Financial Analysis for Leaders (BUSI 170) - Syllabus, AY 2027-1

Course information

Required course pack: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1444660
Course site: Blackboard - log in at oberview.oberlin.edu and open Courses
Class meeting time: Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:50
Class room: King 106
Term: Fall 2026, first module (seven meetings, September 1 - October 13)

Course instructor information

Course director: Eric Lin
Office: Bosworth Hall, Room 201B
Oberlin E-Mail: eric.lin@oberlin.edu
Office hours: by appointment

Overview

This course is about finding meaning in financial data. This requires knowing how financial data is created, the structure of financial statements, and the methods experts use to extract narratives from the numbers. Beyond defining terms, this course will train you to take notice of the assumptions, estimates, and judgment calls that are implicit in financial data.

Those insights enable you to see something more in the numbers. Grasping that, you’ll get a glimpse of something you haven’t seen before, opportunities for improvement and emerging challenges or setbacks that threaten business performance. Having that insight is like having access to a different world. In addition to making you more effective in any given role, it also opens up opportunities to leadership roles that are not available to those who don’t have that edge.

Prerequisites

There are no course prerequisites for this course. We will use computations and data to solve problems requiring only algebra and arithmetic fundamentals. Get in touch with me if you have any concerns about either the techniques or the technology we are using. Most of our work can be worked out using either pencil and paper or with essential functions in a spreadsheet package like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. You are never required to use spreadsheets to make calculations - it is fine to set up manual calculations for this class.

What Makes This Course Different

We start with the problem, not with the foundation

Most accounting instruction builds from the ground up. You learn the terminology, then debits and credits, then the mechanics of the system, and somewhere in the third or fourth course you finally get to argue about what the numbers mean. For people who are going to become accountants, that is the right way to do it. I went through fourteen accounting classes that way myself.

It works badly for someone taking one course. Intro ends up being all foundation - a lot of drudgery, some vocabulary, and the settled conviction that you hate accounting. You never get to the part where the thinking gets interesting.

So we are going to work the other way around. We start with a business problem you can see matters, and then ask what we need to know in order to say something useful about it. Say a company spends heavily on a machine. Do we expense it now, or capitalize it and depreciate it over time? Rather than spend weeks on the rules for what qualifies as an asset, make the call, book it, look at what the statements now say, and then ask what that treatment hides. Work it in both directions and the reason the rule exists shows up on its own.

What this costs you

I want to be straight about the tradeoff.

Professional accountants learn to read statements by building them, over and over, until the mechanics are muscle memory. That is a strong place to stand, and working the way we do, you will not have it. You will finish this course with holes. There will be situations where you lack the grounding to give a well-founded judgment, and you will make mistakes.

What I want you to walk out with instead is a cycle: start with a problem, apply what you know, work out which questions matter, and know enough to bring an expert a real question rather than a blank stare.

You learn this by doing it

Very little in this course rewards reporting back what you read. Almost all of it is application.

Financial intuition gets built the way fluency in a language gets built: reps, feedback, and reflection. You take an educated swing at something, explain what you did, answer questions about it, take a challenge, and come back with a better version. Reading gets you to the point where the swing is not blind. The learning happens after that.

So expect some confusion. We will try things before we have been told everything, get some of them wrong, and then work out what went wrong and why. We will ask “so what?” a lot. Some people find this annoying, because what they want is to be handed everything up front, packed and ready for whatever comes. That takes far longer than we have, and it is less fun.

Technology in the classroom

Our class norm is that no personal electronics are in use during class - including laptops, tablets, and phones - unless explicitly noted by the instructor for a specific activity.

This policy is not anti-technology. Instead, it reflects a commitment to being fully present and focused on the problem at hand. Electronic devices have a well-documented tendency to distract not only the user, but also the people around them. Because this course relies heavily on discussion, problem-solving, and collective thinking, protecting our shared attention matters.

To support this norm, part of your participation grade includes complying with the device-free standard. In turn, it is my responsibility as the instructor to ensure that we have everything we need to work productively without devices during class.

To make this work, students are expected to:

• Complete assigned readings before class
• Bring written notes, questions, and reflections to class in hard copy
• Be prepared to reference materials without relying on electronic access

The core goal is simple: to guard our focus, eliminate unnecessary distractions, and engage seriously with the ideas, questions, and perspectives in the room. This creates a learning environment where everyone can think more clearly and contribute more fully.

