MSA 635, Financial Management
All MSA Students are required to take three courses: (1) MSA 600, MSA 634 or MSA 635, and MSA 640. Other core courses must be selected in consultation with the student's academic advisor. A total of 15-21 hours must be taken in the administrative core. All MSA students are also required to take either MSA 685 (3 hours) or MSA 690 (6 hours).
Course Objectives:
After completing this course, the student should:
Understand the role of the financial accounting information system in providing data requisite to analyzing organizational efficiency and profitability.
Describe the financial objectives of the modern corporation and the basic differences between the financial objective of private and public organizations.
Apply analytical models that are used to evaluate financial performance and potential investments.
Discuss the role of budgeting in long-term and short-term financial planning.
Apply analytic models designed to measure the financial requirements implicit in forecasting sales growth.
Understand the concepts of operating and financial leverage and show how leverage impacts financial planning and risk.
Use models for, and measures of, working capital management, particularly as regards accounts receivable and inventory turnovers.
Analyze the implications of the sources of short, intermediate, and long-term funds for the organization and how each is used in planning and control.
Evaluate the profitability of long-term investments through an understanding of the cost of capital.
Incorporate an understanding of the subject of decentralized operations with the need for responsibility accounting.
Analyze the behavioral incentives and ethical considerations of financial objectives and budgets.
Typical MSA 635 topics:
Interpreting Financial Statement
Financial Ratio Analysis
Divisional Performance
Cost Behavior
Time Value of Money
Capital Budgeting and Discounted Cash Flows
Analysis
Sources of Funding and Capital Structure
Risk and Return
Market Risk
CAPM
Portfolio Diversification
