BA 301Finance

3 credits · Business Administration · Penn State

The goal of BA 301 is to provide insight into the thinking of both the financial manager and the functional manager that is needed to effectively lead and manage not only their business organization but also their personal financial lives. The course will enable the student to learn the key financial concepts, constructs, and models that are used by financial managers every day around the world. Understanding of the mathematics of finance, the use of financial calculators, and development of Excel financial model problem solving will be emphasized. Ethical financial decision-making will be a common theme that is integrated throughout the course. Using a survey overview approach, the first third of the course will cover concepts such as financial statements and analysis, financial ratios and analysis, long-term financial planning and budgeting, time value of money, discounted cash flow analysis, capital budgeting, break-even analysis, and systematic/unsystematic risk. The second third of the course will provide an overview of financial topics that are normally covered in detail in financial markets courses. These topics include financial systems, money markets, the Federal Reserve and monetary policy, derivatives and speculative markets, and legal and operational issues in financial markets. The final third of the course will cover general personal finance topics of interest such as money management strategies, insurance and risk management, consumer credit, tax strategies, investing in stocks, bonds, and Exchange-Traded Funds, and retirement and estate planning. A student may receive credit toward graduation for only one of the following; BA 301 , FIN 100 , or FIN 301 .