Explain how financial institutions and markets function, including market types, trading venues, and yield curves.

Interpret core financing and accounting concepts, including equity vs. debt, stock issuance, financial statements, and cash flow vs. profit.

Apply financial statement forecasting and ratio analysis to assess liquidity, efficiency, leverage, profitability, and valuation.

Calculate and interpret key ratios to support financial decisions and communicate performance to internal and external users.

Apply time value of money tools to evaluate cash flows, loans, savings, and investment growth under different compounding rates.

Assess risk and return using real vs. nominal returns, diversification and correlation, and beta to compare investment choices.

Value bonds and stocks by analyzing key features, cash flows, risk ratings, and one-year returns.

Evaluate capital structure and required returns by calculating after-tax debt cost, cost of equity, CAPM inputs, and WACC.

Apply capital budgeting methods to compare projects and make investment decisions using relevant cash flows and project constraints.

Analyze cost behavior, break-even, and leverage impacts to evaluate project risk, profitability, and capital structure choices.

Assess the importance of working capital management in supporting liquidity, profitability, and day-to-day operations.

Apply the cash conversion cycle to improve cash flow through inventory control and trade credit decisions.

Evaluate dividend policy decisions by explaining why dividends matter, when they can be paid, and how splits and stock dividends affect shareholders.

Explain how foreign markets, currencies, and international risks can influence financial decisions.