FIN440
Online Course Syllabus
FIN440
Financial Analysis, Forecasting and Planning
Important Notes:
This document provides an overview of expectations for this online course and is
subject to change prior to the term start. Changes may also occur during the term
due to faculty or SPS Distance Learning course updates. Some links may only be
active once the term starts.
For this course you must check the Regis Bookstore: http://www.efollett.com for
the most current online course material information.
Course Description | Prerequisites | Course Outcomes
Course Materials | Grading Criteria | Assignments
Course Description
Examines the financial decision-making process with an emphasis on analysis,
forecasting and budgeting techniques for both short-term and long-term resources.
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Prerequisites
FIN 420 Advanced Corporate Finance
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Course Objectives
Upon successful conclusion of this course you will have an increased knowledge of
financial analysis including:
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Short and long term budgeting
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Forecasting
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Financial Analysis
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Required Course Materials
Brigham, Eugene F., Daves, Phillip. Intermediate Financial Management with student
resource CD ROM, 9th edition. Thomson Learning/South-Western; ISBN:
032431986X . This book is also used in FIN 420.
Demello, Jim, Cases in Finance. McGraw Hill; 2nd edition; ISBN: 0-07-298322-1 . This
book will also be used in FIN 420 and FIN 450.
Financial function calculator (such as Hewlett Packard model 10B2) and spreadsheet
software (such as Microsoft Excel)
Optional Course Material
Brigham, Eugene F., Brigham's Technology Supplement. Thomson Learning/SouthWestern, 1st edition; ISBN: 0-03-023372-0.
Library
Access to Regis University Library Online at http://www.regis.edu/regis.asp?
sctn=lib
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Learning Topics
Learning Topic #1: What You Need to Know to Start the Course
Learning Topic #2: Financial Management: A Balancing Act
Learning Topic #3: Managing Short Term Resources
Learning Topic #4: Costs for Decision Making
Learning Topic #5: Capital Budgeting, Part 1
Learning Topic #6: Capital Budgeting, Part 2
Learning Topic #7: Capital Structures
Learning Topic #8: Lease and Hybrid Financing
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Grading Criteria
Homework problems and case studies (75%)
Forum Participation (25%)
Please note: Your facilitator may re-weight the grading for portions of the course.
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Suggested Grading Criteria
Outstanding Work
A = 93 - 100%
A- = 90 - 92
Superior Work
B+ = 87 - 89
B = 83 - 86
B- = 80 - 82
Satisfactory Work
C+ = 75 - 79
C = 70 - 74
Work of lowest passing Grade
D = 60 - 69
Failure F
Below 60
The above percentages are approximations, and so will vary depending on the cases,
questions, exercises, exams, presentations, and class participation.
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Online Course Assignments FIN440
Summary of Course Activities by Week
View Week:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Course Dynamics
This course is organized around an eight-week program. Weekly outcomes,
assignments, and critical information are organized week-by-week. Typically, each
week includes a reading assignment, forum submittal, and e-mail assignment.
Online weeks correlate to a 7-day workweek. Each week's work begins on a Sunday.
Week One begins on the first day of the Term, which is always a Sunday. The course
ends on Saturday of the eighth week.
Weekly Responsibilities
Sun
Mon
Tues
Read week Read week Read week
by week
by week
by week
and
and
and
textbook.
textbook.
textbook.
Wed
Post
response
in forum.
Thurs
Fri
Sat
Post case or
specific
assignment.
Written
assignment
due to
facilitator.
(See Course Assignments below for details on each week.)
Sunday
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Review Facilitator Notes for the upcoming week to be sure you understand the
week’s assignments. Ask for clarification early in the week to avoid delays and
possible lost points!
Read your weekly critical information found in the Week-by-Week section.
(Note: Your timely understanding of critical information content may be
required to complete your weekly assignment or final project.)
Start the weekly reading assignments if you have not already done so.
Review Forum summary postings, if available, to capture the essential points
of the previous week’s discussions.
Wednesday
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Participate in the Forum discussions, read other student postings, and reply,
when appropriate, to their postings.
Send the mid-week homework assignment (if any) via course-mail or as
instructed by your Facilitator.
Friday
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Participate in the Forum discussions, read other student postings, and reply,
when appropriate, to their postings. Note that Forum points accumulate from
both the quantity and quality of your posted participation.
