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Finance Courses - Page 24

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Managerial Accounting: Tools for Facilitating and Guiding Business Decisions
In this course, you will explore how to use accounting to allocate resources and incentivize manager and employee behaviors with these resources. You will also learn how financial and non-financial accounting information facilitates strategic performance measurement and how to integrate this information to continuously improve strategy. You will be able to: • Understand the role of managerial accounting information and use it to avoid common pitfalls in business decisions • Understand the iterative and interrelated nature of budgeting and apply the key components to preparing a master budget • Evaluate capital investments via a variety of measures • Calculate, interpret, and investigate variances • Understand decentralization and its advantages and disadvantages • Communicate the role of non-financial measures and strategic performance measurement systems • Compute and interpret financial performance measures and identify associate issues This course is part of Gies College of Business’ suite of online programs, including the iMBA and iMSM. Learn more about admission into these programs and explore how your Coursera work can be leveraged if accepted into a degree program at https://degrees.giesbusiness.illinois.edu/idegrees/.
Finance for Startups
Finance is one of the key ingredients for successful startups. Many entrepreneurs, however, lack knowledge of finance. This course teaches basic financial knowledge needed in starting and operating startups to entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs who did not major in finance. Students of this course will learn to read and understand financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements. They will also practice simple financial planning of a startup. This course also covers the concept company valuation as well as how startups get funding. This is a practical course aimed at direct application of the knowledge gained into running real startups. It also aims to enable entrepreneurs and would-be-entrepreneurs to understand the "language of finance" so that they can talk to professionals with confidence.
Accounting Analysis I: Measurement and Disclosure of Assets
**NOTE: You should complete the Accounting Analysis I: The Role of Accounting as an Information System course or be familiar with the concepts taught there before beginning this course.** This course is the second course in a five-course Financial Reporting Specialization that covers the collection, processing, and communication of accounting information (via financial reports) about economic entities to interested parties (i.e., managers and external stakeholders such as stockholders and creditors). To gain the most relevant knowledge from these courses, learners should have taken a basic accounting course prior to this Specialization (which can be done through Coursera courses, such as any accounting course from the Fundamentals of Accounting Specialization: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/accounting-fundamentals). This Specialization focuses on accounting concepts, principles and theory with an emphasis on problems that arise in applying these concepts for external reporting purposes. Specific emphasis is placed on measurement of assets, liabilities, equities and income, as well as disclosure of additional information that may assist users understand the financial reports. In this course, we will begin our review of key asset categories underlying the Balance Sheet concepts that were introduced in the previous course. We will begin our trek down the Balance Sheet by reviewing cash and receivables, which are normally the two assets listed first. We will continue our trek down the Balance Sheet by looking at inventory and long-Lived Assets, which are normally two of the largest asset values. We will review the measurement and reporting issues involving Inventories and the corresponding cost of goods sold expense in the Income Statement. In the latter half of this course we will conclude our review of key asset categories by looking at both tangible and intangible long-lived assets that are so vital to the production of goods and services. This will entail discussion of both acquisition and disposition of property, plant and equipment as well as cost allocation. Next, we will discuss possible impairment of these assets as well as the proper treatment of expenditures made after acquisition. Lastly, we will review how to identify and account for Investments. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, consistently ranked as one of the nation's top three accounting programs, now offers a master’s in accounting at a very affordable tuition rate and is completely online. The iMSA is a full Master of Accountancy program and students graduate with an MS that is highly recognized. Try an open course or two, then apply for admission into the credit-bearing version as you may be eligible to take credit-bearing courses during the application process. If you are missing any prerequisites for the full degree, you can complete Coursera courses to demonstrate readiness and strengthen your application for the iMSA. For more information on this exciting iMSA online program, refer to this link: https://www.coursera.org/degrees/imsa
Financial Regulation in Emerging Markets and the Rise of Fintech Companies
This course gives an overview of the changing regulatory environment since the 1997 Asian and 2008 global financial crisis. Following these two major crises, governments around the globe enacted a set of far-reaching new financial regulations that are aimed towards safeguarding financial stability. However, banks find it increasingly difficult to be profitable in this new regulatory environment. Technology, at the same time, has taken important leaps forward with the emergence of sophisticated models of artificial intelligence and the invention of the blockchain. These two developments fuel the emergence of fintech companies around the world. This course discusses fintech regulation in emerging markets using case studies from China and South Africa. The course pays special attention to the socioeconomic environment in emerging markets, as well as to political risk as a major source of uncertainty for fintech entrepreneurs. Peer-to-peer lending and remittances are used as leading examples for fintech innovation in emerging markets.
