Financial Management Syllabus Template — In-Person, Finance Majors
AACSB-aligned. Bloom's taxonomy mapped. A complete, customizable syllabus template you can adapt in an afternoon.
What's Inside the Template
Who This Template Is For
Designed for In-Person Delivery
Balances lecture and active learning with a flipped classroom option. Includes in-class problem sets, case discussion frameworks, and a paper-based exam strategy for clean academic integrity.
What makes this variant different
Topic sequence deliberately scaffolds toward upper-division readiness. Every week builds prerequisite skills for intermediate finance. Includes a flipped classroom variant for instructors who want maximum active learning.
16-Week Topic Schedule
Whether your institution calls it Financial Management, Basic Finance, Business Finance, Corporate Finance, Corporate Financial Management, or any of the 19+ common names for this course — this schedule covers the standard curriculum.
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
AACSB Alignment Guide
AACSB-accredited business schools are required to demonstrate Assurance of Learning (AoL) — evidence that students achieve the learning goals established by the program. For finance courses, this typically means mapping individual course learning objectives to broader program-level goals.
This template includes learning objectives pre-mapped to the most common AACSB learning goal categories: analytical thinking, ethical reasoning, application of knowledge, and communication. Each objective is tagged with its Bloom's taxonomy level, making it straightforward to demonstrate that your course assessments align with your institution's AoL requirements.
The 2020 AACSB standards emphasize competency-based learning and continuous improvement. This template supports both by providing measurable, action-verb objectives that can be directly assessed through the included assessment calendar.
Common Questions
Start With a Proven Structure
Don't build your syllabus from scratch. Download a complete, AACSB-aligned template and customize it for your course.