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Fundamentals of Corporate Finance

Build your understanding of key financial concepts and techniques to create sound financial forecasts and company valuations.

3 business people discussing financial data on a giant screen

Develop key practical skills to handle corporate finance

Sound financial discipline benefits both consumers and investors and in turn, improves the whole economic system, so it’s vital for business professionals to know the basics of finance.

On this four-week course from Sentinel|9, you’ll explore a managerial and analytical level view of key corporate finance topics such as time value of money, financial forecasting, and capital structure, among many others.

Discover the tools to analyse and evaluate capital structure and budgeting

You’ll look at the key concepts of corporate finance, from debt vs equity and financial leverage to ratio analysis. Using case studies, you’ll then explore the different theories and techniques needed to manage capital budgeting and structure.

Explore the methods for company and stocks valuations

The goal of a company valuation is to give stakeholders an approximate value of what the company is worth.

This course will guide you through the different techniques used to value a company, including the enterprise value formula, stock valuation, and calculating free cash flow.

You’ll then look at derivative assets; financial instruments whose price is determined based on another underlying asset. Through this, you’ll learn about forward, future, options, and swap contracts.

Delve into the mechanics of financial forecasting

Probably the most important function of business is forecasting. The objective of forecasting is to reduce risk in decision-making and create a starting point for business planning and strategy.

For the final week of this course, you’ll explore the different techniques and tools for financial forecasting and how to apply them. From regression, correlation, and covariance to econometrics tools, you’ll build the necessary skills to understand and develop sound financial forecasts.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Finance and free market economies

    • Course welcome

      Welcome to Fundamentals of Corporate Finance. Let's get started!

    • Free market economies part 1

      Welcome to the first part of free market economies.

    • Free market economies part 2

      Welcome to the second part of free market economies.

    • End of Week 1 wrap up

      A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week.

  • Week 2

    Corporate finance and ratio analysis

    • Weekly welcome

      Find out what's happening this week.

    • Corporate finance and ratio analysis part 1

      Welcome to the first part of corporate finance and ratio analysis.

    • Corporate finance and ratio analysis part 2

      Welcome to the second part of corporate finance and ratio analysis.

    • End of Week 2 wrap up

      A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week

  • Week 3

    Company and stocks valuations and derivatives

    • Weekly welcome

      Find out what's happening this week.

    • Company and stocks valuations part 1

      Welcome to the first part of company and stocks valuations.

    • Company and stocks valuations part 2

      Welcome to the second part of company and stocks valuations.

    • End of Week 3 wrap up

      A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week

  • Week 4

    Options valuation, pricing, trading analysis and forecasting

    • Weekly welcome

      Find out what's happening this week.

    • Options valuation, pricing and trading analysis

      Welcome to this section of the week, where we cover options valuation, pricing and trading analysis.

    • Financial forecasting

      Welcome to this final section on financial forecasting.

    • End of course wrap up

      It's the end of the course. Look back at what you've covered and consider what to do next.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Apply the concepts of time value of money, present value, future value, discounted cash flows and other basic principles of finance.
  • Apply expert judgement in using the concepts and role efficient market hypothesis, capital assets pricing model, portfolio theory to optimize financial management.
  • Apply techniques of time value of money, discounted cash flows in the valuation of share, bond and investment proposals.
  • Perform fundamental company analysis, financial forecasting method, options valuation and numerical (pricing) and Black-Scholes model
  • Evaluate a firm’s capital structure, debt and equity position and determine the optimal debt-equity position.
  • Interpret the financial ratios and portfolio theory and practice management of a business.
  • Calculate NPV, IRR, Pay Back Period, Profitability Index to evaluate projects.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone looking to better understand corporate finance. It will be especially useful for business managers and professionals hoping to move up the corporate ladder.

Who developed the course?

Sentinel|9

Sentinel|9 is an education content provider. They provide university-level content independently to offer a different pace of learning for individuals and institutions. They have a dynamic content library and Learning Management System (LMS) which is suitable for online, blended and face-to-face delivery.

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

  • Unlimited access to this course
  • Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
  • Tests to validate your learning
  • Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
  • Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Still want to know more? Check out our FAQs

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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