THE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
FIN 241f
Financial Planning and Control
Spring 2014
Instructor: Rob Angell
Office: Sachar 1D
Office Hours: T/Th 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm and by appointment
Phone: 866-700-0894
E-mail Address:
Course Description:
This course examines financial planning methodologies and tools as well as financial control mechanisms. The types of planning and control methodologies will be studied via case studies using real-life examples. This class straddles the line between accounting and accounting-related matters and finance. Its general focus, however, is a financial one and financial objectives will drive the course work.
The course begins with the various forms of profit and cost centers. It examines how these centers may budget and recognize revenues and expenses during the fiscal year. The course will then examine the treatment of extraordinary events, operational control, and financial difficulties.
Who should take this course? Students concentrating in finance should take this course. This course provides a broad overview of basic financial processes that are essential to any company in the industry.
What are the pre-requisite courses and/or useful experience required for this course? Managerial Accounting should be a pre-requisite for this course. Students will optimize their learning if they have Corporate Finance in their background.
What skills will be developed in this course? After completing this course, students will have a grounding in planning and control. Also, students will understand what are sensible ways of planning and reporting financial results.
What are the basic requirements/workload? The class is not as quantitative as say Modeling I. However, student workload is expected to be higher than average because it is a case driven class. In exchange for this, those that do the work, participate and learn the material will be rewarded with better than average grades.
Course Reading:
This course is entirely based on case studies, as shown in the course schedule. These may be purchased directly from HBS at http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/access/1644066
Additional Materials/Cases: Available on LATTE
Course Requirements:
Students may work in groups of two or individually on case analyses. I must approve each group. All case analyses will be submitted electronically.
The final grade will be based on case analyses (80%) and class participation (20%). Lack of class participation and, for that matter, quality class participation will result in final class grade no higher than a B.
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person- be it a world-class philosopher or your lab partner - without proper acknowledgement of that source. This means that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the sources of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. Violations of university policies on academic integrity, described in Section 3 of Rights and Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, and could end in suspension from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, you must ask for clarification.
Notice: If you have a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and require accommodations, please contact Kate Goldfield () in Student Services and bring it to my attention immediately.
***The class schedule shown on the following pages is tentative and subject to change at the discretion of the instructor***
Course Schedule
CLASS
SESSION DATE LECTURE TOPIC AND ASSIGNMENT (Case Due)
1 1/13 Introduction/Profit-Cost Centers
· Introduction
· Profit and Cost Centers
· Profit Priorities
· Measurement of Costs
· Recognition of Overhead and General Costs
2 1/27 Budgeting and Control
· Creation of Capital and Operating Budget
· Financial Control
· Reporting and Tracking
(Case: Altex Aviation)
3 2/3 Revenue Recognition
· Industry-specific Standards
· Oversight
Outsourcing, Flexible Budgeting and Labor Efficiency
(Case: Compagnie du Froid)
4 2/10 Reserves/Extraordinary Items
· Reserves for contingencies
· Extraordinary items
· Banking reserves
(Cases: Kendall Square Research, Danshui Plant No. 2)
5 2/24 Cost and Contingency Treatment
· Cost Allocations
· Accuracy of Financial Reporting
(Case: First National Bank)
6 3/3 Cost Allocations
· Cost Structures
(Case: John Deere Component)
7 3/10 Risk and Uncertainty
· Dealing with uncertainty through real estate and financial options.
· Wrap-up
(Case: Tennessee Valley Authority: Option Purchase Agreements)