Finance & Investment Training
Finance and investment training courses introduce students to financial and investment concepts and terminology so they gain a basic understanding of how a business operates. Upon completion, students demonstrate the ability to define financial terms as well as compare and contrast stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Quizzes and exercises help test student mastery of the material. Online tests allow students to determine if they have the prerequisite knowledge to read, interpret and analyze financial statements. Additionally, students develop the skills and knowledge to invest in their personal financial future, such as participating in a 401(k) investment plan.
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Features
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Finance and investment training prepares business personnel to work within the financial services industry. Training provides foundational financial knowledge to business professionals so they can develop the skills they need to succeed in managing assets. Instruction typically features lectures and presentations on the relationship of the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow. Additional resources that accompany the training program typically include glossaries that define common terms and acronyms, such as COGS, cost of goods sold.
Types
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Training providers offer financial and investment training courses in several formats to support the learning styles and busy lifestyles of business professionals. Traditional classroom training offered by community colleges and universities, as well as self-paced and distance learning alternatives offered by corporate training organizations, give students different options. Online interactive lessons provide the drill and practice required to master financial and investment concepts. These lessons typically use audio and animation to introduce the basic concepts, such as the stock market, bond market and other investment options.
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Topics
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Core topics typically include accounting, financial reports, financial statement analysis, ratio analysis and investment analysis. Students learn when to use GAAP, generally accepted accounting principles, and IFRS, international financial reporting standards. Participants see examples of modeling discounted cash flow, a way to estimate the value of an investment opportunity, and leveraged buyout modeling as well as accretion/dilution modeling. Students learn tips and techniques using office tools, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.
Considerations
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Many professions require a basic understanding of finance and investment. Those who benefit from training include personnel who approve vendor or customer credit, project managers who create project budgets, customer service representatives, small business owners and investors. Blended learning solutions combined traditional classroom lectures with practical application exercises. These hands-on opportunities allow students to learn how to build financial and valuation models using spreadsheets and reusable templates. They also learn to link to external documents, such as Securities and Exchange Commission filings, to build comprehensive models.
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