Continue work on your Forecasting Project, as defined for the week. Post a
brief description of your work, as requested by your facilitator.
Saturday
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Send the assignment via course-mail or as instructed by your Facilitator (be
sure to keep a copy for yourself).
Post a short note outlining the topics you understand the best, as well as
questions about any concepts that are giving you trouble.
Please note: Certain assignments may be due on other days. Please check the
assignments below for specifics. Also, note that not all chapters in your book are
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covered in this course and the sequence of chapters is not what you might expect.
Pay close attention to the Assignments page to insure you are doing the correct work.
Submitting Assignments to Your Facilitator
1. Use the assignments drop-box to submit homework or follow alternative directions
provided by your facilitator. Every assignment should include BOTH the necessary
calculations (show your work) and a brief written discussion of the problem. In some
cases the problem poses questions for discussion; in others, you may explain your
process or suggest additional information that might affect your recommendations.
2. Each student is expected to participate in the Forum weekly and on a timely basis
to support the discussion. To earn maximum points for Forum discussions, you should
post a response to each question and reply to at least three classmates’ posts each
week.
3. There will also be weekly discussions on the Forum about your Forecasting Project.
The project builds in weekly steps. You will share tips and progress reports for
feedback from your classmates, and of course you will hear about the other projects
as they develop.
The Following Forum Standards Apply:
1. Post one original message in response to each of the Forum question(s) listed
for the week.
2. Post at least three replies to someone else’s Forum message. A “me too”
response does not count! Differences of opinion are encouraged (and
probable, considering the nature of the course) - with courteous and wellconsidered support.
3. Your class facilitator may define a cutoff date for Forum topic discussions.
4. Post Forum Activities to the Forum page on or before the day indicated.
5. Send Written Assignments to your facilitator on or before the day indicated.
Course Assignments - Before Week 1
A review of accounting statements and ratio analysis may be found in the Reading
and Resources sections of this course (before Week 1 in the Week-by-Week).
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Additionally, an EXCEL Primer is located there. Take a few moments to review both
sections prior to starting this class. You may also want to review Chapters 1-5 in your
Brigham-Daves text as background for our starting point in Chapter 7.
WEEK 1
Reading:
Textbook: Chapters 7 & 8
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—Post
a short introduction of yourself and share your experience
with finance as it relates to this class.
BY SATURDAY—
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DeMello Case 3, Question 3, asks for a DuPont analysis and an explanation of
this tool.
Question 5 from Chapter 8 asks,you to consider how seasonal factors and
differing growth rates might distort comparative ratios. Find some examples of
this and suggest ways to alleviate the problems.
Forecasting Project: Identify the company you plan to use and tell why you’re
interested in the business. What do you expect to find in your analysis? Select
this link for the Project Outline document.
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—Chapter
7, Problems 8, page 244
Chapter 8, Problems 8-4, 8-9 (d), pages 276
DeMello Case 3 Part 1 and 2
Suggestion: Create a spreadsheet for this analysis that you can re-use for
your Forecasting project. Build your spreadsheet using formulas that
reference a “master” document where you can load income statement and
balance sheet data for any company.
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WEEK 2
Reading:
Textbook: Chapter 9
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Reference question 3 in Chapter 9 (page 310): When does the AFN formula
work well and when might it give a faulty forecast?
Read DeMello Case 4 and respond to Question 1: How should they proceed
with developing a financial forecast?
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 9 opens with a discussion of Strategic Plans. What distinguishes a
“strategic” plan from a tactical plan? How can a firm determine strategic goals?
Forecasting Project: Begin collecting data for your chosen company. Post a
description of your best source and how you searched for the data. What are
your initial impressions?
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—Chapter
9, Problems 5, page 311. Write a brief explanation of the
relationship between your AFN calculation and the proforma in this case.
DeMello Case 4, #2-7
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WEEK 3
Reading:
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Textbook: Chapter 21
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Question 4 from, Chapter 21 (page 753) asks about the elements of credit
policy and how much control a firm can exert in the face of competition. Share
examples to illustrate your answers.
BY SATURDAY—
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DeMello Case 27 describes a seasonal business and their production
(inventory) strategy. Using Questions 1, 2 & 4 comment on the strengths and
weaknesses of their practices.
Forecasting Project: Post a brief SWOT analysis of your company, based on
the data you’ve collected to-date and industry comparisons. What strategy(ies)
will you pursue in your forecast?
