In this introductory Corporate Finance or Business Finance course, I tried to address the basic question: What is finance, and how its management in a business firm can be done. The course also talks about the various objectives of financial management in a corporate firm. An understanding of business finance, sources of business finance, various financial decision areas, financial risk, and requirements of fixed and working capital is helpful and is essential for running a successful business. The role of financial management has a direct impact on the financial health of a corporate firm. Financial management decisions affect the financial health of a business enterprise and its financial statements like Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss accounts get impacted by such decisions. Understanding these jargons are important for anyone who is interested in Corporate or Business Finance.
The structure of the course is as follows:
1. What is financial management and its importance?
2. Objectives of Financial Management
· Investment Decisions – Criteria used for Investment appraisal, Factors affecting long-term investment
· Financing Decisions – Sources of financing, the comparative cost of financing
· Dividend Decisions – reasons behind giving dividends by listed firms
3. What is Financial Planning?
4. Difference between Financial management and financial planning
5. Meaning of Capital Structure: Optimal mix of debt & equity
6. Factors affecting the Capital Structure decisions
7. What is Fixed Capital?
8. Factors affecting fixed capital investment
9. Fixed capital management
10. What is Working Capital?
11. factors affecting working capital
12. How to manage working capital efficiently?