Free ebook on corporate finance fundamentals: cash flow, valuation, financing, capital budgeting, risk, and company value.
Free ebook content
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: What Corporate Finance Managers Decide
+ Exercise: A company wants to fund a new product line. Which action best reflects an investing decision rather than a financing or payout decision?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Reading Financial Statements for Decisions
+ Exercise: A company reports positive net income, but operating cash flow is much lower (or even negative). Based on the statement links, what is the most likely explanation?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Cash Flow, Working Capital, and Liquidity Management
+ Exercise: A company reports higher sales in Q2, but cash is tight. AR increases by $250,000, inventory decreases by $80,000, and AP increases by $60,000. What is the net cash impact of these working capital changes on operating cash flow in Q2?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Time Value of Money and Discounting Cash Flows
+ Exercise: A company expects uneven cash inflows at the end of Years 1–4 and wants to value them in today’s dollars using a required return. Which approach is most appropriate to compute the total present value?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Risk and Return in Business Decisions
+ Exercise: Two projects have similar expected profits, but one has a much wider range of possible outcomes (including worse results). According to risk-and-return logic, what should management typically do when evaluating the riskier project?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Valuation Basics—What a Company Is Worth and Why
+ Exercise: When a valuation uses EV/EBITDA to estimate enterprise value, what is the correct next step to estimate equity value for the company?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Raising Money—Debt, Equity, and the Cost of Capital
+ Exercise: A company is deciding how to finance a new project with uncertain cash flows and a strong need for flexibility during downturns. Which financing choice best matches these conditions?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Capital Budgeting—Choosing Projects That Create Value
+ Exercise: A project has a payback period under management’s cutoff, but its NPV is negative at the appropriate discount rate. What is the best interpretation of these results?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Financial Leverage, Capital Structure, and Solvency
+ Exercise: A company’s operating profit (EBIT) drops sharply, but its interest payments stay the same. What is the most likely effect of higher financial leverage in this situation?
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Corporate Finance Fundamentals: Returning Value to Owners—Dividends, Buybacks, and Reinvestment
+ Exercise: In the scenario, why is keeping the dividend flat while making buybacks opportunistic a sensible payout mix?
About the free ebook
Corporate Finance Fundamentals: How Companies Manage Money
This free ebook explains how corporate finance turns financial information into practical business decisions. Learn how finance leaders assess performance, protect liquidity, fund operations and growth, and allocate capital where it can create the most value.
Make stronger financial decisions
Corporate finance connects everyday choices with long-term company value. The ebook introduces the core tools used to evaluate cash flows, compare financing alternatives, estimate risk, and judge whether an investment is worthwhile.
- Financial statements: use key reports to support management decisions.
- Cash and working capital: understand liquidity, operating cash needs, and short-term financial health.
- Time value and valuation: discount future cash flows and interpret what a business or project may be worth.
- Funding and capital structure: compare debt, equity, leverage, and cost of capital.
- Capital allocation: evaluate projects, reinvestment, dividends, and share buybacks.
Apply the CFO toolkit
Rather than treating finance as a set of isolated formulas, this ebook shows how financial decisions interact. A project’s expected return depends on risk and financing; growth can improve value but may strain cash; and shareholder distributions must be weighed against reinvestment opportunities.
Built for practical business analysis
Use the concepts to ask clearer questions about profitability, solvency, investment choices, and business value. By the end, you will have a structured foundation for interpreting the financial trade-offs companies face and communicating them with greater confidence.
How do companies use discounted cash flow in capital budgeting?
They discount expected project cash flows to present value and compare that value with the project’s cost.
What is the difference between debt financing and equity financing?
Debt requires repayment and interest, while equity raises capital by giving investors an ownership stake.
Why is working capital important for a company?
Working capital helps a company pay short-term obligations and keep daily operations running smoothly.
This ebook includes:
11 content chapters
Digital certificate of course completion (Free)
Exercises to train your knowledge
100% free, from content to certificate
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