University of Colorado Boulder

Financial Forecasting and Reporting

This course is part of Finance for Technical Managers Specialization

Taught in English

Some content may not be translated

4,306 already enrolled

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Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.7

(36 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

13 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

What you'll learn

  • Read an income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows and calculate relevant ratios to determine the financial health of a company

  • Learn to read and prepare an operating and financial budget, resulting in a pro forma financial statement

  • Apply scenario and sensitivity analysis to a project’s cash flows

  • Learn to read and interpret a company’s Corporate Sustainability Report

Details to know

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Assessments

7 quizzes

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.7

(36 reviews)

Intermediate level

Recommended experience

13 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Finance for Technical Managers Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate
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There are 5 modules in this course

Investment decisions are often based on a company’s financial performance, and such performance is captured in its financial statements. The three examined in this course are the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. Collectively, these provide a clear picture of a company’s profitability, its net worth, and how it manages its cash.

What's included

10 videos3 readings2 quizzes1 discussion prompt

Financial statements inform management and investors about a company’s financial performance in absolute terms – dollars and cents. But it is often more valuable to understand performance in relative terms, such as gross profit relative to revenues, measured as a percentage. This makes it easier for management to compare one year to another and for investors to compare one company to another. Ratio analysis is the way this is done, and there are several categories of ratios that measure a company's liquidity, profitability, debt management, and investment potential.

What's included

9 videos1 reading1 quiz1 peer review

Technical Managers are often tasked with preparing an annual budget for their project team, department, or product line. This involves estimating future costs, and in the case of a profit center, forecasting future revenues. Such forecasts can be made more reliable through a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques.

What's included

7 videos1 quiz

Forecasting future revenues and costs for a project invariably involves uncertainty, and such uncertainty equates to financial risk - the greater the uncertainty, the greater the risk. Risk management is about mitigating financial risk by assessing a project’s valuation under a range of different conditions, identifying the variables that most contribute to risk, and creating a plan to minimize the likelihood of any financial downside.

What's included

6 videos1 reading1 quiz

Sustainability has become an important consideration in how businesses operate and govern themselves. Managers today focus on their company’s Triple Bottom Line: measuring environmental and social impacts along with their financial performance. Investors are interested in this too, and in response, companies with sustainability as a strategic objective now report their non-financial performance – enabling investors to assess progress toward sustainability goals.

What's included

8 videos2 readings2 quizzes

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.6 (17 ratings)
Michael J. Readey, Ph.D.
University of Colorado Boulder
8 Courses15,416 learners

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