This course provides a practical, hands-on approach to building financial models in Microsoft Excel, focusing on loans, investments, and discounting techniques. Designed for students, professionals, and business users, the course covers essential financial concepts and shows how to apply them using Excel’s built-in formulas and functions.
In the loan-focused section, students will explore the time value of money and learn to calculate loan payments, interest, and principal using functions like PMT, IPMT, and PPMT. They’ll build amortization schedules—both fixed-rate and dynamic—and analyze balloon loans, principal paydowns, and variable-rate mortgages. Additional lessons guide learners through determining loan terms, calculating borrowing capacity, and solving for interest rates.
The investment section shifts toward building future value models. Students will calculate the value of lump sums, recurring deposits, and mixed investments, using compound interest and both nominal and effective rates. They’ll also develop investment schedules and solve for required contributions to meet financial goals.
Finally, the course introduces discounting techniques to evaluate the present value of future cash flows. Learners will work with NPV, IRR, and payback period functions to assess investment performance. Real-world scenarios such as leasing vs. buying and property investment decisions are included.
By the end of this course, students will be able to build accurate financial models in Excel to support smarter personal, academic, and business decisions
- Learn to calculate loan payments, terms, interest, and principal using Excel.
- Build both fixed and dynamic loan amortization schedules.
- Understand balloon loans and model principal paydowns over time.
- Use Excel to determine how much you can borrow or repay.
- Compare nominal vs. effective interest rates and convert between them.
- Calculate the future value of lump sums and regular deposits.
- Plan toward investment goals by solving for rate, time, or deposit.
- Build investment schedules and evaluate outcomes over time.
- Calculate present value, NPV, and IRR for various cash flow scenarios.
- Analyze financial decisions like buying vs. leasing or investing income.