What about computers? Research suggests that students who take notes by hand think more actively about the material, and absorb it better, than those who take notes on their computers. Screens, and noisy keyboards, are also tremendously distracting to your neighbors. If you are not doing an activity that explicitly requires the use of technology, I ask that you keep it stowed away.

Course communication

Course communication runs through Blackboard and Oberlin email only. Announcements, reminders, and any schedule changes will be posted to Blackboard and sent by email - so check both regularly, and make sure your Oberlin address is one you actually read.

For individual questions, concerns, or anything sensitive, email me directly.

Class attendance and punctuality

Attendance is required in this course. Because our work depends on discussion, problem-solving, and collective engagement, it is important that everyone arrives on time and ready to work.

I will frequently take attendance, and classes will often begin with a brief (approximately five-minute) reading check or opening exercise. These are designed to reinforce preparation and to allow us to begin class productively and on schedule. Late students will not be given more time to complete these checks.

This course meets seven times. Missing one class is missing a seventh of the course, and there is no later week to recover it in. For that reason, more than one absence or instance of arriving late may negatively affect your final grade. Arriving late, leaving early, or stepping out during class disrupts both your own learning and the learning of others, and should be kept to an absolute minimum. Please use the restroom prior to coming to class.

If you anticipate an unavoidable conflict, you are expected to communicate in advance whenever possible. The underlying expectation is simple: being present, punctual, and prepared is part of your responsibility as a member of the class.

On case discussion days, timely attendance is especially important. It is impossible to contribute to the discussion without being present and prepared. Absences on those days will result in lower marks. In the event of emergencies and sickness, alert me as early as you can. The quality of prior communication in these instances will be reflected in grades.

Key learning goals

This course focuses on helping students acquire financial analysis capabilities as outlined in the Oberlin Business Capability Model. Specifically, this course focuses on the following areas.

1. Profit and Loss Model (Income Statement)

• Build a multi-step income statement from transaction-level activity, and explain why revenue is recognized when it is earned rather than when cash arrives.
• Distinguish costs that belong to the period from costs that attach to inventory, and see how that single choice moves reported profit.
• Read a profit and loss statement and say what the business actually did during the period, not merely what it reported.

2. Financial Position Model (Balance Sheet)

• Construct a balance sheet from the accounting equation, and trace how financing, investing, and operating activity each land on it.
• Follow retained earnings as the hinge that connects the income statement to the balance sheet.
• Recognize what a balance sheet leaves out, and why the assets that matter most to a business are sometimes the ones that never appear on it.

3. Cash Flow Model (Statement of Cash Flows)

• Separate operating, investing, and financing cash flows, and reconcile net income to cash from operations using the indirect method.
• Explain why a profitable business can run out of cash, and what working capital has to do with it.

4. Ratio Analysis

• Compute and interpret profitability, efficiency, liquidity, and leverage ratios, and use horizontal and vertical analysis to see both change and structure.
• Decompose return on equity to locate whether performance is coming from margin, asset productivity, or leverage.
• Diagnose a real company from its published statements and defend a point of view about its operations.

Course content and reference materials

Textbook

The textbook below is highly recommended but not required. I will be providing readings directly on Blackboard, which are excerpts and chapters from the book developed for this course.

• Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What Numbers Really Mean by Berman, Knight, and Case (ISBN-10: 9781422144114)

Notes, readings, and preparation

I will publish reading materials prior to class. Upon reviewing them, some things will make more intuitive sense, and some areas will generate questions. Feel free to send me questions in advance; I’ll do my best to answer directly and amend the notes that are posted.

I will send out reminder emails along with links to the reading pages on Blackboard. I like to keep things simple. I will assume that all materials posted for the lesson are REVIEWED IN ADVANCE OF CLASS. Make sure you have read them in detail, noted any questions, and can quickly reference where you had difficulty understanding things - what is the passage, and what is the precise question you have about it.

Required case purchase

There is only one case for purchase, the Costco case. You can purchase this directly from Harvard Business School Press at this link: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/1444660. The cost is approximately $5.00. Purchase of the case pack is required. The other case, MathToys, is written by me, and I will be supplying this to you.

Why we use case studies

This course relies heavily on the case method, a teaching approach that has long been central to business education.

Rather than learning business concepts only through lectures and textbooks, cases put you into realistic situations faced by actual organizations and decision-makers. You will analyze imperfect information, weigh trade-offs, apply concepts under uncertainty, and decide what you would do if you were responsible for the outcome.

This matters because real business problems rarely arrive neatly labeled by discipline. Good decisions require integrating ideas from accounting, finance, marketing, operations, and strategy - while also considering incentives, constraints, and human behavior.

