Harvard Business School Online

Strategic Financial Analysis Online Course

Who will Benefit

Senior Managers and Consultants

Use financial tools and metrics to inform strategic decision-making and drive business performance.

Analysts

Leverage financial statements and frameworks to assess strategy execution and compare organizations’ performance.

Aspiring Finance Professionals

Forecast financial success in the near and long term and recognize how companies’ accounting and finance policies impact performance.

Module 1

Identifying Strategic Drivers of Performance

Explain the relationship between strategy and financial reporting and analyze how accounting captures an organization's strategic decisions.

Concepts:

• Introduction to Strategic Financial Analysis
• Mapping Strategy into Financial Statements Using Netflix

Featured Exercise

• Map the connections between strategic decisions and impacts on financial metrics, including amortization changes and capital investments

Module 2

Assessing Strategy Execution

Use financial ratio analysis to identify corporate profitability drivers and benchmark company performance.

Concepts:

• Introduction to Assessing Strategy Execution
• Drivers of Profitability: Traditional DuPont
• Drivers of Profitability: Modified DuPont
• Reflecting Anticipated Strategic Changes in Financial Statements

Featured Exercise

• Conduct ratio analysis to compare performance across multiple companies

Module 3

Introduction to Forecasting

Formulate the forecasting process into distinct steps and forecast corporate performance from condensed balance sheets.

Concepts:

• Role of Forecasts
• Forecasting Company Performances
• Conducting Financial Statement Forecasts

Featured Exercise

• Perform a step-by-step financial statement forecast using modified DuPont ratios

Module 4

Valuation

Assess the pros and cons of different valuation methods, examine how to apply them in investing, and apply valuation theory and techniques to publicly traded companies’ valuations.

Concepts:

• Introduction to Business Valuation
• Mechanics of Valuation: Part I
• Mechanics of Valuation: Part II
• Analysis of Valuation

Featured Exercise

• Conduct valuation exercises using different methods, including abnormal earnings and discounted cash flow
• Use estimated valuation to determine an optimal investment strategy

Module 5

Mergers and Acquisitions

Identify potential synergies created by mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and multi-unit businesses, analyze the strategic value of potential M&A opportunities, and understand how to apply valuation in the M&A process.

Concepts:

• Introduction to Mergers and Acquisitions
• Pursuing a Mergers and Acquisition Strategy
• Valuing a Target
• Closing the Deal

Featured Exercise

• Value synergies in an M&A scenario
• Perform a standalone valuation analysis and a valuation analysis with synergies

Module 6

Applying Strategic Financial Analysis and Valuation

Explore the motivations behind and value created by business transformations and spinoffs, identify spinoff strategies, and gain insights into managing chief executive officer and chief financial officer relationships with investors and the financial community.

Concepts:

• Business Transformation Through Divestiture
• Transformation’s Impact on Market Perception
• What’s in the Price?

Featured Exercise

• Conduct a sum-of-the-parts analysis to understand a business spinoff’s viability
• Analyze the assumptions that justify changes to a company’s share price

Certificate of Completion

Boost your resume with a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online

Certificate of Specialization

Prove your mastery of finance and accounting

• 8 Weeks
• 5-6 hours per week
• 6 Modules
• Self-paced