Course Description
This course will focus on basic finance. Major emphasis is placed on financial statements and ratio analysis, working capital management, capital budgeting. stocks and bonds evaluation, and financial planning and forecasting. (3 credits)
Prerequisite
- ACC 101: Financial Accounting
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Analyze and evaluate financial performance
- Create and control the financial planning process
- Determine the viability of a capital expenditure
- Evaluate the risks associated with an investment decision
- Develop a cost effective working capital strategy
- Create an optimum capital structure
- Evaluate securities valuation
Course Activities and Grading
| Assignments | Weight |
|---|---|
Discussions (Weeks 1-14) | 10% |
Quizzes (Weeks 1-14) | 42% |
MyFinanceLab Homework Assignments (Weeks 1-14) | 28% |
Comprehensive Final Exam (Week 15) | 20% |
Total | 100% |
Required Textbooks
(Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore)
- Zutter, Chad. Principles of Managerial Finance & MyFinance Student Access Code Card. 15th ed. Prentice Hall, Inc. 2019. ISBN-13: 9780134830209 [Looseleaf Version]
- Students are required to have access to MyFinanceLab, a Pearson Publishing homework manager. The textbook must be purchased "New Only" to obtain an access code required for the course.
Additional Required Materials
(Not available through bookstore)
- Financial Calculator
Note: There will be three (3) deliverables (or requirements) each week: (1) weekly quiz on BlackBoard; (2) Weekly Assignment on MyFinanceLab* and (3) weekly BlackBoard Discussion Board requirements -- a minimum of three high-quality responses in each of the weekly threaded discussion topics on a minimum of three separate days per week, beginning no later than Wednesday.
Course Schedule
| Week | SLOs | Readings and Exercises | Assignments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Topic: The Role and Environment of Managerial Finance
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2 | 1 | Topics: Financial Statements and Ratio Analysis
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3 | 1, 2 | Topics: Cash Flow and Financial Planning
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4 | 2 | Topic: Time Value of Money
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5 | 4,7 | Topics: Interest Rates and Bond Valuations
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6 | 4,7 | Topic: Stock Valuation
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7 | 4,7 | Topics: Risk and Return
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8 | 3,4 | Topic: Cost of Capital
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9 | 3, 4 | Topic: Capital Budgeting Techniques
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10 | 3,4 | Topic: Capital Budgeting Cash Flows
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11 | 6 | Topics: Leverage and Capital Structure
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12 | 1 | Topic: Payout Policy
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13 | 5 | Topic: Working Capital and Current Asset Management
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14 | 5 | Topic: Current Liabilities Management
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15 | Final Exam | |||
Additional Information
Discussions: A successful student in online education is one who takes an active role in the learning process. Therefore, this class includes a variety of activities to enhance your learning experience throughout the course. One ongoing activity involves participation in the weekly discussion forums, which counts 10% of your overall average in the course. You can earn a maximum of 100 on each weekly discussion grade. At the end of the semester, your discussion grades will be averaged and that average will enter the calculation of your final grade with a weight of 10%. Your weekly discussion grade will be based on frequency of comments as well as the quality of your comments. You are expected to post (respond) a minimum of three high-quality responses in each of the weekly threaded discussion topics on a minimum of three separate days per week, beginning no later than Wednesday.
Quality is defined as the content of the student’s contributions. Examples of quality posts include:
- providing additional information to the discussion;
- elaborating on previous comments from others;
- presenting explanations of concepts or methods to help fellow students;
- presenting reasons for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion;
- sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic; and
- providing a URL and explanation for an area researched on the Internet.
The following grading rubric will be used in determining your discussion grade.
Grading Rubric for Discussion Postings
| Assessment | High/Excellent | Medium/Good | Low/Fair | Unsatisfactory/Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Contribution to the classroom | Posting is insightful, thorough, and interesting. | Posting is thorough and interesting. | Posting is interesting but lacks insight and depth. | Posting is uninteresting and/or too brief for the assignment. |
Inspires reply postings from other students | A serious effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to encourage others to reply. Posting generates questions and opens up new avenues for discussion. | A serious effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to encourage others to reply. | Some effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to encourage others to reply. | No effort is made to frame the discussion posting in such a way as to encourage others to reply. |
Demonstrated understanding of the reading assignment | Posting demonstrates a thorough understanding of the reading assignment and is substantiated by several examples from the textbook and/or companion website. | Posting demonstrates an understanding of the reading assignment and is substantiated by at least one example from the textbook and/or companion website. | Posting demonstrates an understanding of the reading assignment but is not substantiated by examples from the textbook and/or companion website. | Posting demonstrates very little understanding of the reading assignment. |
Grammar, mechanics, spelling, and sentence structure | Posting is highly polished; no grammar or spelling errors. | Posting is polished; maximum of one grammar or spelling error. | Posting is adequate; maximum of two grammar or spelling errors. | Inadequate posting; more than two spelling or grammar errors. |
Quizzes: Each week there will be a quiz that will test your knowledge of concepts we covered that week. Each quiz will consist of 10-20 multiple choice questions and will count 3% of the grade.
MyFinanceLab Homework Assignments: To work the homework problems for this course, you will need access to MyFinanceLab. You can acquire access by purchasing a new textbook that is shrink wrapped with the access code to MyFinanceLab. To register, you will need the course ID that will be provided by your instructor at the beginning of the semester.
Final Exam: The final exam will be comprehensive and will cover chapters 1-11 & 13-16. There will be 50 multiple choice questions on the final.
COSC Accessibility Statement
Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.
COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.