A second core feature of the case method is discussion. You will come to class having prepared your own analysis, but much of the learning happens in conversation - as you hear different perspectives, defend your reasoning, revise your views, and build on the thinking of others. The goal is not to memorize the “right” answer, but to develop sound judgment through active engagement.

For many undergraduates, cases can feel unfamiliar at first. Unlike traditional problem sets, cases include ambiguity, irrelevant details, and incomplete data. That is intentional: real decisions are often made without perfect information, and learning to reason carefully - including recognizing what you can and cannot confidently claim - is part of the skill.

This matters more in this course than the point total alone suggests. The two cases together are worth 30 percent of your grade, and they arrive early - MathToys after only two teaching meetings. The problem sets exist to build the mechanical fluency the cases assume.

How case work is structured

Both cases follow the same rhythm:

• Individual preparation first. You prepare your own analysis before class, working from the case and from the questions distributed with it. Your written submission is due at the start of the meeting where we discuss the case.
• Discussion in class. We work the case together, comparing how different people framed the problem and why reasonable analysts can disagree.
• Debrief. We close by naming what the numbers could and could not settle.

Detailed expectations, questions, and submission instructions will be provided with each case as we approach it.

Class participation

You are expected to complete all required pre-class readings and homework before the start of each session. This ensures that everyone arrives prepared to contribute meaningfully to class discussions and activities.

In my view, great class discussions are built on a foundation of collective reasoning, where ideas are carefully analyzed, articulated, and challenged. Expect disagreements and be ready to engage respectfully in them. Thoughtful debate sharpens understanding and drives the conversation forward.

I expect you to come to class prepared to:

• Demonstrate understanding by working through problems. Be prepared to present.
• Contribute to discussions with clarity and insight.
• Share fact-based perspectives grounded in our readings and previous conversations.

Cold calling is a common practice in this course. It ensures that everyone has the opportunity to contribute - not just those who are naturally more vocal - and it encourages balanced participation. Everyone in class has a responsibility to contribute to the conversation and to advance our collective thinking.

Great contributions do the following:

• Build on the current discussion.
• Bring in relevant facts, concepts, or perspectives.
• Provide greater clarity or insight.

It’s important to note that cold calls are not designed to be punitive or to single out unprepared students. Rather, they are opportunities to showcase your understanding, contribute meaningfully, and strengthen your ability to think and respond on the spot - an invaluable skill for any professional setting. Cold calling also helps balance the range of voices in our discussions and contributes to your participation assessment, though it is only one part of that evaluation.

If cold calling is new to you, it may feel challenging at first. However, like any skill, it improves with practice. Our classroom provides a supportive environment to help you grow in this area, and these experiences will serve you well in many professional and academic endeavors.

Participation is worth 10 points. It covers two things together: professionalism, meaning you arrive on time and prepared, with readings done and devices away; and contribution, meaning the quality of what you actually add to our collective reasoning, judged against the three standards above. Neither is about brilliance. Both are about showing up and taking the shared work of the class seriously.

Point distribution and grading

Because this course runs as a seven-meeting module, both exams are given during class time rather than in a separate examination period.

Midterm exam (20 points)

The midterm is written during our fourth meeting, September 22, during class time. It covers the profit and loss statement, the balance sheet, and the MathToys case. It is closed book and closed note.

Those with accommodations for additional testing time must take the exam at the ODA testing center, no later than the week of the scheduled exam.

Final exam (25 points)

The final is written during our last meeting, October 13, during class time. It is closed book and closed note.

The final is cumulative. It covers the whole course - the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet from the first half, along with ratio analysis, the cash flow statement, and the Costco case. Material you saw on the midterm can appear again.

Most of the questions will ask you to interpret rather than to build. The two are not separable, though, which is why the first-half material stays on the exam: if you cannot construct a statement, you will have a hard time saying anything useful about what one means. Construction is what interpretation rests on.

Those with accommodations for additional testing time must take the exam at the ODA testing center, no later than the week of the scheduled exam. Because this exam falls on the last meeting of the module, accommodated testing needs to be arranged well in advance - please speak with me by our third meeting.

Departmental final exam policy

Business courses follow final exam policies from the Economics department. Because BUSI 170 is a first-module course that concludes on October 13, this course does not have an examination in the December registrar examination period. The in-class final on October 13 is the official final exam for this course.

