Contemporary Finance

The programme consists of five courses, and each of them will guide learners into a specific area in the world of contemporary finance.

In Course 1, we will cover basic finance concepts paying special attention to  their application to a wide variety of real business world situations. The course briefly presents contemporary financial theories and their applications to demonstrate the advanced implementation of corporate finance including financial forecasting, finance and investments, financing and corporate finance strategies and processes.

In Course 2, the lecturer will guide you to complete understanding of budgeting and costing. The course will be your introduction to the world of financial planning, decision-making, performance evaluation, and control of corporate performance delivery.

Course 3 is designed as an introductory course on financial reporting. We will focus on preparing and interpreting information in financial statements, as prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS. The course could be useful if you want to increase your knowledge about these areas.

In Course 4, you are going to learn how to deal with various questions which typically arise when corporate managers or private investors consider business opportunities and assess acceptability and efficiency of any kind of investment decisions they make. Investments is the central topic in business because investment activity allows companies to grow, to innovate and to generate wealth for its shareholders and indirectly for the entire community.

Course 5 provides a general overview of the complex ESG world. Upon completion of this course, you will be prepared for subsequent studies to gain a deeper understanding of each of the topics. You will discover the main concepts of ESG and relations with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, you will have an opportunity to explore the regulatory framework in ESG, reporting standards and framework, the range of ESG products, and ESG ratings. Finally, you will learn to read integrated, non-financial, sustainability or ESG reports and understand the logic and scores of ESG ratings.

The programme is taught online and includes recorded lectures, tests, and additional materials.

Course 1: “Introduction to the Topic of Finance Essentials”

Module 1. Corporate Financial System.

Module 2. What Makes Up Strategic Business Value?

Module 3. Sources and Purposes of Management Information.

Module 4. Financial Analysis. 

Module 5. Investments.

Course 2: “Performance Management and Decision-Making”

Module 1. Generally Used Costing Methods.

Module 2. Decision-Making and Relevant Costs.

Module 3. Budgeting.

Module 4. Variance Analysis.

Module 5. Performance Management.

Course 3: “Financial Accounting”

Module 1. The Financial-reporting System.

Module 2. Revenue and Expenses.

Module 3. Current Assets and Current Liabilities.

Module 4. Non-current Assets, Non-current Liabilities, and Equity: Part 1.

Module 5. Non-current Assets, Non-current Liabilities, and Equity: Part 2.

Module 6. Cash-flow Statement.

Course 4: “Investments and Valuation”

Module 1. The Basics of Investment Appraisal.

Module 2. Investment Appraisal: Practical Cases.

Module 3. Funding Sources.

Module 4. Cost of Equity and the WACC.

Module 5. Valuation.

Course 5: “ESG Finance”

Module 1. Basic Concepts of ESG.

Module 2. The Impacts of Supranational and National Agreements and Legislative Changes.

Module 3. ESG Finance Products, Valuation, Portfolio Selection Strategies.

Module 4. ESG Reporting Standards.

Module 5. ESG Rating Methodologies.

Upon completion of this programme you will know:

• the structure of the corporate financial system;
• how certain departments and teams can influence the company's financial results;
• the core concepts of performance management and decision-making;
• key approaches to financial planning;
• how budgeting works;
• what constitutes the system of financial reporting;
• the main basic and advanced financial concepts which are applied by market participants across different countries and industries;
• the main concepts of ESG and relations with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

Upon completion of this programme you will be able to:

• apply various costing methods;
• prepare budgeting;
• apply variance analysis;
• recognize revenue and expenses under accrual accounting and revenue under IFRS 15;
• prepare a statement of cash flows;
• assess acceptability and efficiency of any kind of investment decisions they take;
• navigate through the regulatory framework in ESG.

Upon completion of this programme you will master the following skills:

• processing financial documentation;
• effective communication with the financial departments;
• interpretation of items in the financial statements;
• calculation and presentation of cash flows;
• assessment of the cost of equity and debt financing and, consequently, the weighted average cost of capital;
• application ESG concepts and approaches in financial activities.