Elements of Finance
Intensive Introduction (suitable for beginner to intermediate-level students)
Taught by Reecha Goyal.  Click here for Reecha's profile.

More advanced financial skills are critical in today's multinational global business environment and often mean the difference between failure and success.  Today's corporate leaders need to have a strong understanding of the ways and means of finance as well as a solid grasp of key concepts and methods in order to implement sound financial policy and strategy.  The goal of this course is to provide students with the ability to apply basic and advanced financial concepts to real situations, such as whether to buy a competitor, invest in a project, fund a new division of the company, or invest in the stock market.  Students will emerge after this 10-week course comfortable with valuation techniques and cash-flow modeling using MS Excel, and will have the confidence to make winning financial decisions from East to West.  Students participate in seminar-style lectures as well as real-life analysis of the marketplace, including securities and publicly-traded stocks in the US and China.  The following subjects will be explored in detail:

• Accounting Concepts & Fundamentals
• Study of Financial Statements
• Ratio analysis for Financial Statements
• Analyzing an Annual Report
• Working Capital Management
• Time Value of Money
• Capital Budgeting
• Yield and Returns
• Cost of Capital
• Modeling Techniques

Course Structure:

Introduction to Accounting: Terms and Concepts
General Ledger, Trial Balance, Revenue and Expense Accounts
Study of Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash flow Statement
Ratio Analysis, study of liquidity, profitability and financial analysis for the Company
Study of Annual Report, FIFO and LIFO Method, Use of Dupont and P/E ratios
Time value of Money, IRR and Net present value, Capital Budgeting Decisions
Working Capital Management, Study of Operating Cycle of an organization
Capital Asset Pricing Model: Applications of the CAPM, Valuing Projects
Equity Valuation and Arbitrage: Law of One Price, Dividend Discount Models
Fixed Income Securities: Bond Prices and Yields, Duration and Immunization
Balance Score Card, SOX Processes, Risk management

1. Accounting Fundamentals
Time 7.5 hrs

Overview:
This course provides the overview of basic accounting fundamentals and the process of preparing financial statements.

Lesson:
• Recognize the advantages of applying the fundamentals of accounting.
• Match the generally accepted accounting principles to examples of their definitions.  Identify which of the 3 account types, asset, liability, and owner's equity, are affected in a given transaction.
• Apply the accounting equation, given the accounts.
• Recognize the advantages of maintaining accounting records.
• Determine the correct entries of given transactions in a general journal.
• Perform posting procedures to a general ledger.
• Perform the steps to taking a trial balance.
• Recognize the importance of preparing proper financial statements.
• Identify revenue and expense accounts.


2. Study of Income Statement and Balance Sheet
Time 2.5 hrs

Overview:
This course examines the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet, their respective structures and relationships as they correlate to business activities, and introduces common methods of analysis when using these financial statements to measure a business's financial performance.

Lesson:
• Recognize the benefits in understanding the basis of the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet as a key in understanding how business decisions are made.
• Determine the connection between the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet as they reflect different business activities.
• Relate line items in the Income Statement to business decisions and strategies.
• Relate line items in the Balance Sheet to business decisions and strategies.
• Recognize the benefit of using common size analysis of the Income Statement and Balance Sheet to understand the business strategies that a company is employing.
• Use horizontal analysis to determine if a given company's performance is within industry standards.
• Calculate trend percent to reveal patterns in a company's financial information, given a scenario.


3. Ratio analysis for financial statements
Time 2.5 hrs

Overview:
This course introduces the learner to ratio analysis and how ratios are used in analyzing financial statements.  Ratio analysis is used by businesses, investors, creditors, and stockholders in decision-making.

Lesson:
Liquidity – Use liquidity ratio (Current and Quick) analysis to interpret financial information about a company.
Investment/shareholders – information to enable decisions to be made on the extent of the risk and the earning potential of a business investment
Gearing – information on the relationship between the exposure of the business to loans as opposed to share capital
Profitability – how effective the firm is at generating profits given sales and or its capital assets
Financial – the rate at which the company sells its stock and the efficiency with which it uses its assets


4. Analyzing an Annual Report
Time 3.5 hrs

Overview:
This course will familiarize with methods to extend their analysis of financial statements beyond the three basic reports: the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement.  The course begins by analyzing two accounting features often identified in the notes to the financial statements: the cost of goods sold measurement and depreciation methods.  It will conclude with a demonstration of the application of the DuPont System of Analysis to an annual report.

Lesson:
• Analyze the implications of the FIFO procedure on a company's financial records.
• Analyze the implications of the LIFO procedure on a company's financial records.
• Depreciation, Amortization, and Goodwill Procedures
• Using DuPont and the P/E Ratio
• Recognize the value of using the DuPont system and the P/E ratio to analyze financial information presented in the annual report
• Use the DuPont system to analyze the profitability of different operating segments of a business
• Understanding about working Capital Management System


5. Capital Budgeting and Time value of Money
Time 4 hrs

Overview:
The course will explain areas of capital budgeting and all the strategies used to make long-term financing decisions.  Utilizing a strategic framework, it discusses how the key concepts synchronize with overall corporate strategies and goals.

Lesson:
Simple Interest & Compound Interest
Annuities
Present Value and Future Values
NPV & Internal rate of Return
Pay Back period Method
Discounted payback period Method


6. Yield and Returns
Time 3.5 hrs

Overview:
This course familiarizes about the basics of debt instruments, associated terminologies and factors that affect their pricing so as to be able to make an intelligent choice for investment recommendations.

Lesson:
Cost of Capital
Valuation of Equity & Preference Capital
Valuation of Bonds
Bond Prices and Yields, Duration and Immunization
Yield to Maturity
Yield curve and term structure of Interest Rates


7. Modeling Techniques
Time 1.5 hrs

Overview:
This course will familiarize with methods of various techniques used in the various industries.

Lesson:
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Balance Score Card
Risk Management

Course Title: Finance
Tuition Fee: RMB 3200
Materials Fee: RMB 100

Spring Session 2012: March 6th to May 13th

Section A: Tuesday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: FN103)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section B: Tuesday afternoons (1:00 PM - 3:30 PM)
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: FN104)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section C: Tuesday evenings (6:30 PM - 9:00 PM)
10 weeks from March 6th to May 8th (Course Code: FN105)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section D: Saturday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM)
10 weeks from March 10th to May 12th (Course Code: FN106)
Location: ELC Learning Center

Section E: Sunday afternoons (1:00 PM - 3:30 PM)
10 weeks from March 11th to May 13th (Course Code: FN107)
Location: ELC Learning Center

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE

Registration Procedure:
Please register online first to reserve your place.  You will then receive a confirmation email with further details.  Next, payment must be made on site at the ELC Learning Center during the payment dates shown below (you can come in person or send someone).

Tuition payment for the Spring Session 2012 will take place from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, from Monday, February 20th through Monday, February 27th, 2012.  Payments will be received in the Registration Office at the ELC Learning Center.  Click here for map.

Please note: classes are kept small for the students' benefit (generally between 8 and 12 people).  Register early to reserve your place.  Payment must be received on time to complete your enrollment and maintain your reservation in the class(es) for which you have registered.  (Any course that does not meet sufficient enrollment may be cancelled and a full refund provided upon presentation of your original receipt.)