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Finance

a field of study that deals with the management of money

Corporate finance

the application of finance in the context of a corporation, where its main areas of concern are geared towards the fulfillment of its primary objective: to maximize shareholder wealth

Working capital
Capital budgeting
Capital structure,

3 main areas of corporate finance

Working capital,

which focuses on a company's day-to-day operating decisions and the utilization of its current assets and liabilities

Financial management

deals with the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of financial resources within a company

chief financial officer (CFO)

the executive responsible for overseeing and managing the accounting and financial activities of the company

treasurer

the manager responsible for overseeing financial activities such as financial planning, fund-raising, etc.

controller

the manager responsible for overseeing accounting activities, such as financial accounting, tax accounting, cost accounting, etc.

financial statement analysis (FSA)

is the analysis of a company's financial statements in order to assess and interpret certain areas of the company's financial health and performance

Vertical analysis (a.k.a. common-size analysis)
Horizontal analysis (a.k.a. trend analysis)
Financial ratio analysis

FSA can be categorized into three sub-techniques:

Vertical (or common-size) analysis

is an FSA technique wherein the relationship among financial statement items within the same financial statement (i.e., balance sheet or income statement) and same reporting period is expressed in percentage terms relative to a base figure, with the selec

Horizontal (or trend) analysis

-is an FSA technique wherein the year-on-year increase/decrease of financial statement items over several reporting periods is expressed in percentage terms:
-highlights the periodic growth of a company's assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses, a

Liquidity ratios

measure a company's ability to satisfy its short-term obligations

Leverage (or solvency/debt) ratios,

measure the extent to which a company utilizes debt

Coverage ratios

measure a company's ability to service its fixed, periodic payments for its long-term obligations

Efficiency (or activity) ratios

measures the level at which a company utilizes its working capital and assets in order to generate sales and cash inflows/outflows

Profitability ratios

measure a company's proficiency at generating earnings

current ratio

measures the ability of a company to satisfy its short-term obligations using its short-term assets

quick (or acid-test) ratio

measures the ability of a company to satisfy its short-term obligations using only its highly liquid short-term assets

cash ratio

measures the ability of a company to satisfy its shortterm obligations using only its extremely liquid, "good-as-cash" short-term assets

debt ratio

measures how much of a company's assets are funded by liabilities - whether trade or financing in nature

debt-to-equity ratio (D/E ratio),

measures the composition of a company's capital base

financial leverage (or equity) multiplier (FLM)

measures how much of a company's asset base is financed with equity

interest coverage (or times-interest-earned) ratio (ICR)

measures the company's ability to meet periodic interest payments

debt service coverage ratio (DSCR),

measures the company's ability to meet periodic interest and principal payments

accounts receivable turnover (ARTO)

measures the company's ability to collect cash from its receivables generated from sales

average collection period (or days sales outstanding) (ACP)

measures the company's ability to collect cash from its receivables generated from sales in terms of number of days

inventory turnover (ITO)

measures the company's ability to sell its inventory

average inventory days (or days sales in inventory) (AID)

measures the company's ability to sell its inventory in terms of number of days

accounts payable (APTO)

measures the company's ability to settle its accounts payable arising from inventory purchases

average payment period (or days payables outstanding) (APP),

measures the company's ability to settle its accounts payable arising from inventory purchases in terms of number of days

operating cycle

measures the length of time for a company to obtain and sell inventory, and collect on the related AR (i.e., complete an operating cycle) in terms of number of days

cash conversion cycle

measures the net length of time for a company to obtain and sell inventory, collect on the related AR, and release cash for inventory purchases in terms of number of days

asset turnover (ATO)

measures the company's ability to utilize its assets to generate sales

fixed asset turnover (FATO)

measures the company's ability to utilize its fixed assets to generate sales

working capital turnover (WCTO),

measures the company's ability to utilize its net working capital (i.e., current assets less current liabilities) to generate sales

gross profit margin (GPM)

measures the company's profitability after subtracting cost of goods sold,stated in % terms

EBITDA margin

measures the company's profitability after subtracting cost of goods sold and operating expenses (except depreciation and amortization), stated in % terms

EBIT (or operating) margin

measures the company's profitability after subtracting cost of goods sold and operating expenses,stated in % terms

EBT (or pre-tax) margin

measures the company's profitability after accounting for all operating and non-operating expenses and income (except income taxes),stated in % terms

net profit margin (NPM),

measures the company's profitability after accounting for all operating and non-operating expenses and income (including income taxes),stated in % terms

return on assets (ROA)

measures the company's ability to generate profits for each dollar of assets owned by the company, stated in % terms

return on invested capital (ROIC)

measures the company's ability to generate profits for each dollar borrowed by and invested in the company, stated in % terms

return on equity (ROE)

measures the company's ability to generate profits for each dollar invested in the company, stated in % terms

basic earnings per share (EPS)

measures the amount of profit attributable (after dividends to preferred equity) to each common share of the company