Finance for Non-Finance Managers
McMaster University
This course is for non-financial professionals, managers, and business leaders seeking to understand core finance and accounting concepts to drive organizational growth and impact financial decisions. You will gain a basic understanding of finance and accounting principles, enabling you to analyze financial information and assess the impact of your decisions across functional areas. Specific topics include financial analysis, planning, forecasting, budgeting, cash flow management, and strategic financing. You will learn to apply these concepts through practical exercises, potentially leveraging tools like Microsoft Excel for financial analysis and forecasting. Upon completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Explain the importance of finance and interpretation of financial information. 2. Apply accounting and finance concepts to analyze financials. 3. Understand key accounting and finance terms. 4. Examine financial statements using key ratios. 5. Explain the importance of the budgeting process. 6. Learn key components needed to improve profitability. To be successful in this course, no prior finance or accounting background is required.
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Corporate Finance Essentials
This Corporate Finance Essentials course provides a foundational understanding of key financial concepts relevant to companies, investors, and capital markets. You'll learn to interpret financial news, master essential financial vocabulary, and understand core accounting principles. No prior knowledge required. By the end of this course, you will be able to analyze company financial statements, understand basic investment strategies, and apply financial principles to business decision-making. This knowledge will be invaluable for your career in finance or accounting. Limited free materials available.
hbr.org
Harvard Business Review (hbr.org) offers research-based articles, case studies, and practical guidance on leadership, strategy, and organizational performance for managers and executives.
Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)
Commercial training provider whose public library holds free Excel templates, valuation and accounting explainers, and sample models alongside paid FMVA certification courses. The free material suits building practical modeling vocabulary; the certifications themselves require payment.
Aswath Damodaran's Website
Aswath Damodaran's NYU faculty page, hosting his lecture slides, webcasts, valuation spreadsheets, and annually updated datasets on equity risk premiums, betas, and cost of capital by industry. The data feeds real discounted cash flow work.
SCORE Financial Templates
Downloadable Excel workbooks from the SBA-backed mentoring nonprofit covering financial projections, startup budgets, and cash flow. After filling one in you will have a three-year projection a bank or investor can actually read.
Khan Academy Finance
Khan Academy's free finance and capital markets course of short videos on interest and debt, housing, inflation, taxes, financial statements, stocks and bonds, retirement accounts, banking and derivatives. Gives beginners working intuition for everyday money decisions and how securities markets operate.