Analytical Thinking

This course leads you through a journey on key finance and accounting principles that enable you to understand and interpret financial data and make immediate key financial management decisions in your firm.

It has been said that the language of business is accounting; it is how firms communicate essential information about the business to external stakeholders and tells the story of how an organization operates and competes in the marketplace. Finance interprets that information to make critical business decisions. This Analytical Thinking course leads you through a comprehensive journey of key finance and accounting principles to translate a balance sheet into a management tool.

This course incorporates real examples with a focus on decision-making to help you interpret financials like a P&L owner. You will understand how to measure the value generation process in your firm. By the end of the course, you’ll have developed a toolkit to make and understand key financial decisions at a firm.

Outcomes include:

Identify the key value drivers in your organization
Diagnose the current performance of your organization using financial statements
Build a scorecard to track performance while understanding its tradeoffs
Learn how to select investment projects at your organization
Consider how a financial investor would determine the value of your organization
Explore how the capital markets work and how to evaluate an optimal capital structure

What sets this program apart?

Live sessions with the professor
Assessments at the end of the course provide assurance of learning
Opportunities for group work as well as learning on your own
Expand your perspective and network by interacting with cross-functional faculty and participants with diverse backgrounds
Learn from a Financial Times Top 10 global executive education provider

Who Should Attend

Director, Senior-Manager, Entrepreneur, and persons recognized as High Potentials in the organization
Managers moving into greater organizational responsibility in the areas of Finance and Accounting
Next-level leaders who are on the path to gaining additional finance and accounting management responsibilities
Individuals seeking professional or entrepreneurial growth
Professionals without prior formal finance expertise and/or who lack a formal business education background in accounting and finance

The Experience
Individual Benefits

The Experience

The Program Structure

This online course consists of eight asynchronous modules with two live synchronous sessions. The combination of the online platform, discussion groups and interactive live sessions fosters a dynamic learning environment.

Module 1: Principles of accounting building blocks

Understand the content and purpose of the income statement and balance sheet
Apply accounting principles: revenue recognition

Module 2: Understanding key measurement problems in a business

Cash vs profits Accruals accounting
Recognize the impact of judgment and bias on financial statements and accounting practices

Module 3: Building a framework of financial analysis

Understand the building blocks of financial analysis
Explore the three pillars of value creation and how to achieve them
Apply your knowledge to identify companies by reviewing their financial statement

Module 4: Making capital allocation decisions

Discuss capital allocation and the use of free cash flow: NPV and IRR
Understand economic value added
Analyze the various options companies have for investing their cash through reinvestment or distribution
Live session

Module 5: Cost of capital

Risk and beta
Cost of debt and equity capital; Weighted average cost of capital

Module 6: Valuation

Understand present value
Determine how the future affects value today

Module 7: Credit analysis

Understanding defaults
Determine your creditworthiness

Module 8: Introduction to capital markets

Build a strong understanding of the players in the financial services industry and the roles they each play
Contemplate the financial system, its flaws, and potential solutions
Live session

Time Commitment
Duration: 6 weeks
Weekly Coursework: 5-7 hours/week
Format: Asynchronous & Synchronous sessions
Badge: Earn a digital social media-friendly badge upon successful completion of the Analytical Thinking program

Program Certification
This course is part of the Accelerated Management Development Certificate Program. This six-month program helps you strengthen your business acumen, broaden your management capabilities, and gain actionable tools to advance your career. This fully online and customizable program will help you achieve a managerial mindset through an integrated exploration of business functions and strategy. Earn a digital certificate upon completion of the full online Accelerated Management Development Certificate Program. For more information on this new online program click here.

Individual Benefits

Learn to “Speak Accounting and Finance” to better collaborate within your organization
Develop data-driven decision-making skills to maximize financial ROI
Upskill or Refresh knowledge in managing through Accounting and Financial practices
Immediate Application - Learn on Monday, Apply on Tuesday
Earn a digital badge to share on social media with colleagues and friends after successful course completion