Introduction to Corporate Finance

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-finance

Introduction

**Course Review: Introduction to Corporate Finance on Coursera** If you’re looking to strengthen your financial acumen, whether for personal or professional reasons, the "Introduction to Corporate Finance" course on Coursera is an outstanding option. Offered in a flexible online format, this course provides a thorough grounding in essential financial principles, making it ideal for beginners and those looking to refresh their knowledge. ### Overview The course aims to demystify finance by highlighting its practical applications in real-world scenarios. From personal financial planning to corporate decision-making, the curriculum addresses key concepts like the time value of money, risk-return tradeoffs, interest rates, and capital budgeting. It encapsulates a wealth of knowledge that can empower you to make informed decisions regarding investments, savings, and financing options. ### Syllabus Breakdown **Week 1: Time Value of Money** The course kicks off with one of finance's most fundamental concepts, the time value of money (TVM). This week prepares you for the rest of the course with engaging pre-reading materials and stimulating video lectures. Understanding TVM is critical for grasping how money can grow over time – a concept that applies universally, from personal savings to corporate finance strategies. **Week 2: Interest Rates** After solidifying your understanding of TVM, you will delve into interest rates. This week further builds on the first by tackling inflation and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis. The learning outcome here is particularly beneficial, as it empowers you to evaluate varying cash flow streams, providing insights into both profitability and investment decisions. **Week 3: Discounted Cash Flow Analysis** Getting into the practical applications, this module emphasizes DCF analysis within the context of capital budgeting. Through real-life cases and optional Excel exercises, you gain hands-on understanding of valuing financial claims based on different cash flow timings. This week ensures that you can make sound financial decisions relating to crucial areas like retirement savings and home financing. **Week 4: Return on Investment** Culminating in a discussion about Return on Investment (ROI), the final week ties together all previous materials by introducing key components of financial modeling. You'll learn about free cash flows and how they can be forecasted, thus equipping you with tools to project future financial outcomes effectively. ### Why You Should Take This Course **1. Practical Application:** The course uniquely applies theoretical concepts to everyday financial scenarios, thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice. This relevance makes the information highly applicable to anyone looking to enhance their financial literacy in personal or corporate contexts. **2. Comprehensive Curriculum:** With each week building on the last, the course is meticulously structured to facilitate learning. The gradual escalation from fundamental concepts to complex applications makes it an ideal fit for beginners yet remains valuable for those with prior knowledge. **3. Flexibility and Accessibility:** Coursera’s platform allows you to learn at your own pace, accommodating your personal schedule. With video lessons, reading materials, and interactive quizzes, you'll find a learning style that suits you. **4. Engaging Instruction:** The course is led by knowledgeable instructors who present material in an engaging manner. The combination of lectures, case studies, and practical applications keeps students interested and motivated. ### Conclusion In conclusion, the "Introduction to Corporate Finance" course on Coursera is a must-take for anyone eager to deepen their understanding of finance. The course offers invaluable insights into key financial concepts while emphasizing their applicability to real-world situations. Whether you're looking to manage your personal finances better, make savvy investment decisions, or enhance your corporate financial skills, this course is a comprehensive, flexible, and practical solution. I highly recommend enrolling and taking the first step toward financial literacy!

Syllabus

Week 1: Time Value of Money

Welcome to Introduction to Corporate Finance! This first module will introduce you to one of the most important foundational concepts in Finance, the time value of money. Before diving into the Video lectures, I encourage you to take a look at the brief pre-reading for the course. Specifically, have a look at “Big Picture Course Motivation,” for additional motivation and context for the course, “Time Value of Money Overview,” for a motivation and context for our first topic, and “Quiz Problem Answer Input.” This last note is particularly important to avoid confusion with the problem sets. Then, go to the Video Lectures and start learning Finance!

In this module, we wrap up the Time Value of Money topic with a discussion of inflation before moving on to our second topic, Interest Rates, and introducing our third topic, Discounted Cash Flow Analysis. By the end of this module, you should feel comfortable with discounting and compounding arbitrary cash flow streams in order to value different claims and make better financial decisions.

This module continues our discussion of discounted cash flow analysis by way of a capital budgeting case. (You might want to download or view the Excel file, “Tablet Case Spreadsheet.xlsx,” that I use in the lectures, but it is not necessary for understanding the material.) By the end of this module, you should feel comfortable valuing claims and making financing decisions in which the timing of the cash flows and compounding of interest is arbitrary (e.g., annual, semi-quarterly, monthly, etc.). Having worked through the problems, you should also be more comfortable with real world financial decision making related to retirement savings, home financing and refinancing, auto leases, and other scenarios.

This module closes out our discussion of discounted cash flow analysis and caps off the course with a discussion of return on investment. By the end of this module, you should feel comfortable with the notion of free cash flow and the ability to apply a set of forecast drivers to project free cash flows into the future. These are some of the elements of a basic financial model, which we will use to come to a decision about the tablet project and to analyze the assumptions behind our valuation.