Rescheduling a final exam is reserved for students facing extenuating circumstances, and requires permission from the Academic Advising Resource Center (AARC). Lack of preparation, routine medical appointments, and travel schedules are not considered valid extenuating circumstances by the AARC. If a rescheduled exam is granted, the default policy is that the makeup exam is taken in person, and the AARC cannot grant permission to take it remotely. This policy aims to accommodate genuine cases of need while maintaining the integrity and fairness of the assessment process.

General accessibility and testing

It is the policy and practice of Oberlin College and Conservatory to create inclusive learning environments. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that present barriers to your inclusion or an accurate assessment of your needs to best complete course requirements (e.g., time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, use of videos without captions), please communicate this with your professor and contact the Office for Disability & Access to request accommodations. Students can learn more about the accommodation process on ODA’s website https://www.oberlin.edu/disability-access. If you are permitted accommodations on exams or assignments, please let me know about these early in the semester so that we can make the appropriate arrangements, including receiving guidance from the Office of Disability & Access.

Students with testing accommodations through the Office for Disability & Access (ODA) can take their exams with accommodations at the Accommodated Testing Center. Please contact the ODA with questions regarding accommodated testing policies and procedures. Exams are not to be taken in settings other than the designated time and place. Instructor will take into account extenuating circumstances and illness on a case-by-case basis.

Grading scale

Letter grades are assigned per the point values below. Final grades are averaged based on assignment weight, and the ranges below are used to score the final grade.

Lateness and extensions

Due dates are communicated in advance. I will consider extensions only in exigent circumstances. If I grant one, I may apply a discount to the grade, depending on the circumstances. Requests must be made in writing by emailing me at least 24 hours in advance. If unavoidable circumstances will delay your submission, please discuss this matter with me, including your proposal to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Late submissions with no approved clearance will not receive credit.

If you are going to miss class or a part of class or have some other issue arise, review the syllabus and anticipate what needs to be done. Propose option(s) on how to deal with it. Do not give me notice, then ask me to figure out how to create a plan. Propose specific plans that offer the minimal deviation from the set course. If you are missing an exam date, propose the date(s) you can make it up in advance or soon after. If you cannot turn in an assignment on time, provide an explanation and a plan on what will be turned in by when.

It is your responsibility to communicate with me in a timely way about any deviations from assignments and exams. Poor communication can result in reduced credit or no credit at all.

Regrades

Regrading requests must be submitted within seven calendar days to me from the day when the work is returned in class. To petition for regrading, you must submit in writing the reason that you would like your assignment or exam to be regraded, including specific question number references and rationale. If an assignment or exam is submitted for a regrade, I will regrade the entire test, so it is possible to lose additional points.

The spirit of this regrade policy acknowledges the fact that grading errors can occur, despite all care taken to avoid them. However, one-sided correction efforts create bias that is unfair to the rest of the class - my errors can (and do) apply in both directions. While I believe no student should suffer point deductions where none are warranted, I also do not wish to penalize those who do not submit corrections by introducing systematic bias into the grading approach.

The Honor Code

Group study and collaboration can be highly educational, and I therefore encourage students to study together and to discuss and compare notes in the course. I am also available for consultation during office hours by appointment. There should be no collaboration on quizzes and exams.

Excessive reliance on the assistance of others hinders learning. Also, the inappropriate use of generative artificial intelligence can also undermine the opportunity to gain and demonstrate mastery of concepts.

A satisfactory grade can be withheld on academic work, no matter how carefully documented or cited, if it:

• Is inadequately researched or relies too heavily on a single source or sources
• Employs an excessive degree of verbatim or paraphrased use of another’s work
• Has been extensively rewritten by another person or is copied from another person’s paper
• Merely repeats, without evidence of individual thought, ideas and data gained from any source
• Employs the use of generative artificial intelligence such that the submitter can not explain the meaning and/or coherency of the submitted work

The Oberlin College Honor Code applies to any work handed in for credit. Students are expected to write and sign on each assignment: “I have adhered to the honor code on this assignment.” I will provide specific rules and guidance on each assignment as it comes up and will record a grade of zero on any work for which I do not have a signed affirmation of the Honor Code or on which I have reason to suspect a violation. I take academic integrity extremely seriously. Students who violate the Honor Code may fail the course. In either case, I will inform you promptly of this decision. Please note as well that your obligation under the Honor Code includes reporting any violations you witness even if you are not directly involved. If you have any questions about the application of the Honor Code in a specific situation, please consult with me.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools

TL;DR version: Acceptable AI use:

• Creating an outline
• Brainstorming topics/angles
• Generating examples (that you verify)
• Critiquing your draft (clarity, structure)

Unacceptable AI use:

• Inventing sources/data
• Generataing your final analysis/recommendation for you

According to Oberlin’s Honor code, “Utilizing artificial intelligence software or other related programs to create or assist with assignments on the behalf of a student unless otherwise specified by the faculty member and/or the Office of Disability & Access” constitutes cheating.

