Investment Appraisal Mastery

Tags: Investing

Become a PRO at Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting including the Net Present Value & Beyond | Finance Fundamentals

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.8

- Learn the best investment appraisal techniques
- what they are
- how to compute them
- and when to use which.
- Easily appraise (evaluate) investment opportunities using the NPV
- IRR
- Payback
- ARR
- and Profitability Index tools
- Use the best tool for each setting
- given a solid understanding of the core strengths and limitations of each tool.

What you'll learn

Learn the best investment appraisal techniques
what they are
how to compute them
and when to use which.
Easily appraise (evaluate) investment opportunities using the NPV
IRR
Payback
ARR
and Profitability Index tools
Use the best tool for each setting
given a solid understanding of the core strengths and limitations of each tool.
Make computations using calculators as well as Excel (or other spreadsheets). No need to take another Excel course!

* Requirements

* No prior knowledge required. We start from the very basics. And build you to an Investment Appraisal Pro.
* It's okay if math freaks you out. Seriously. Every single equation is explained one variable at a time. We rip it apart to its core
* and show you how simple it really is.
* You'll need a calculator; a pen and paper would be useful.

Description

Gain command over the core skills you need to invest in anything – and do it well thanks to rock solid Finance Fundamentals. Change the way you look at money and investments by mastering one of the most versatile concepts in Finance. Identify the right investment opportunity and avoid making bad investment decisions by becoming an Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting PRO.

With no prior knowledge required, and a curriculum designed for distinction, this is the only course you'll need to truly master the most vital investment appraisal / capital budgeting tools and ensuring you have a solid foundation in core finance fundamentals including:

  • Net Present Value (NPV)

  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

  • Payback Period

  • Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)

  • Profitability Index (PI).

DESIGNED FOR DISTINCTION

We've used the same tried and tested, proven to work teaching techniques that've helped our clients ace their exams and become chartered certified accountants, get hired by the most renowned investment banks in the world, and indeed, manage their own investment appraisal / capital budgeting process. Here's how we'll help you master one of the most powerful Finance Fundamentals / capital budgeting concepts and turn you into an Investment Appraisal PRO:

A Solid Foundation

You’ll gain a solid foundation of the core finance fundamentals that drive the entire investment appraisal / capital budgeting process.

Example Walkthroughs

Every major concept is taught with example question walkthroughs, so you can literally see how we evaluate investments from scratch.

Loads of Helpful Practice Activities

Apply what you learn immediately with 65 practice questions, all with impeccably detailed solutions.

Proofs & Resources

Mathematical proofs, engaging study materials, capital budgeting discount factor tables with built-in how-to guides – all included.


6 SECTIONS TO MASTERY

Use our structured learning path, or dive right in to a specific capital budgeting concept you’re struggling with.

Introduction & The Fundamentals

  • Get the basics and core finance and capital budgeting fundamentals right, first time – so you learn once and retain it forever.

  • Explore why certain investments look great, but aren’t so in reality.

  • Discover the power of the time value of money and discounting cashflows from scratch.

Net Present Value (NPV)

  • See why companies around the world rely on this capital budgeting technique when investing billions.

  • Understand the powerful logic and intuition behind one of the most versatile capital budgeting techniques.

  • Compute the NPV of projects from scratch, manually as well as on Excel®.

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

  • Understand the powerful relationship between the IRR and cost of capital.

  • Learn how to estimate the IRR from scratch, including by interpolation.

  • Explore Excel’s RATE and IRR functions and know which one to use when.

Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)

  • See why simplicity isn’t always useful, and why it can be dangerous.

  • Explore the limitations of one of the most popular capital budgeting techniques.

  • Make better decisions by distinguishing between profit and cashflows.

Payback & Discounted Payback

  • Discover what makes this the easiest capital budgeting techniques out there.

  • Learn how to estimate when you’ll make back your initial investment.

  • Understand how the time value of money can change your payback period.

Profitability Index (PI)

  • How do you choose between 2 great opportunities when your funds are limited?

  • Explore why the Profitably Index is probably the most useful capital budgeting technique.

  • Forget about mechanical learning – understand the intuition behind the formula and the finance fundamentals that drive the logic behind it.


Make Better Investment Decisions by mastering Capital Budgeting, Starting Today.

Use our structured learning path to master capital budgeting. Designed for distinction.

Focus on what really matters.

Engage with carefully thought out, clutter-free, and engaging capital budgeting study materials that focus on the 20% finance fundamentals that drive 80% of the results.

Retain your knowledge forever by easily following through complex concepts with great visuals that don’t overdo it.

Explore why investment appraisal / capital budgeting techniques work the way they do, instead of memorising formulas without understanding them.

