4.8
stars
860 ratings

Miguel Antón

30,835 already enrolled

Offered By

IESE Business School

About this Course

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When it comes to numbers, there is always more than meets the eye.  In operational finance, you will learn how to read the “story” that the balance sheet and income statement tells about the company’s operations. The insights you gain from this “financial story” will then become a tool for short-term decision-making at the top management level relating to current assets, current liabilities and the management of working capital. Finally, by the end of the course you will understand the financial consequences of managerial decisions on operations, marketing, etc.

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Approx. 14 hours to complete

English

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Skills you will gain

Dupont Analysis
Management Accounting
Business Analysis
Finance

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Approx. 14 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.88/5 (165 Ratings)

Miguel Antón

Offered by

IESE Business School

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating97%(3,950 ratings)

Week1

Week 1

4 hours to complete

Course Overview & Week 1

Welcome to Operational Finance: Finance for Managers. In this course you will learn the basics of operational finance to help you make sound financial decision or to run a robust business! Before you get started with this week's video content, please have a look at the course syllabus. In this first week, we'll discuss what operational finance is all about by looking at a business case. What do the numbers on the Balance Sheet and P&L Statement tell us about its performance and future prospects? If you were a bank, would you approve a half million euro loan for this business? Why or why not? Course objective: To get an overview of operational finance and the types of analyses necessary to develop solid financing decisions.

4 hours to complete

16 videos (Total 82 min), 6 readings, 1 quiz

16 videos

Welcome to the Course: Intro Video2m1.- Operational Finance: Course Outline1m2.- Introduction: Operational Finance2m3.- Polypanel Case: What to do?7m4.- Polypanel Case: What to do? (continued)5m5.- Business Analysis Part 1: Sales7m6.- Business Analysis Part 1: Sales, (continued)3m7.- Business Analysis Part 2: Strategy and Management5m8.- P&L Analysis Part 1: Sales and Gross Margin6m9.- P&L Analysis Part 1: Sales and Gross Margin, (continued)3m10.- P&L Analysis Part 2: OPEX, EBITDA and Financial Results6m11.- P&L Analysis Part 2: OPEX, EBITDA and Financial Results, (continued)2m12.- What is a Balance Sheet?7m13.- Polypanel's Balance Sheet8m14.- Polypanel's Balance Sheet, (continued)7m15.- Brief Recap3m

6 readings

Course Overview & Syllabus10mAbout Week 110mRequired Reading Week 11h 20mOptional Reading10mFinancial Terms & Definitions10mQuiz Week 1 Solutions & Explanations10m

1 practice exercise

Quiz 130m

Week2

Week 2

3 hours to complete

Week 2: Operational Ratios and Forecasting

In week 1, we looked at Polypanel’s Balance Sheet and P&L Statement. In the Balance Sheet, we noted that receivables increased from €188,000 in 2004 to €649,000 in 2007. We left off with the question: Is this difference due to an increase in sales or delays in payments from customers?

In week 2, we will introduce operational ratios, the tools we need to disentangle both effects and understand what’s going on below the surface. We will also conduct a forecasting exercise of Polypanel to understand how well it will be positioned to pay back a potential credit line in the future. Objectives: By the end of the session you will understand the different types of operational ratios (Days of Collection, Days of Inventory and Days of Payables) in order to analyze how well a business is performing. You will also learn how to use forecasting to support financing decisions.

3 hours to complete

14 videos (Total 72 min), 4 readings, 1 quiz

14 videos

1.- Recap from Week 15m2.- Recap from Week 1, (continued)6m3.- Operational Ratios: Days of Collection5m4.- Operational Ratios: Days of Collection, (continued)3m5.- Operational Ratios: Days of Inventory3m6.- Operational Ratios: Days of Inventory, (continued)4m7.- Operational Ratios: Days of Payment6m8.- Operational Ratios: Days of Payment, (continued)4m9.- Forecast of the P&L7m10.- Forecast of the Balance Sheet (Theory)5m11.- Forecast of the Balance Sheet (Theory), (continued)5m12.- Forecast of the Balance Sheet (Polypanel)6m13.- Forecast of the Balance Sheet (Polypanel), (continued)3m14.- Brief Recap3m

