For students with little to no background in financial modeling, an introductory course on the theory and practice of financial modeling will be essential. Such a course will answer questions about what exactly is a financial model, how to use it, and how to understand its results. This will include an introduction to concepts like reading a balance sheet, understanding credit and how to use tax formulas. The purpose of this first course will be to give a student a broad overview of the terminology, assumptions and methods of a financial model.
Students with knowledge of the assumptions and theory behind financial modeling are ready to move onto the direct application of such models. For most purposes, this means getting a thorough introduction to spreadsheet modeling, most likely in the form of Microsoft Excel. This course will give students the knowledge needed to process Excel's mathematical functions relevant to finance. This includes using the spreadsheet to do things like assess the time value of money, create buttons and macros, and create Excel links to larger databases.
Advanced financial modeling students will want to focus on more specific topics, and one popular one is the topic of mergers and acquisitions. A course in this subject will begin by explaining why mergers and acquisitions occur and the economics behind such transactions. Secondly, the course will give students the tools necessary to assess a prospective acquisition. This includes looking at a business' long-term capital flow, its profit and loss formula, the synergy of its balance sheet with the acquirer's.
Finally, at an even more advanced level, students can begin to assess financial conditions based on risk and probabilities. A course in risk assessment will rely heavily on models of simulation. Students in a course like this will come away with an understanding of how financial forecasters "predict" the future, and what probabilistic assumptions they use. The most classic way of doing this is the "Monte-Carlo" model, which is the most commonly used model. In addition, students may experiment with certain software programs, like Oracle's CrystalBall, to see how one can powerfully try to predict the financial future.