There really always is a reason for everything.

Feel your confidence rise.

Apply what you learn immediately in example capital budgeting question walkthroughs and progressively challenging quizzes with impeccably detailed solutions.

Engage with over 65 questions ranging from simple true and false ones to more complex problems that take you outside your comfort zone.

All capital budgeting questions are relevant for Ivy League / Russell Group University students as well as professionals studying for the ICAEW CFAB, ACA, ACCA, and CFA qualifications.

All questions designed in-house, by Professional Tutors with Russell Group Distinctions.

See how & why  the equations work.

Learn why we divide some variables by something, and multiply other variables by something else. Get past the painful approach of memorising countless capital budgeting equations.

Not only will we rip apart each equation one variable at a time, we’ll also give you mathematical proofs that show the equation’s logic one step at a time.

Save yourself time and effort by understanding why the equation works the way it does. Then go out and create your own equations thanks to your new solid finance fundamentals.


Here's what you get. And this is exactly why this is the only course you'll ever need to take to master Investment Appraisal and build a solid foundation in Finance Fundamentals:

  • Over 2 hours of video content, with each capital budgeting concept broken down part by part, variable by variable, one equation at a time. Starting from the very basics, and building you to a point where you can handle more complex capital budgeting problems.

  • Student-centric, easy-to-read capital budgeting / investment appraisal learning materials - this will change the way you look at lecture notes. Seriously.

  • Quizzes and assignments that challenge you, progressively.

  • An easy to apply 'Discount Factor Table', with a built-in how to guide.

  • Mathematical proofs for the mathematically curious!

  • An instructor who's insanely passionate about Finance and Finance Fundamentals, and obsessed with helping students win.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

As you can tell, we're new to Udemy. But we've been helping students and professionals master Finance and Accounting across Europe for a while now. Here's what our 1:1 Tuition Clients say about us.

We're proud of our students, and inspired by these stories - we decided to share them (unedited) with you...

"I have had a great experience with Fervent tutor as I was taught more of the content and less memorizing. I think their timings and their work is professional as the tutor seeks the most efficient and productive way to help the student. I studied accounting with the tutor and it contributed greatly to my knowledge for the exam."

- Abdulaziz, BA (Hons), International Management


"Fervent goes above and beyond the call of duty. First, they help you get the basics right and then assist you until you get a firm grip of your module. Fervent provides an extremely professional and patient environment. Doesn’t matter how many questions you have or silly you think they are, they encourage all of it. I never would have passed my module rather score a merit in it if it wouldn’t have been for Fervent."

- Shambhavi, MSc, Accounting and Finance


Fervent provides an exceptional service, the whole process from start to finish was very hands on and supportive – during my final year I needed tuition for a governance paper, essentially I was hoping they would do all the work for me but in the long run I got so much more than I bargained for ….they changed my entire thought process and maintained a complete professional reserve. Working with me every step of the way, I was encouraged to think critically in achieving my objective and inspired to dig deep. As a result I produced a 2000 word essay (which I had them proof read as well) worthy of a distinction. Thank you for all the help and most importantly thank you for believing in me.

- Sean, MSc, Accounting and Finance


Throughout the period of doing my Master’s dissertation, I felt agonised from not only researching my specific topic but also writing clearly with no any grammatical errors. Fortunately, I found Fervent which offers efficient and comprehensive services. At first, I just expected my dissertation to be improved in terms of grammar; however, Fervent provided me much more than that. All essential aspects such as formatting, structure, logic, consistency of analysis and critique, strength of arguments are also checked and corrected. One thing that I’ve been very grateful is related to my topic details. In addition to pointing out some big mistakes and recommending more accurate and professional alternative solutions, Fervent gave me many more interesting and valuable ideas which helped to develop my content to have stronger arguments and more critical analysis. My tutor’s suggestions helped me become more analytical in my thought process and in producing a better research paper; my critical thinking skills also saw a considerable improvement. Without Fervent’ support, I don’t believe I could have been awarded an excellent grade for this dissertation. Thank you so much for invaluable help over my hard time.   

- Duang MSc, Financial Analysis and Fund Management


Undoubtedly the gains that I have acquired from the studying with Fervent are plentiful and significantly make me different from what I used to be in terms of my expanded knowledge base, improved English skills (e.g. English-writing), as well as being more confident communicating with English speakers and with the improved ability to think differently and critically for dealing with various types of course works in my study in the university more readily.   

My tutor is specialized not only in the teaching of Accounting and Finance but also very familiar with the relevant knowledge in the subjects such as Marketing and Management. This is why I trust this person at an initial point along with his kind, friendly and very patient characteristics (e.g. I’m always encouraged by my tutor during the session with him, often to hear: if you really want it and then you can do it and will make it with no doubts).   

