Students planning to transfer this course to a Professional Accounting designation (i.e., CPA) are advised that they will be required to achieve a grade higher than the minimum passing grade. See the Professional Accounting Designation Website for details.
Overview
Corporate finance has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. As new global markets open, there will be even more changes and expanding opportunities, which will affect the role of financial decision makers. In this course, you will apply the fundamental concepts in corporate finance (from FNCE 370) to a variety of areas in corporate finance, such as short-term financial management, lease management, and international concerns. With the assistance of case studies, you will apply corporate finance concepts to real-life situations. Through videos, you will see how managers in real businesses apply corporate finance models in their firms’ financial management systems.
After completing this course, you will be able to
work out short-term financial plans for a firm, including plans for managing short-term financing, credit policy, inventory, cash, and liquidity.
analyze issues faced by corporations, such as international corporate financial management, leasing, mergers and acquisitions, and risk management.
evaluate the use of derivative securities in a corporate setting;
discuss behavioural finance concepts and their impacts as they relate to the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
use Excel data tables, functions, formulas, PivotTables, and PivotCharts to organize and analyze data.
Outline
Lesson 1: Short-Term Finance and Planning
Lesson 2: Cash and Liquidity Management
Lesson 3: Credit and Inventory Management
Lesson 4: International Corporate Finance
Lesson 5: Leasing
Lesson 6: Mergers and Acquisitions
Lesson 7: Risk Management (An Introduction to Financial Engineering)
Lesson 8: Options and Corporate Securities
Lesson 9: Introduction to Behavioural Finance
Evaluation
Your final grade in FNCE 371 is based on three assignments, one Midterm Examination, and one Final Examination. You must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the Final Examination and an overall course grade of at least "D" (50 percent) to pass the course.
The following chart describes the credit weight associated with each course requirement:
Activity
Weight
Assignment 1
10%
Assignment 2
10%
Assignment 3
10%
Midterm Online Exam
30%
Final Online Exam
40%
Total
100%
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Ross, S. A., Westerfield, R. W., Jordan, B. D., Roberts, G. S., Pandes, J.A., & Holloway, T. A. (2019). Fundamentals of corporate finance (10th Can. ed.). Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. ISBN 9781260192827, 1260192822 (eText)
All other learning resources will be available online.
Special Course Features
You will require a type of spreadsheet software (MS Office Excel or compatible).
A financial calculator is essential to your success in the course. You may bring one of the following financial calculators with you when you write the exams: Sharp EL-733A, EL-738, EL-738C, EL-738F, EL-738FC, Casio FC-200V, HP 10BII+, HP 12C (including Platinum series), or Texas Instruments TI-BA II Plus—no other calculators are allowed unless written permission is given by the course coordinator prior to the examination.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.