FIN W8D

REVIEW AND APPLY

Please respond to the following discussion topic. Your initial post should be a minimum of 300 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students’ posts. Do not write in 3rd person.
Consider all that you have learned in this course. How can you apply what you have learned? Look at the financial statements or perform basic research on your current or previous employer. What can you deduce about their financial standing that you would not have known before taking this class?

Lynwood Owens 

Class,
Starting from the beginning of the Finance course, I’ve learned that there are a lot of moving pieces in finance. Week one ask us the level of knowledge and how much do we know about it. My response was not much or none. Week two had discussion about financial analysis. In my understanding of it, I assumed it was about breaking down how much money goes into a project or how do companies finance their business(s). Crunching numbers are not my primary duties; however, I know eventually I will be involved in a financial setting. Week three, help me to understand the time value of money and how it has advantages and disadvantages of equipment.
I used my example of this when I used to work in a textile company years ago. Once I read and understood the values, I could easily relate to the functions of time value and how to determine the value of the life of equipment. Retirement is a big deal to be because now is the right time to start for retirement. Sometimes we lack to ask the critical questions of how to properly invest and what to invest in. I plan to retire and keep working, but not as hard as long as I’m currently doing now. Retirement is a key movement for anyone, and especially those who are just starting to build their portfolio. Week four enlighten me on  taking calculated and necessary risks with earned equity and capital. Week five opened my eyes to the cost of capital and capital budgeting.
Now I have a good understanding of how companies use their equity and debt ratios as leverage. There are advantages and disadvantage on both sides. I believe it depends on the status of the company. Week six  is what I do daily. Decision making was instill in us because of the nature of the military. My training will forever be in my thoughts and action. I will use it in my future endeavors. Week seven opened my eyes in how a company balance themselves with finance. You must understand how to balance your company and know how to use different avenues of approach when supporting your investor and other significant participants of your company.  MY current employer uses a working budget that can be flexible through the physical year. I can never fully understand how the military analyze their budget with so money is spent on thing that most of the military community will never see.

LuGene Ryan

I have picked up a lot of important concepts and gained a lot of knowledge on various concepts related to finance in this course. Some of the important concepts include ratio analysis and capital budgeting methods. Ratio analysis helps in analyzing the company’s financial statements and provides a perspective on how well or otherwise the company is doing. Ratios can be compared either year on year or with the industry averages to figure out the company’s performance over a period of time or as compared to its peers. This provides a useful insight into the weaknesses and strengths and the management can act accordingly.I shall apply ratio analysis when investing in any stock in the future. It will help me analyze the company better and take the right decision whether to invest in it or not.
The second important concept is capital budgeting which helps the management take the right decision whether to invest in a project or not. I can apply this is my career and even in my personal life when choosing investments. The net present value method particularly is of great use since it helps understand the actual value added by a project in absolute terms if accepted. 
Since I have had no corporate working experience, I choose to do this discussion on the company I have selected for studying in this course, which is Pepsico Inc. I notice the company has had a struggle with managing debt which has been on the higher side since years now. This is something I deduce through application of ratio analysis which would otherwise be unknown to me before this class.
References

Capital Budgeting

https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/ratio-analysis.html