250799 Finance Fundamentals

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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.

UTS: Business
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 25742 Financial Management AND 25799 Finance for Managers

Description

Cash flow is an important element of most businesses or organisations. This subject offers the leaders of tomorrow a practical introduction to corporate financial decision-making.

Students learn how financial assets are valued and the skills to appraise investment projects and recommend financing strategies. They become familiar with pricing theory, capital structures and working capital management. In doing so, considerations of business structures and regulatory environments will be assessed.

Subject learning objectives (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

1.	Analyse the competitiveness of an industry and the financial performance of a firm through the top-down approach
2.	Apply valuation techniques to value financial assets, recommend an appropriate capital structure, and estimate the cost of capital for a firm
3.	Appraise the feasibility of an investment proposal based on capital budgeting techniques
4.	Assess the risk and return of investment decisions

Contribution to the development of graduate attributes

This subject contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:

Intellectual rigour and innovative problem solving
Professional and technical Competence

This subject also contributes specifically to develop the following Program Learning Objective(s):

Integrate advanced skills and knowledge in professional business practice by researching and analysing complex information and concepts to support business decisions in local and international contexts (4.1)

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject is taught fully online. Each week is self-paced, with all material disseminated via the learning management system. Students are expected to complete a range of learning activities throughout the week, which provide opportunities to learn and apply the subject contents. Continual feedback is provided via the learning management system to guide students through these activities. Several online sessions are held to allow students to interact with staff and peers. During these sessions, students can ask questions and give and receive feedback.

Content (topics)

Overview of corporate finance
Financial statements and long-term financial planning
Valuation of future cash flows
Capital budgeting
Risk and return
Cost of capital and long-term financial policy
Short-term financial planning and management

Assessment

Assessment task 1: Industry Analysis (Individual)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1
Weight:	30%
Criteria:	Depth of analysis Meaningful application of the top-down approach Assessment of Porter 5 Forces Interpretation of the firm's financial statements Accurate interpretation of the firm's financial ratios and sensible inferences based on them

Assessment task 2: Financial Model (Individual)

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 1 and 2
Weight:	40%
Criteria:	Analysing the firm’s financial ratios and sensible inferences based on them Accurate valuation of financial assets using time value of money techniques Estimation of free cashflows and application of capital budgeting techniques Sound judgment in making an accept/reject decision based on the analysis Clear and concise report presenting the analysis and conclusions Estimating a reasonable WACC for the firm and justifying the estimate

Assessment task 3: Analyst Presentation (Individual)*

Objective(s):	This addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 3 and 4
Weight:	30%
Criteria:	Interpretation of capital budgeting techniques of the project Appropriate sensitivity analysis to assess the dependence of the analysis on assumptions Application of risk and return and evaluation of different types of asset classes that are suitable for the investment strategy Technical content and structure Professionalism of the analysis Quality of the presentation *Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero.

Objective(s):

This addresses subject learning objective(s):

2, 3 and 4

Weight:

30%

Criteria:

Interpretation of capital budgeting techniques of the project
Appropriate sensitivity analysis to assess the dependence of the analysis on assumptions
Application of risk and return and evaluation of different types of asset classes that are suitable for the investment strategy
Technical content and structure
Professionalism of the analysis
Quality of the presentation

*Note: Late submission of the assessment task will not be marked and awarded a mark of zero.

Minimum requirements

Students must achieve at least 50% of the subject’s total marks.