CAS Financial Management

This module examines the role of finance in strategic management with a particular focus on SMEs. Participants gain a sound understanding of financial and managerial accounting as well as key accounting standards. They learn to interpret financial reports, use key performance indicators, and apply controlling tools such as financial dashboards to ensure effective financial management.

A central focus lies on investment appraisal – from the time value of money and classical methods such as NPV, IRR, and Payback to modern approaches like real options and staged financing. Participants learn how to identify relevant cash flows and address risks, uncertainties, and estimation errors, particularly in the SME context. Sustainability criteria are integrated into financial decision-making using tools such as the APV framework and climate risk assessment. The module also explores how AI-based methods can support effective financial management. Overall, participants are empowered to make sound, balanced financial decisions across the dimensions of return, risk, responsibility, and sustainability.

Module 1a: Financial Leadership, Sustainability and Reporting

• Introduction to financial leadership
• Fundamentals of financial and managerial accounting
• Financial analysis, key value drivers, and financial dashboards
• Budgeting

Module 1b: Investment Decisions

• Time value of money
• NPV and other investment criteria
• Project cash flows
• Return, risk, and cost of capital
• Valuing innovative and sustainable projects
• Managing estimation errors

Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:

• explain the role of finance in strategic management, particularly in SMEs;
• apply financial and managerial accounting principles and relevant accounting standards (Swiss Code of Obligations, Swiss GAAP FER, IFRS);
• conduct financial analysis and use key metrics, dashboards, and controlling instruments effectively;
• apply classical investment appraisal methods (NPV, IRR, Payback) and assess their limitations;
• incorporate flexibility in project valuation through real options and staged financing;
• identify relevant cash flows and evaluate uncertainties and SME-specific risks;
• integrate sustainability criteria systematically into financial and investment decisions (e.g., APV framework, climate risk);
• assess the potential and limitations of AI-supported methods in financial management;
• make balanced financial decisions across return, risk, responsibility, and sustainability.

This module focuses on financial planning and business valuation as key tools of strategic management. Participants learn how to prepare projected balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, and how to use them as steering instruments. The module covers standard valuation methods such as the practitioner approach (asset-based and earnings value), relative valuation through multiples (e.g., EBITDA), and DCF valuation including terminal value estimation and simplified approaches for mature firms.

In the applied part, participants work on special valuation contexts such as start-ups (venture capital), mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, and private equity investments. The module also addresses employee participation models (ESOP, including tokenization) and tax implications of valuations and transactions.

Module 2a: Financial Planning and Valuation

• The financial plan
• The practitioner approach used by Swiss tax authorities
• Relative valuation (multiples)
• Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) valuation
• Valuing mature firms

Module 2b: Advanced Valuation and Succession Planning

• Valuing young firms
• Structuring M&A and buyout transactions (MBO, LBO)
• Employee participation (ESOP)
• Financial aspects of succession planning
• Valuation, transactions, and taxation

Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:

• prepare and interpret financial plans as strategic management tools;
• determine company values using the practitioner approach (asset value, earnings value);
• apply and compare relative valuation methods (multiples, peer groups, EBITDA);
• perform full DCF valuations and assess key assumptions such as terminal value, normalized cash flows, and growth rates;
• differentiate valuation approaches for mature firms, start-ups, and buyout situations (MBO, LBO, private equity);
• analyze M&A transactions, evaluate synergies, and prepare structured deal processes;
• understand and assess employee participation models (ESOP, including innovative tokenized solutions);
• consider tax implications in valuation and transaction decisions;
• critically reflect on financial planning and valuation in the context of value creation, risk, and sustainability.

This module addresses key questions in corporate finance and risk management, particularly in SMEs. The financing section focuses on capital structure, debt, and their effects on risk and return. Theoretical foundations such as Modigliani & Miller, the trade-off theory, and the pecking order theory are discussed alongside tax effects, incentives, and secondary impacts of financing decisions. Participants also examine debt instruments, credit risk, interest structures, and payout policies (dividends and share buybacks) including their tax and strategic implications.

The second part of the module focuses on risk management. Participants learn to identify, assess, and manage financial, operational, and strategic risks. They work with tools such as scenario and sensitivity analysis, hedging, and insurance. Modern approaches using AI are also introduced – for example, liquidity forecasting, credit risk analysis, and early-warning systems. The integrative perspective highlights how financing, risk management, and digital innovation strengthen resilience and sustainable value creation.

Module 3a: Financing and Payout Policy

• Relevance of capital structure
• Debt financing (fixed income)
• Forms of payout
• Integrative view of investment, financing, and payout policies

Module 3b: Risk Management

• Introduction to financial risk management
• Derivatives
• Foreign exchange risk
• Other market risks
• Tax risk and tax strategy
• Operational risks

Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:

• explain the relationship between capital structure, risk, return, and corporate value, and apply it to SMEs;
• evaluate key financial theories (Modigliani & Miller, trade-off, pecking-order) critically;
• understand and apply debt instruments and valuation (credit risk, term structure, interest rates);
• assess dividend and share buyback policies and their tax and strategic implications;
• integrate investment, financing, and payout policies in strategic governance discussions;
• identify, evaluate, and manage financial, operational, and strategic risks systematically (e.g., through scenarios, hedging, or insurance);
• evaluate the use of AI and big data in risk management, particularly for forecasting and early detection;
• understand how financing and risk management contribute to resilience, sustainability, and long-term stability.