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 21, Problems 6, 12, 14, pages 754-5.
Remember to include a brief discussion of each problem.
DeMello Case 27, Questions 3 & 6.
What changes (if any) would you recommend, and explain why. Use your
calculations and the Forum discussion to support your points.
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WEEK 4
Reading:
Textbook: Chapters 22 & 23
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Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Question 3, Chapter 22 (page 790) poses DSO vs. ageing as credit
management alternatives. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each
tool?
Question 4 in Chapter 23 (page 826) identifies several factors that will affect a
firm’s target cash balance. Select one and post your explanation, using
examples to illustrate.
BY SATURDAY—
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Forecasting Project: Post a brief statement of the quantitative and qualitative
objectives that will frame your forecast. (You will evaluate the success of your
plan against these objectives in week 8.)
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 22, Problem 1 or 2, and 6, pages 791-2.
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Chapter 23, Problem 1 or 2, page 826
WEEK 5
Reading:
Textbook: Read Chapter 10; scan Chapter 11
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Post your response to DeMello Case 19, questions 1 & 3
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Question 4 in chapter 10 (page 347) identifies 3 types of risk. Choose one and
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post an explanation of its calculation and uses for financial analysis.
BY SATURDAY—
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DeMello uses the term “hurdle rate”, B&D explains ways to compute WACC.
Are these different?
Forecasting Project: Prepare your Sales Forecast. Post a description of your
process, any problems you encountered and how you resolved them. What
assumptions did you make?
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 10, Problems 11 and 12, page 349. Note that Problem 12 presents
the book value; You must convert the components into current market value in
order to compute the capital structure. Explain why this adjustment is needed.
DeMello Case 19, Using questions 2-8 and the Forum discussion, compute
Oceanic’s hurdle rate and comment on how it can be used.
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WEEK 6
Reading:
Textbook: Chapters 12& 13
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Problem 7 in Chapter 12 (page 427) describes a mining project with significant
potential for environmental damage. Compute the NPV and IRR from the data
given, then respond to questions b & c on the Forum.
Question 4 in Chapter 13 (page 472) asks you to distinguish sunk costs,
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opportunity costs, and externalities and explain their use (or not) in capital
budgeting analysis. Choose one and post your response, citing examples to
support your explanation.
BY SATURDAY—
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Post your answer to the following question: If you were completing a capital
budgeting analysis for the firm you work for today, which single financial
analysis technique would you use to determine if you should spend $50,000
on a new computer server and why?
Forecasting Project: Determine AFN and prepare a proforma Balance Sheet.
Post a brief description of your process, any problems you encountered and
how you resolved them. What assumptions did you make? Note: Document
your assumptions in your worksheet and explain them in your final
presentation.
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 13, Problem 4 or 5, page 472-3. Remember to include a brief
explanation of your recommendation
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WEEK 7
Reading:
Textbook: Chapters 15, & 16
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Question 7 in Chapter 15 (page 542) asks about a relationship between EBIT
and financial leverage at high debt levels. . Post and explain your response.
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BY SATURDAY—
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Post your answer to the following question: Do you believe that the M & M
proposal 2 still is applicable in financial markets today? Why or why not?
Forecasting Project: Post your (draft) executive summary and list two
questions on which you would like to get feedback from the class.
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Chapter 15, Problem 3, page 542-3. Comment on the assumptions in this
problem and how a change in the assumptions might change your
recommendation.
Chapter 16, Problem 1, page 577. Which capital structure would you
recommend (part c)? Does the tax change in part d alter your
recommendation? Why?
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WEEK 8
Reading:
Textbook: Chapters 11& 17
Forum Activity:
BY WEDNESDAY—
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Respond to the questions posed by at least two classmates’ executive
summaries on last week’s Forecasting Project thread.
(Additional substantive feedback may be used – at your facilitator’s discretion
– to make up missed forum points.)
Turn in any uncompleted or re-do assignments, as directed by your facilitator.
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Post reflections on the course to the Forum.
Written Assignments:
BY SATURDAY—
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Turn in your final Forecasting Project
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Submit completed course evaluation (below)
Evaluating the Course
Please help us to improve online distance learning by completing the online course
evaluation form once you've finished the course. The online course evaluation form is
located at the bottom of the content in the Week by Week. Thank you!
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