This web page provides access to free training courses. There are two types of courses: 1) Quick short courses on the left side of the web page and 2) Formal online training courses on the right side of the web page.
The courses listed below are simple and fast - just download the file: Read and Learn. Supplemental materials that compliment many of the courses are also linked below.
Evaluating Financial Performance
This course provides a clear and concise
overview of specific ratios that are used to measure financial
performance. Performance areas covered include liquidity, asset
management, profitability, leverage, market value ratios, and
comparative analysis. The objective of the course is to provide the
user with ratios that can be useful in measuring and monitoring
financial performance in conjunction with a set of financial
statements
PDF Version | Spreadsheet Model
Financial Planning and Forecasting
This course outlines the process for
effective financial planning, including where to start, what types
of budgets to prepare, and how to make budgeting a value-added
activity. The objective of the course is to provide guidance for the
user on how to do financial planning.
PDF Version | Developing Financial Projections
Capital Budgeting Analysis
This course is designed for users with a working
knowledge of capital budgeting who want to improve their current
practices. The course focuses on three stages of capital budgeting
analysis. The purpose of the course is to introduce new concepts and
ideas that will improve capital budgeting; such as option pricing
and post audit analysis.
PDF Version | Spreadsheet Model
Managing Cash Flow
This course provides a concise overview of concepts related to the
management of cash flows. Some of the principles taught in this
course include measurement of cash flow cycles, cash flow
forecasting, and short-term financing. The purpose of this course is
to introduce principles and practices related to managing cash
flows.
PDF Version |
The Management of Capital
This course provides an overview of concepts
related to how to manage the capital of a company. Course
content includes the calculation of cost of capital, how to select
the right mix of capital, and how financial markets work in raising
capital.
PDF Version |
Mergers and Acquisitions - Part 1 of 2
This course is the first part of a
two part course covering the merger and acquisition process. Part 1
describes the overall process, types of mergers, the legal process,
important federal regulations, and due diligence. The purpose of the
course is to provide the user with a solid understanding of how the
merger and acquisition process works.
PDF Version |
Mergers and Acquistions - Part 2 of 2
This course is the second part of a
two part course covering the merger and acquisition process. Part 2
describes valuation concepts, financial analysis, the valuation
process, post merger integration, and anti-takeover
defenses. The purpose of the course is to provide the user with a
solid understanding of how the merger and acquisition process works.
PDF Version |
Value Based Management
This course describes how traditional accounting and financial functions can create higher
market values for a business. Course content includes specific
measures for creating and measuring value, such as Economic Value
Added and Residual Cash Flow.
PDF Version |
Strategic Planning
This course provides an overall understanding of how to do
a strategic plan. The course outlines the entire strategic planning
process. The purpose of the course is to teach participants how the
strategic planning process works.
PDF Version | Assessment Spreadsheet | Strategic Planning Model |
Strategic Planning Manual
The Balanced Scorecard
This course provides a step by
step guide on how to build a balanced scorecard. The course
describes the development process and includes examples of actual
balanced scorecards.
PDF Version | Excel Templates | White Paper
Competitive Intelligence - Part 1 of 2
This course provides a basic overview of how competitive intelligence works, including analytical techniques and counter-intelligence. The course describes specific methods for conducting competitive intelligence.
PDF Version | Power Point
Competitive Intelligence - Part 2 of 2
This course provides more in-depth coverage on competitive intelligence with an emphasis on analytical models used by CI Professionals. The course also provides an overview of CI Systems and pulls all concepts together by presenting some short case studies.
PDF Version|
Going Public
This course provides an outline to how a private company goes public
through an Initial Public Offering or IPO. The course describes
different phases and critical issues that a company must address for
a successful IPO.
PDF Version | Timeline |
Survival Guide | Officer Questions | IPO Outline |
Prospectus Example | SEC Handbook
Creating Value for Non Profits and NGO's
This course introduces managers and other professionals working in the nonprofit
sector to Value Based Management. The course attempts to establish a
common framework for how nonprofit's and non-governmental
organizations can apply Value Based Management in such areas as
Strategic Planning, Resource Development, Leadership, and Performance Measurement.
PDF Version | Logic Model Handbook |
Social Entrepreneurship |
Process Improvement
This course provides an overview of various tools and techniques you can use for improving a process. A brief introduction on Capability Maturity Models, Six Sigma and Lean is included as part of this short course.
PDF Version | Power Point
Leadership
This course compiles some of the best thinking on leadership, outlining a framework for developing and measuring leadership effectiveness.
PDF Version |
Managing Projects
This course provides a good overall understanding of how to manage projects. The course includes an overview of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) developed by the Project Management Institute. The course also includes a quick outline on Earned Value Management and touches on a few advanced topics such as Enterprise Architecture.
