Interpreting Financial Statements

and Ratios

Cornell Course

Technical expertise can help you boost efficiency and innovate new products, but to convince stakeholders to invest in these advances, you will need a degree of financial literacy. What financial documents are you likely to encounter? How can you use that information to determine the fiscal health of an organization? If you are seeking investors for a new venture, how can you ensure your financials are making a compelling case?

In this course, you will explore accounting standards and three of the most critical corporate financial documents: the balance sheet, the income statement, and the statement of cash flow. Using real-world examples, you will examine a corporate annual report and calculate metrics that can reveal the financial health of an organization. You will also investigate how scientists and engineers contribute to improving organizational finances, with special consideration for the cost of manufacturing, an expense most commonly determined by the work of technical personnel. By the end of this course, you will have new skills in understanding corporate financial documents, calculating ratios, and estimating operating costs.