Test your basic knowledge |

Finance Basics

Subject : business-skills
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. SE = Paid-in Capital + Retained Earnings or SE = Total Assets - Total Liabilities


2. How did sales perform and did it make a profit? A report summarizing a firm's revenues - expenses and profits during a reporting period (generally a quarter or a year)






3. Shows the amount of equity the stockholders had at the start of the year - the items that increased or decreased it and the equity at the end of the year


4. Sole Proprietorships - Partnerships - Corporations (incl. S Corp. and Non-profits - Limited Liability Companies (LLC) and Limited Liability Partnerships






5. Represents the amount that stockholders paid the company when shares were purchased and the amount or earnings the company has retained since its origination


6. Dividends paid to common shareholders / Common shares outstanding






7. Principal task is to evaluate proposed decisions and judge how they will affect the stock price and thus shareholder wealth. Success or lack thereof of projects can determine the stock prices






8. What investors DO expect given the limited information they actually have






9. The markets where interest rates - along with stock and bond prices are determined






10. The primary goal for managers of publicly owned companies implies that decisions should be made to maximize the long-run value of the firm's common stock. Corporate social responsibility is not inconsistent with maximizing shareholder value






11. An uninicorporated business owned by one individual. 3 advantages - Easy and inexpensive to form - subject to few government regulations - and subject to lower income taxes than corporations. 3 disadvantages - Unlimited personal liability for the bu






12. A company's attitude and conduct toward its employees - customers - community - and stockholders






13. Earnings Before Interest - Taxes - Depreciation & Amoritization = Sales revenues - operating costs






14. A relatively new type of organization that is a hybrid between a partnership and a corporation. It has limited liability like corporations - but is taxed like partnerships. Investors have votes in proportion to their share of ownership






15. Stock value based on 'perceived' but possibly incorrect information as seen by the marginal investor






16. Regulates the trading of stocks and bonds in public markets






17. For example - based on 50% probability of failure/success and current bond value of $1000 - a current stock price of $10 and projected new stock price of $2000 if successful






18. The larger the expected cash flows - and the lower the perceived risk the higher the stock's price






19. Categorized as current assets because are used & then replaced






20. The value of any asset is the present value or the stream of cash flows that the asset provides to its owners over time. In general the valuation is different if it is the 'market value' or the 'book value'






21. Investor psychology is examined in an effort to determine if stock prices have been bid up to unreasonable heights in a speculative bubble or driven down to unreasonable lows in a fit of irrational pessimism






22. Expected % Gain of Stock Price = Increase of stock $ less original stock $ ($1 - 000 - $10) divided by original stock price (/ $10 x 100%) (100% is a constant)






23. Issued annually by a corporation to its stockholders - containing basic financial statements as well as management's analysis of the firm's past operations and future prospects. Provides 4 basic reports - Balance Sheet - Income Statement - Stateme






24. Total common equity / Common shares outstanding






25. What investors would expect if they had all of the information that existed about a company






26. Indicates how large a company is. What assets the company owns & who has claims on those assets as of a given date. Displayed in 2 columns with the assets (what the company owns) on the left side and the firms liabilities and equity on the right side






27. An individual who targets a corporation for takeover because it is undervalued






28. Indicates a rapidly growing company (investing in new assets) which is ok as long as the company eventually utilizes the assets to become profitable and contribute to its FCF






29. Cumulative total of all earnings kept by the company during its life - a claim against assets - they do not represent cash on the balance sheet






30. A non-cash charge similar to depreciation except that it is used to write off the costs of intangible assets over their useful life






31. Charge used to reflect the cost of long term assets used up in the production process over their useful life (not a cash outlay). Accelerated generally used for the IRS and straight line for investors






32. Similar to an LLC but used for professional firms in the fields of accounting - law - and architecture. It has limited liability like corporations - but is taxed like partnerships.Investors have votes in proportion to their share of ownership






33. A special designation that allows small businesses that meet qualifications to be taxed as if they were a proprietorship or a partnership rather than a corporation - exempt from corporate tax - must have less than 100 stockholders to qualify






34. 1) Increased globalization of business 2) Ever improving information technology 3) Corporate governance (the way top managers operate and interface with stockholders)






35. Current assets - Current liabilities






36. Bears = pessimists - Bulls = optimists






37. Acquisition of a company over the opposition of its management






38. Financial Management - Capital Markets - & Investments






39. Usually considered a debt (fixed charge) by stockholders and equity by bondholders. A hybrid between convertible bonds and long-term leases






40. Accomplished through a combination of current liabilities - long-term debt - and common equity






41. Sales revenues - operating costs (including depreciation & amoritizaton)






42. Finding the proper values of individual securities






43. Amount of cash that could be withdrawn from a firm without harming its ability to operate and to produce future cash flows/ how much cash a firm can distribute to its investors - [ EBIT x (1-T) + Depreciation & Amoritization] - [Capital expenditures






44. An estimate of a stock's 'true' value based on accurate risk adn return data - it can be estimated but not measured precisely - estimate by stock analysts - a long term concept - management should maximize this value not the market price






45. Focuses on decisions concerning stocks and bonds and includes a number of activities - 1) Security Analysis - 2) Portfolio Theory - & 3) Market Analysis






46. The best way to structure portfolios or 'baskets' of stocks and bonds






47. Debt securities that give the bondholder an option to exchange their bonds for shares of common stock






48. Law passed by Congress that requires CEO's & CFO's to certify their firms financial statements are accurate and deal with the consequences if the statements are not accurate






49. Profit a company would generate if it had no debt and held only operating assets - = EBIT x (1-T)






50. Regulates banks and controls the supply of money