This publication presents theoretical concepts and pratical tools necessary to develop investments appraisal, used to support capital budgeting decisions. It also provides investment criteria to select among different investment projects under several economic environments and distinct time horizons.

Introduction 1 Major Financial Statements 1.1 Balance Sheet 3 1.2 Income Statement by Nature of Expense 1.3 Income Statement by Function of Expense 2 Financial and Economic Indicators 2.1 Financial Ratios 2.1.1 Liquidity Ratios 2.1.2 Leverage Ratios 2.2 Economic Indicators 2.2.1 Profitability ratios 2.2.2 Efficiency Ratios 3 Principles of Financial Calculus 3.1 Time value of money: present and future value 3.2 Interest rates 3.2.1 Simple and compound interest rates 3.2.2 Nominal and real interest rates 3.2.3 Equivalent interest rates and financial flows 3.2.4 Effective and nominal interest rate 3.2.5 Banking rates 3.3 Annuities and perpetuities 3.3.1 Annuity 3.3.2 Perpetuity 3.4 Valuation of stocks and bonds 3.4.1 Stocks 3.4.2 Bonds 4 Cash Flow and Cost of Capital 4.1 Free Cash Flow to Firm (FCFF) 4.2 Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFE) 4.3 Discount rate 4.4 Return demanded by shareholders (CAPM) 4.5 Cost of Debt 4.6 Weighted Average Cost of Capital 5 Investment Criteria Methods 5.1 Net Present Value 5.1.1 Weighted Average Cost of Capital 5.2 Internal Rate of Return 5.3 Modified Internal Rate of Return 5.4 Payback Period 5.5 Profitability Index or Benefit/Cost Ratio 5.6 Adjusted Present Value 5.7 Average Accounting Return 6 Investment Selection under Specific Restrictions 6.1 Selecting between long and short-lived equipment 6.2 Mutually exclusive investments 6.3 Incremental Cash-Flows 6.4 Least Common Multiple 6.5 Equivalent Annual Value (EAV) 6.6 The profitability index with capital rationing 6.7 Problems with Prioritization 6.8 Mathematical programming approach 6.9 Optimal timing of investment 7 Excel Financial Functions 7.1 Present Value 7.2 Net Present Value 7.3 Future Value 7.4 Annuity 7.5 Number of Periods Bibliography