PDF Version| PM Primer | PM Workbook | PM Tool Kit
The courses listed below provide a more complete learning experience. Course content is organized similar to a condensed textbook on the topic. Course length is approximately 50 pages. The text content is supplemented with several features such as linked examples, mouse-over explanation boxes, and audio / video files. Many of the courses include a Study Workbook to help ensure that all course content is fully understood.
Each page of the course has a tree menu for navigating the entire course. There are icons for help information, printing, and moving from page to page. A progress bar appears at the top of the page to indicate overall progress within the course. A course glossary appears at the end of each course.
The Basics of Accounting
The purpose of this course is to provide a basic understanding of accounting. This course explains how accounting transactions get posted and reported within an accounting system. This includes the preparation of financial statements from a set of transactions. The course also illustrates the application of several accounting principles such as deferred revenues, accounting for taxes, gains and losses, depreciation, inventories, and accounting for changes.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Introduction to Financial Analysis
This course explains how to analyze the financial performance of a company. The course covers basic concepts of analysis such as ratio analysis as well as how to apply key financial indicators such as Return on Investment and Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation Amortization (EBITDA). The course also touches on several key concepts in finance such as Forecasting and Cost of Capital.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Corporate Finance - Part 1 of 2
This course covers certain topics related to business finance, such as how to forecast and budget for the next year, how to finance the business and how to manage cash, receivables, and inventories. This course is part 1 of a two-part course that provides a solid understanding of corporate finance.
This course is designed for anyone who needs a good understanding of business finance especially in regards to how to finance the business and manage working capital.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Corporate Finance - Part 2 of 2
This is a continuation of Course 3 on Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, providing the participant with a good overall understanding of business finance. This course explains how finance measures value in terms of future and present values. The course also risk and return concepts, outlines how investments are evaluated, and explains techniques for managing the capital structure of a company.
This course is designed for anyone seeking a good overall understanding of business finance including the application of concepts to long-term investments.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Risk Management
This course explains the risk management process including how to categorize and rate a risk event. This course explains each step in the process as well as an overall framework such as Enterprise Risk Management or ERM. This is a very good course for anyone new to the area of risk management.
Course Home Page | Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Decision Making and Problem Solving
This is an introductory level course on problem solving and decision making. The course describes several approaches to problem solving and highlights some of the more common tools used for decision making. The course also describes the qualities behind critical and creative thinking. Explanations are provided on how to assess and increase critical and creative thinking. A "whole brain" model is illustrated on the full range of thinking styles.
The course consists of three main chapters: Chapter 1 - Overall Frameworks (processes, tools, feasibility studies), Chapter 2 - Thinking Process (Left Brain vs. Right Brain, Whole Brain, Collaboration Tools), and Chapter 3 - Decision Making Tools (affinity diagrams, force field analysis, storyboarding). The course is designed for anyone wanting to improve their effectiveness with solving problems.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Analytical Tools and Techniques
This is an introductory course to help professionals apply a wide range of analytical tools and techniques to different business situations. The course covers three major types of analytical tools: Strategic Tools, Customer Tools, and Data Analysis Tools. Some of the tools discussed include the GE Business Screen Matrix and Porter's Five Forces Model for strategic business analysis, the Kano Model and Buyer Utility Maps for customer analysis, and correlation and regression analysis for data analysis.
This course is of particular importance to professionals who must conduct competitive analysis or customer analysis, such as marketing analyst. This course builds on the previous course, Problem Solving which introduced a few analytical techniques. The combination of these two courses (problem solving + analytical tools) should provide anyone with solid skills for analyzing and solving most business problems.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Developing Requirements
This is an introductory level course explaining how to develop a set of requirements. Requirements represent a critical phase of a project since requirements drive your design and development work. Getting your requirements right can be very challenging and there is a process you must follow to properly document and communicate requirements. This course describes the end to end process for developing a good set of requirements, thereby ensuring project success.
The course is designed for anyone who must document a set of requirements, such as a Business Analyst or Requirements Analyst who must document user requirements for a new software application.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
Process Modeling
This is an introductory level course on how to model a process or system. The course discusses in detail two important standards: Unified Modeling Language and Business Process Modeling Notation. The course also touches on higher level models such as Enterprise Architecture and System Dynamics. The course is designed for professionals who need to document models as part of developmental projects. The overall purpose of the course is to equip professionals with the knowledge they need to model a process or system using a common set of standards.
Course Home Page| Learning Objectives by Chapter|
You can also watch video summaries for most of the courses:
Basics of Accounting
Introduction to Financial Analysis
Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Part 1
Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Part 2
Risk Management
Problem Solving and Decision Making
Analytical Tools and Techniques
NOTE: All courses are offered for free without any Certificate of Completion. See Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.
