one year from the date of purchase to complete the course and final examination.