FIN 3901 - FINANCIAL MODELING WITH EXCEL

credits: 3.0
Students will learn the fundamentals of good financial modeling while developing strong spreadsheet skills. Models will be built for much of the material learned in the Corporation Finance and Investments classes. Case studies will be used to give students the feel of analyzing data and building models to solve business problems. Financial theories such as the corporate valuation model, the weighted average cost of capital and the capital asset pricing model will be better understood by building models to show how the theories can be applied. Students will also learn to use Excel functions such as NPV and VLOOKUP, and how to build data tables that are useful in performing scenario (“what if”) analysis. Objectives: A) Use proper technique in building financial models that are flexible and dynamic; B) Build models using both Excel functions and custom calculations; C) Calculate different financial and statistical metrics from data and to use those metrics within the models; D) Build a model to perform corporate valuation calculations; E) Build a model to calculate a firm’s weighted average cost of capital; F) Build a model to create pro forma financial statements; G) Use data to estimate a firm’s beta; H) Build and use a model to analyze a case study. Method of Instruction: Lecture, classroom lab work, homework assignments, and a case study. Method of Evaluation: Homework Sets 25%, Case Study 25%, and Exams (two @ 25%) 50%.

Prerequisite(s): FIN 3010 - FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT and FIN 3100 - INVESTMENTS I