“Skilled worker ushers in the gate, leads a pious life depending on individual.” This is a Chinese old saying which I can still remember vividly because it was what my tutor had told me in my  with him and made me believe an excellent learning outcome and a constructive learning process requires the hardworking from both of us. The record shows we did it. This is another reason I like Fervent as in the session with my tutor you see his hardworking as for the preparation for each session and in making the sessions distinctive from cliché-ridden teaching-and-listening classes by exploring the best way and the most suitable set of teaching methods to provide the student with the best value for money.   

Jiajian BA (Hons), Business and Management


Who this course is for:

  • University / College students
  • Novice investors
  • Associate level employees
  • Finance Managers with a non-Finance background

Course content

8 sections • 33 lectures

Welcome to the Course. Here's What You're Going To Master. Preview 02:58

Welcome to Investment Appraisal Mastery! Here's everything you're going to learn and master.

Course FAQs Preview 01:07

The Fundamentals Preview 11:31

Discover the core underlying fundamentals that drive the entire Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting process.

The Fundamentals [Quiz]

Understanding Discounting Preview 11:25

Discover the intuitive and powerful concept of discounting cash flows, and learn the underlying rationale and intuition behind the process.

Understanding Discounting [Quiz]

What is the Net Present Value? Preview 09:03

Net Present Value (NPV) - perhaps the most popular capital Capital Budgeting / Investment Appraisal technique ever. Start by exploring what the NPV actually is.

What is the Net Present Value? [Quiz]

How to calculate the NPV? (I) Preview 14:44

Learn how to calculate the Net Present Value (NPV), starting with simple cash flows.

How to calculate the NPV? (I) [Quiz]

Pocket X Inc. [NPV Question, Intermediate]

​PocketX Inc. plans to invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that is expected to automate tasks worth $100,000 next year, increasing by a further $25,000 every year for the ensuing 3 years. A total of 4 staff members will need to be made redundant today at a cost of $80,000 each.

How to calculate the NPV? (II, advanced) Preview 15:35

Take things to the next level by learning how to calculate NPV using the "discount factor table", as well as more advanced cases of dealing with annuities / annuity cash flows.

How to calculate the NPV? (II, advanced) [Quiz]

See document titled 'Calculating the NPV (II) Questions for 2 more quiz questions. These couldn't be displayed in this quiz because they required formulae in one case, and required selecting multiple answers in another. These will be updated here once the technology is available on Udemy.

How to calculate NPV (II, advanced) [Assignment]

This is a reasonably advanced case study like question on NPV.

What is the Internal Rate of Return (IRR)? Preview 09:13

Explore the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting technique.

What is the Internal Rate of Return (IRR)? [Quiz]

How to calculate the IRR? (I) Preview 14:59

Discover how to calculate the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for simple single cash flows.

How to calculate the IRR? (I) [Quiz]

How to calculate the IRR? (II, advanced) Preview 19:14

Take your Capital Budgeting / Investment Appraisal skills to the next level by learning how to calculate the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for multiple cash flows, using the power of interpolation.

How to calculate the IRR? (II, advanced) [Quiz]

What is the Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)? Preview 00:32

Learn about the Accounting Rate of Return and why it's fundamentally flawed as an Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting technique.

How to calculate the ARR? Preview 01:03

Explore how to calculate the Accounting Rate of Return (ARR)

What is the Payback Period? Preview 02:56

Perhaps the easiest Capital Budgeting / Investment Appraisal technique of them all? And yet, it can be powerfully useful. Explore what the Payback Period is.

What is the Payback Period? [Quiz]

How to calculate the Payback Period? Preview 08:14

Discover how to calculate the Payback Period in this simple lecture.

How to calculate the Payback Period? [Quiz]

What is the Discounted Payback Period? How to calculate it? Preview 00:55

Apply your existing knowledge of the Payback Period, and discounting cash flows (e.g., from the NPV technique) to understand the Discounted Payback Period Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting technique.

What is the Profitability Index? How to calculate it? Preview 10:42

The instructor's favourite Investment Appraisal / Capital Budgeting technique - discover the Profitability Index and learn why it's incredibly powerful.

How to calculate Profitability Index? [Quiz]

Revisiting the example at the start. Preview 00:24

Revisit the projects you considered at the start of the course. Can you choose the best project to invest in?

Investment Appraisal Mastery

You're now going to apply all your knowledge, and choose the best investment opportunity using the techniques you've learnt.

What would you like to learn next? Preview 00:27

BONUS: Explore our Other Courses Preview 02:10