The Financial Management Syllabus Template Kit
AACSB-aligned. Bloom's taxonomy mapped. Ready to customize in an afternoon. Available for in-person, online, and hybrid delivery.
Whether your institution calls it Financial Management, Basic Finance, Business Finance, Corporate Finance, Corporate Financial Management, Corporation Finance, or any of the 19+ common names for this course — this template covers the standard curriculum.
What Every Financial Management Syllabus Needs
A well-designed financial management syllabus does more than list topics and due dates. It establishes the learning contract between instructor and student, communicates expectations, and creates a framework for achieving measurable learning outcomes. Following the principles of backward design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), effective syllabus construction begins with the end: what should students be able to do when they complete this course?
The essential components include: a clear course description that positions the class within the broader curriculum, learning outcomes aligned with both Bloom's taxonomy and institutional AACSB goals, a detailed topic schedule with session-by-session progression, an assessment strategy that measures each stated outcome, academic integrity policies appropriate to the delivery format, and a curated list of required and recommended materials.
For finance courses specifically, the syllabus must address the quantitative scaffolding problem: later topics (capital investment decisions, valuation, cost of capital) depend heavily on earlier concepts (financial statements, time value of money, growth). A misordered sequence creates compounding confusion. The 16-week schedule in this template builds each concept on the previous one, with a midterm break that separates foundational analysis from investment decision-making.
16-Week Topic Schedule
A proven sequence that scaffolds quantitative concepts. Each week builds on the last.
Issues in Financial Management
Role of finance, financial goals, forms of business organization, the agency problem
Financial Statements
Balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, common sizing
Financial Ratio Analysis
Debt ratios, income ratios, market value ratios, DuPont analysis
Growth
External financing needed, stages of growth, sustainable growth rate
Time Value of Money
Present value, future value, compounding, discounting, annuities, perpetuities
Time Value of Money — Applications
Uneven cash flows, loan amortization, DCF applications
Midterm Review & Exam
Comprehensive review of weeks 1-6
Capital Investment Decisions
Capital budgeting, NPV, payback period, internal rate of return, secondary tools
Capital Investment Decisions — Applications
Incremental cash flows, depreciation, working capital, project analysis
Bond Valuation
Bond characteristics, bond fundamentals, yield to maturity, interest rate risk
Stock Valuation
Valuing stocks, dividend discount model, stock markets, market efficiency
Risk, Return & Diversification
Historical returns, expected return, standard deviation, systematic vs. unsystematic risk, diversification
Beta, SML & CAPM
Beta, security market line, capital asset pricing model, portfolio theory
Cost of Capital
Weighted average cost of capital, cost of equity, cost of debt, applying WACC
Review & Integration
Connecting capital budgeting, valuation, risk, and cost of capital in a unified framework
Final Review & Exam
Comprehensive review of all course material
Sample Learning Objectives — Bloom's Taxonomy Aligned
Each objective uses a measurable action verb at a specific cognitive level. Adjust the verb and scope to match your institution's AACSB learning goals.
How to Align Your Finance Syllabus With AACSB Standards
AACSB-accredited business schools must demonstrate Assurance of Learning (AoL) — systematic evidence that students achieve the program's learning goals. For individual finance courses, this means each learning objective should map to at least one program-level goal.
The 2020 AACSB standards emphasize competency-based outcomes and continuous improvement. Rather than prescribing specific content, they require schools to define their own learning goals and prove that curricula achieve them. This template supports that process by providing objectives already tagged with Bloom's taxonomy levels, making it straightforward to demonstrate alignment between course-level assessments and program-level AoL requirements.
Common AACSB learning goal categories for finance programs include: analytical thinking and problem solving, ethical understanding and reasoning, knowledge application in finance, and effective communication. The template's learning objectives span all four categories across the Remember through Create cognitive spectrum.
Textbook Pairings
This syllabus template works with any standard financial management textbook.
Blended Teaching: Financial Management
Cline, Pennathur & Robinson — Blended Teaching
For instructors who want to flip the classroom. Studio-produced video lectures handle the fundamentals so class time can focus on application, discussion, and real-world problem solving.
Principles of Corporate Finance
Brealey, Myers & Allen — 14th Edition, McGraw-Hill
The gold standard for rigorous programs. Excellent for finance majors.
Corporate Finance
Berk & DeMarzo — 6th Edition, Pearson
Strong on real-world applications. Good for mixed-major sections.
Fundamentals of Corporate Finance
Ross, Westerfield & Jordan — 13th Edition, McGraw-Hill
Accessible writing. Popular for intro-level courses.
Foundations of Finance
Keown, Martin & Petty — 11th Edition, Pearson
Clear explanations. Well-suited for non-majors and community colleges.
Looking for a complete online course, not just a syllabus?
Get a ready-to-teach asynchronous Financial Management course with 21 hours of video lectures, auto-graded quizzes, and progress tracking.
Find Your Template
Choose the variant that matches your delivery format and student audience.
2000-Level
3000-Level
More variants coming soon — hybrid, synchronous online, and additional audience configurations.