Customer Reviews

Principles of Finance with Excel: Includes CD

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a university teacher of strategic corporate finance and optimal investment, I have watched the financial industry analytics transcend hand calculation with financial calculators to financial modeling with spreadsheet software. Depending on whether the financial specialty is in corporate or banking/brokerage, the job skills requirement can range from corporate cost control to optimal portfolio design. In watching the analytics development within the financial industry, I have repeatedly witnessed students with financial modeling skills obtain jobs that are typically reserved for specialists holding advanced degrees or having multiple years of experience.

My course design typically takes the form of a strategic analysis class in either corporate financial planning or investment issues. Optimal corporate financing affects optimal investments. Additionally, since my research interests are in international corporate finance, global finance themes surface in most lectures. In corporate finance, raising funds on favorable terms and then allocating those funds efficiently among various projects are decisions made by every company financial officer-in every country; in investment, fund managers face global choices. Thus, business is no longer exclusively domestic ventures. It is because of this that I would like to see a global analysis chapter added in the next revision of both of Dr. Benninga's textbooks. Business, and the financing of business, is global-even at the principles level.

Statement: There is not an employer on the planet who will care that you can solve a time-value-of-money problem using a hand-held calculator. Real world financial applications require spreadsheet analysis.

CORPORATE:
Companies are increasingly requiring sophisticated modeling skills from financial specialists. Logic in today's business environment calls for constant surveillance of possible global funding sources in an optimal growth strategy. There is no better way to do this than through financial modeling using the business spreadsheet standard-Excel.

With the skills developed in studying advanced business analytics in Dr. Benninga's textbooks, a businessperson can develop "what-if" scenarios analyzing the effects to a business in a change in any economic or financial element. The gain from being able to complete a model forecasting company strategy and financials is being able to increase efficiency in business operations. This efficiency comes from being able to analyze the events that affect business, either favorably or unfavorably, and then adjust operations and project financing appropriately. Company growth is directly affected by this ability to adjust operations. Growth at any level requires capital: Either capital in the form of machinery or capital in the form of money in order to purchase machinery. Being able to forecast company strategy and financials allows company flexibility in growth planning and budget. Optimal strategy realizes that the only growth that matters is growth that adds value to the company. It is the ability to strategically design growth that is driving the demand for Excel modeling skills by companies. Begin developing your financial modeling skills by purchasing this book; extend your beginning level skills by studying Dr. Benninga's textbook, Financial Modeling (2e), (see my review). It has advanced financial modeling.

Table of Contents: Principles of Finance with Excel
Chapter 1: Introduction to Finance
Chapter 2: Business Organization and Taxes
Chapter 3: An Accounting Primer
Chapter 4: Cash Management With Excel
Chapter 5: The Time Value of Money
Chapter 6: What Does It Cost? Applications of the Time Value of Money
Chapter 7: Introduction to Capital Budgeting
Chapter 8: Issues in Capital Budgeting
Chapter 9: Choosing a Discount Rate
Chapter 10: Using Financial Planning Models for Valuation
Chapter 11: What Is Risk?
Chapter 12: Statistics for Portfolios
Chapter 13: Portfolio Returns and the Efficient Frontier
Chapter 14: The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Security Market Line (SML)
Chapter 15: Using the Security Market Line (SML) to Measure Investment Performance
Chapter 16: The Security Market Line (SML) and the Cost of Capital
Chapter 17: Efficient Markets-Some General Principles of Security Valuation
Chapter 18: Bond Valuation
Chapter 19: Valuing Stocks
Chapter 20: Capital Structure and the Value of a Firm
Chapter 21: The Evidence on Capital Structure
Chapter 22: Dividend Policy
Chapter 23: Introduction to Options
Chapter 24: Option Pricing Facts
Chapter 25: Option Pricing-The Black-Scholes Formula
Chapter 26: The Binominal Option Pricing Model

Finally, the last section, Part 7, has eight chapters on Excel features that are especially useful in business applications.

This is really a great book. It's written in a way that's easy to understand, it does a good job of relating Excel to the financial topics, and the cd that comes with it is nice; seeing as it has all of the spreadsheets discussed in the book and answers / templates to the problem sets.