Learning to use AI is an emerging skill, and I encourage you to explore this tool, experiment with it, and evaluate how it can enhance your learning. You may even find that using AI tools can help in the preparation of exams, as a tutor, a reference, a generator of practice problems, etc. I encourage you to use this to enhance your learning, but not as a substitute for it.

The use of artificial intelligence tools is not permitted during quiz or exam assessments, including the midterm and the final exam. Once a quiz or an exam has started, and until the completion of the assessment, such tools should not be used as aids. Doing so constitutes a violation of policy. For written assignments, all ideas should be your own.

Be aware of the limits of AI tools:

• If you provide minimum effort prompts, you will get low quality results. You will need to refine your prompts in order to get good outcomes. This will take work.
• Don’t trust anything it says. If it gives you a number or fact, assume it is wrong unless you either know the answer or can check in with another source. You will be responsible for any errors or omissions provided by the tool. It works best for topics you understand.
• AI is a tool, but one that you need to acknowledge using. Every written assignment includes a short paragraph stating what AI you used and for what purpose. Failure to include it is a violation of policy.
• Be thoughtful about when this tool is useful. Don’t use it if it isn’t appropriate for the case or circumstance.

Documenting AI use

Every written assignment includes a short paragraph stating what AI you used and for what purpose. You do not need to include prompts or raw output.

If you did not use AI at all, say so explicitly: No AI was used for any purpose on this assignment. The statement is required either way.

This requirement applies to all written assignments. AI tools are not permitted during quizzes or exams at all, so no statement is needed there.

Case preparation is narrower than the general policy above. The logic, the approach, and the calculations required to solve the MathToys and Costco cases must come from your own effort, without AI; limit AI use there to clarifying wording and grammar edits. The full expectations are distributed with each case.

Instructor use of AI

AI tools present an opportunity for creating valuable teaching tools and experiences. As such, I also use AI tools in a variety of ways, including the drafting of problem sets, discussion questions, teaching notes, etc. In all cases, final writing and all errors therein are my responsibility. I keep an updated statement of how I use AI here: https://ericxlin.io/working-with-ai/

Recording

All lessons may be recorded by me. Generally, in-class sessions will not be recorded. Any recording of the class must first be approved by the instructor in writing. All recordings will be used for the purpose of educational goals of the class or for faculty as a resource to guide future course development and improve delivery of material.

Lesson Plan (tentative)

All meetings are Tuesdays, 1:00 - 2:50, in King 106.

One rule for due dates: everything is due at the start of the next class meeting after we cover the material. Nothing is due on a Friday, over a weekend, or on a date you have to look up. If we work through the profit and loss statement on September 1, the profit and loss problem set is due when class begins on September 8.

The MathToys case is distributed on September 1, so you have two full weeks with it. The balance sheet material you need arrives on September 8.

Academic Freedom

Knowledge flourishes when inquiry is free and respectful. This class, which has been approved as part of the Oberlin curriculum by appropriate faculty bodies, aims to advance knowledge through discussion, debate, and carefully selected readings and assignments. In accordance with principles of academic freedom promulgated by the American Association of University Professors and affirmed by many universities, including Oberlin, the instructor has the authority to set the class syllabus, which may include controversial material relevant to topics being studied. While all participants and their views will be treated respectfully, no one should expect to be shielded from challenging or even upsetting ideas, since thoughtfully engaging such ideas is crucial to free inquiry and intellectual growth.

Disclaimer

Any opinions, perspectives, or statements expressed or reflected in classes, assignments, exams, or choice of reading list materials are those of Eric Lin only.

Acknowledgement of course policies

I have read the syllabus for BUSI 170, Financial Analysis for Leaders, and I understand the policies it sets out. These include attendance and punctuality, the device-free classroom norm, the standing rule that work is due at the start of the next class meeting after we cover the material, how class participation is assessed, the limits on the use of artificial intelligence tools, the Honor Code, and the policies on lateness, extensions, and regrades.

I understand that I am responsible for these expectations whether or not I have asked about them, and that I should raise anything that is unclear to me rather than assume.

The signed acknowledgement is on the last page of the PDF, which is the version of record and is distributed through Blackboard. This web copy is for reading.