(GSCFM) Advanced Financial Statement Analysis

The objective of this course is to make credit professionals better aware of the information contained in a firm’s financial statements and how to analyze it. An improved awareness equates to improved knowledge about credit risk. Skills employed include comprehension, analysis, critical thinking, computational, reasoning, synthesis of information, evaluation and communication. Through a combination of lectures, cases analyses, and exercises, the course will emphasize analysis and interpretation of cash flows, financial ratios, accounting fraud and irregularities--to assess a firm’s liquidity.

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Instructor: Brian Lazarus

Brian R. Lazarus, CPA, CGMA, MBA has decades of professional experience in various levels of accounting, management and entrepreneurship as well as teaching courses in Accounting and Business, both in an online and traditional classroom format. He has served in positions ranging from Credit Analyst in a Fortune 300 company to Controller as well as Director of Accounting, in addition to establishing and managing his own consulting practice. He has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, an MBA as well as a Graduate certificate in E-Commerce. He is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), equivalent to a Chartered Accountant (CA) in other countries. Professor Lazarus is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Accounting Association. He also serves on Members in Education Committee of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). Furthermore, he had previously served on MACPA's Financial Literacy Advisory Board. He has also volunteered his time to serve as a judge in competitions for high school students, organized by the Future Business Leaders of America as well as volunteered his time with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Maryland. He has been honored multiple times for his student centric focus and excellence in teaching including being awarded the prestigious NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) Excellence Award. Professor Lazarus was recognized for his outstanding work by his peers who selected him for this high honor. Additionally, his excellence and service to the citizens of Baltimore resulted in Professor Lazarus receiving citations from both, the Mayor and Comptroller of Baltimore City. Furthermore, Professor Lazarus’ work on designing online courses has earned him the distinguished QM (Quality Matters) certification. Quality Matters is a global organization who is a leader in quality assurance in online and innovative digital teaching. Professor Lazarus and his wife, also a CPA, have collaborated to create a very successful series of 26 mini lectures on various accounting/finance topics. These highly acclaimed mini lectures are housed in You Tube and have received over 2 million hits. They have been viewed by tens of thousands of students globally who have benefitted from these lectures. Professor Lazarus is a voracious reader and takes a keen interest in World War II movies and books. He loves to play chess with his daughter and read to his young son. He lives in Maryland with his wife and two children.