One big problem with it though, (and let me stress the BIG) is that there are way too many errors in it. While the errors in the actual book are few; there are many errors in the answers to the problems at the end of the chapters. This has become very frustrating to me since I'm basically learning from the book on my own and don't really have anyone to help when an error in a problem's answer stops me from fully understanding it.

Bottom line this is a great book and if you have a good teacher to help you along then there shouldn't be too many problems. I would definitely give it a 5 if it wasn't for all the errors on the CD.

With an undergraduate degree in economics and two years of working experience in Wall St, you can say that I had the chance to read quite a few finance books. I find Principles of Finance with Excel to be hands-down the best Intro-Finance book of them all. Not only does it explains the finance topics very clearly, it teaches you how to apply this knowledge in Excel. This is by far, in my opinion, the best way to learn finance. Furthermore, since solutions to the exercises are included on the CD, this book is perfect to the self-motivated reader. Lost or stolen, I would purchase this book again.

Overall a good book but the exercises and CD solutions are full of errors. For example: A question will state a 7% interest rate and a 4 year repayment but the solution CD will be solved at 8% for six years. Excel formulas used incorrectly (using blank spaces rather than zeros in NPV/IRR data ranges). Fudged numbers in the chapter on financial statements--multiple errors were used to offset each other to give the right answer. Should have found a better grad student proof-reader.

This book is clear, concise, easy to follow, and solidly covers the fundamentals of finance. The excel portions are equally impressive, and the practical applications are clear. However, the examples and especially the solutions on the enclosed CD are riddled with mistakes and transcription errors. Frankly, I get the impression that the examples on the CD were put together by on of Benninga's less than stellar students. Three or four mistakes per exercise problem is what I found to be typical. Most of the errors are rather obvious, like saying months when they mean years, the examples in the book having different values than the corresponding problem on the CD, etc., but many of the problems are incorrectly solved as well. In at least one instance, they show the solution to an earlier problem instead of the problem they are supposed to be solving. There is also occasional bad grammer: "Note that the inflation series is not a trivial to put together"

All in all, the text isn't bad, and I've learned a lot from working through it. I just wish more time had been spent checking his work.

This book is the 2nd best thing after the heavy Finance book you'll have to go through during your 1st year as an MBA. I regret not having the time to REALLY discover this book: I would have smoked finanace rather than simply survived it.

This book lucidly explains all the major concepts of finance (NPV, WACC, beta, DCF, etc) through the lens of excel. Being that you will be using excel to crunch numbers at your workplace, this book makes a ton of sense.

Well done -- I look forward to the author's next book.

This book is by far the best book for introducing students to Finance and Excel. Doctor Benninga is in my opinion one of the best authors out there and he has again gracefully managed to publish a book that will become a classic just like his previous work Financial Modeling. I've had the opportunity to teach some classes of corporate finance and this book is an excellent introductory into the field of finance and the use of excel. In this book the student is able to learn everything from simple calculations of present value all the way up to valuing options. I fully recommend this book to anyone seeking to learn about finance or excel applied to finance. A most have definitely!

I wish we had used this book in my financial management class. Unlike most textbooks this one is not dry and tedious; it's actually very readable and practical. If you do most of the excercises and take advantage of the CD, you will gain a real understanding of finance. And as a bonus you can also develop some useful excel skills. Who uses a financial calculator at work? I wanted a finance book that relied heavily on excel. I didn't see many out there, surprisingly. I'm glad I picked this one up. It's a keeper!

No questins about this. This is the best Finance book I have ever had. Easy, simple, everything is explained in such an easy way that even if you have no idea about Finance, you will get it. The graphics for Excel talk by themselves. I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in the financial area, either at beginers or higher level. Best book by far!

This is the best book I have adopted in this area of finance. There have been several books attempting to incorporate or integrate Excel in Corporate Finance and Investments. This book is the first one that comprehensively covers most finance subjects at the introductory level fully utilizing Excel. I find that there is a smooth linkage between finance and Excel in this book.