4 readings

About Week 210mRequired Reading Week 230mOptional Reading10mQuiz Week 2 Solutions & Explanations10m

1 practice exercise

Quiz 230m

Week3

Week 3

3 hours to complete

Week 3: Diagnosis and Action Plan

By now you have a pretty good grasp of the Polypanel case and the main issues that could impact future financing. This week, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and work out a diagnosis for these issues. We’ll discuss Need of Funds for Operations (NFO) and Working Capital (WC), two concepts that will help us better understand the company’s problems. Finally, with a solid diagnosis we can develop an action plan that will lead to sustainable growth. Objectives: By the end of the session you will have a framework for diagnosing a company’s financial health. You’ll also gain insights into how to develop an action plan to address its problems.

3 hours to complete

13 videos (Total 77 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz

13 videos

1.- Recap from Week 24m2.- Recap from Week 2, (continued)7m3.- Diagnosis (I)6m4.- Need of Funds (NFO) and Working Capital (WC)6m5.- Need of Funds (NFO) and Working Capital (WC), (continued)4m6.- Diagnosis (II)4m7.- Action Plan (I)7m8.- Action Plan (I), (continued)6m9.- Action Plan (II)6m10.- Action Plan (II), (continued)5m11.- Sustainable Growth6m12.- Sustainable Growth, (continued)6m13.- Brief Recap5m

3 readings

About Week 310mRequired Reading Week 345mPolyPanel Balance Sheet and P&L with Forecast & Solutions to Quiz 310m

1 practice exercise

Quiz 330m

Week4

Week 4

4 hours to complete

Week 4: Negative NFO and DuPont Analysis

In this final week, we will introduce the final pieces of the puzzle to give you a complete overview of operational finance. We’ll discuss tools like sensitivity analysis that will help you consider the potential outcome of a decision given different variables. In this session we will also look at other crucial concerns for the firm and its shareholders like sustainable growth and ROE (Return On Equity) plus revisit NFO (Need of Funds for Operations) and other topics. Objectives: By the end of this session, you should have a complete overview of the key aspects of operational finance. You will also understand what tools financial professionals use in order to make decisions to strengthen a company’s position.

4 hours to complete

16 videos (Total 86 min), 3 readings, 2 quizzes

16 videos

Course Conclusion & Congratulations55s1.- Recap from Week 37m2.- Recap from Week 3 (Part 2)3m3.- Sensitivity Analysis7m4.- Sensitivity Analysis (Part 2)5m5.- An Example of Sustainable Growth6m6.- Minimum Cash and Other Elements in the NFO7m7.- Seasonal Companies6m8.- Building up the ROE (Part 1)3m9.- Building up the ROE (Part 2)5m10.- Building up the ROE (Part 3)4m11.- Blind Financial Statements5m12.- Blind Financial Statements (Part2)3m13.- Blind Financial Statements (Part 3)7m14.- Brief Recap2m15.- Course Conclusions6m

3 readings

About Week 410mConsiderations for Final Exam Parts I & II - Week 410mFinal Quiz Week 4 Part I Solutions10m

1 practice exercise

Quiz Week 4 - Part 130m

Reviews

4.8

273 reviews

5 stars
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4 stars
11.61%
3 stars
1.27%
2 stars
0.34%
1 star
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TOP REVIEWS FROM FINANCE FOR MANAGERS

by BFMar 27, 2017

Extremely useful course, you will understand the financial problems of real companies, why they need more or less credit and how to calculate and forecast what will happen in the future.

by ADFeb 22, 2019

The course is very well designed and brilliantly taught. Very useful for anyone wanting to develop insight into how organizations finance their daily operations.

by KLApr 29, 2020

Prof was awesome. He used story-telling and cliffhangers to keep students engaged. I can't believe finance could be this interesting.

by TDOct 15, 2018

The course taught was very easy and understandable by any person who is new to financial line. It is a must for all Executives irrespective of any discipline.

View all reviews

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Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

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