Introduction to Accounting Data Analytics and Visualization
Accounting has always been about analytical thinking. From the earliest days of the profession, Luca Pacioli emphasized the importance of math and order for analyzing business transactions. The skillset that accountants have needed to perform math and to keep order has evolved from pencil and paper, to typewriters and calculators, then to spreadsheets and accounting software. A new skillset that is becoming more important for nearly every aspect of business is that of big data analytics: analyzing large amounts of data to find actionable insights. This course is designed to help accounting students develop an analytical mindset and prepare them to use data analytic programming languages like Python and R. We’ve divided the course into three main sections. In the first section, we bridge accountancy to analytics. We identify how tasks in the five major subdomains of accounting (i.e., financial, managerial, audit, tax, and systems) have historically required an analytical mindset, and we then explore how those tasks can be completed more effectively and efficiently by using big data analytics. We then present a FACT framework for guiding big data analytics: Frame a question, Assemble data, Calculate the data, and Tell others about the results. In the second section of the course, we emphasize the importance of assembling data. Using financial statement data, we explain desirable characteristics of both data and datasets that will lead to effective calculations and visualizations. In the third, and largest section of the course, we demonstrate and explore how Excel and Tableau can be used to analyze big data. We describe visual perception principles and then apply those principles to create effective visualizations. We then examine fundamental data analytic tools, such as regression, linear programming (using Excel Solver), and clustering in the context of point of sale data and loan data. We conclude by demonstrating the power of data analytic programming languages to assemble, visualize, and analyze data. We introduce Visual Basic for Applications as an example of a programming language, and the Visual Basic Editor as an example of an integrated development environment (IDE).
Healthcare Delivery Providers
Welcome to the exciting world of Healthcare Delivery Providers! This second course in the Healthcare Marketplace Specialization will help you understand the various providers of healthcare across the U.S. delivery continuum. We will explore the unique value proposition of the various providers- from hospitals and clinics to physicians to community based providers. We will dissect this important value chain using various lenses such as- site of care delivery, people who provide the care and payers who pay for care. You will also learn about the challenges facing these providers and the innovations they are creating in order to help transform this important industry. I will use readings such as a case study and videos to make this learning more experiential for you, so that you can see and feel the world of healthcare delivery. I will also explain the various acronyms and specialized terms used in healthcare, so that you become more proficient and familiar with the language. Given the fact that Healthcare is one of the largest industries in the U.S. and growing at an rapid pace, it is critical that current and future leaders understand the internal and external drivers that are shaping this industry. Current and future leaders will need to constantly innovate in order to sustain this industry into the future- by creating value for the end customer and the entire population, as well as increasing engagement of the humans who work within this industry. Get ready to take a deep dive into the complex ocean that is U.S. healthcare delivery- and make sure your oxygen tank is securely fastened!
Cost Accounting: Profit and Loss Calculation
Companies do not only need to know the costs of different products, but they also need to know whether they gain a profit or realize a loss. We explain how companies use cost information to calculate their profit and assess their profitability. Depending on how companies account for changes in inventories, we distinguish "absorption costing" and "variable costing". In addition, some companies structure their income statement according to the "nature of expense method", while others structure it according to the "cost-of-sales method". We explain both methods and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.
Building Candlestick Charts with Tableau
In this 1-hour long project-based course, you will learn how to use Python YFinance to extract stock price data and how to use Tableau to build a japanese candlestick chart. Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We're currently working on providing the same experience in other regions. This course's content is not intended to be investment advice and does not constitute an offer to perform any operations in the regulated or unregulated financial market
Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation
In this course, we will discuss fundamental principles of trading off risk and return, portfolio optimization, and security pricing. We will study and use risk-return models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and multi-factor models to evaluate the performance of various securities and portfolios. Specifically, we will learn how to interpret and estimate regressions that provide us with both a benchmark to use for a security given its risk (determined by its beta), as well as a risk-adjusted measure of the security’s performance (measured by its alpha). Building upon this framework, market efficiency and its implications for patterns in stock returns and the asset-management industry will be discussed. Finally, the course will conclude by connecting investment finance with corporate finance by examining firm valuation techniques such as the use of market multiples and discounted cash flow analysis. The course emphasizes real-world examples and applications in Excel throughout. This course is the first of two on Investments that I am offering online (“Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors” is the second course). The over-arching goals of this course are to build an understanding of the fundamentals of investment finance and provide an ability to implement key asset-pricing models and firm-valuation techniques in real-world situations. Specifically, upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Explain the tradeoffs between risk and return • Form a portfolio of securities and calculate the expected return and standard deviation of that portfolio • Understand the real-world implications of the Separation Theorem of investments • Use the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and 3-Factor Model to evaluate the performance of an asset (like stocks) through regression analysis • Estimate and interpret the ALPHA (α) and BETA (β) of a security, two statistics commonly reported on financial websites • Describe what is meant by market efficiency and what it implies for patterns in stock returns and for the asset-management industry • Understand market multiples and income approaches to valuing a firm and its stock, as well as the sensitivity of each approach to assumptions made • Conduct specific examples of a market multiples valuation and a discounted cash flow valuation This course was previously entitled “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” and was part of a previous specialization entitled "Improving Business and Finances Operations", which is now closed to new learner enrollment. “Financial Evaluation and Strategy: Investments” received an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 based on 199 reviews over the period August 2015 through August 2016. You can view a detailed summary of the ratings and reviews for this course in the Course Overview section. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
Accounting for Decision Making
Through this course, you will start by addressing the two “big questions” of accounting: “What do I have?” and “How did I do over time?” You will see how the two key financial statements – the balance sheet and the income statement - are designed to answer these questions and then move on to consider how individual transactions aggregate to make up these financial statements. After developing a broad understanding of accounting and financial statements, you will begin to develop a more nuanced understanding of individual components of doing business, such as making a sale or building inventory. By considering many of the more common actions of a company, you will build your understanding of accounting, and explore these concepts by applying them across various types of transactions. Once you understand these individual concepts better, you will be ready to return to the overall financial statements and use them as informational tools, including building ratios. You can do this course standalone or to qualify for the residential component of the Finance for Strategic Decision-Making Executive Education program. For more information, see the FAQ below.