Principles of Finance

Purpose: To support faculty teaching Business Finance (FIN 300) or similar undergraduate finance courses by sharing a cost-effective open textbook that improves accessibility and maintains academic rigor.

Common Course ID: FIN 300 – Business Finance

Abstract: This open textbook is being utilized in a Finance course for undergraduate or graduate students by Alireza Talebi at California State University, Long Beach. The open textbook provides clear explanations of financial principles, interactive examples, and practice problems covering corporate finance fundamentals including time value of money, risk and return, valuation, and capital budgeting. The main motivation to adopt an open textbook was to reduce student costs and provide more flexible, digital access. Most students access the open textbook online through MERLOT and download it as a free PDF or view it via the course Canvas site.

Course Title and number: FIN 300 – Business Finance

Brief description of course highlights: This course introduces students to the foundational principles and tools of corporate finance, including time value of money, risk and return, financial analysis, valuation, capital budgeting, and working capital management. The course emphasizes practical application, critical thinking, and analytical problem solving in both business and personal finance contexts.

Student population: Undergraduate business majors, primarily finance, accounting, and management students, usually in their second or third year. Most students have completed introductory accounting and economics courses. The course serves as a core requirement for the B.S. in Business Administration with a Finance concentration. 

Course prerequisites: ECON 101, ECON 102, and ACCT 201 (or equivalent introductory economics and accounting courses).

Learning outcomes: By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain the fundamental concepts and goals of corporate finance.
• Analyze and evaluate financial statements and cash flows.
• Apply the time value of money to solve real-world finance problems.
• Assess risk and return and understand security market line principles.
• Perform basic valuation of bonds and stocks.
• Evaluate investment decisions using net present value and other criteria.

Textbook Title: Principles of Finance (Open Textbook – MERLOT ID: 1375608)

Description: This open textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to corporate and personal finance. It covers key topics such as financial statement analysis, time value of money, valuation of bonds and stocks, risk and return, capital budgeting, and cost of capital. The text uses clear explanations, examples, and problem sets with step-by-step solutions. It supports flexible learning through self-paced reading and interactive exercises.

Link 

Authors: Kevin Bracker, Fang Lin, and Jennifer Pursley  

Student access: Students access the resource through MERLOT, Canvas course modules, or directly as a downloadable PDF for offline reading.

• Supplemental resources: Canvas-hosted quizzes and practice problems
• Instructor-created video explanations and PowerPoint slides
• Financial calculator tutorials (TI BA II Plus)
• Optional problem sets from McGraw-Hill’s Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (for additional practice)

Cost Savings: The open textbook saves students approximately $100–$150 per student compared to a traditional finance textbook.

License: Openly licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Motivation: The adoption was driven by a desire to increase equity and access, reduce financial burden, and offer flexible, digital-first learning materials. The open resource also allows the instructor to customize content to better match course sequencing and learning objectives.

Selection Process: The textbook was discovered through MERLOT’s OER repository, reviewed for content coverage and instructional design, and compared with OpenStax and Saylor Academy alternatives. Peer reviews and alignment with CSULB’s course objectives confirmed its suitability.

Sharing Best Practices:

• Review multiple OER options and ensure alignment with your course learning outcomes.

• Combine open materials with instructor-developed problem sets or examples for enhanced engagement.

• Use Canvas or LMS integration to simplify access and maintain consistent navigation for students.

Challenges and Lessons Learned: Initial student unfamiliarity with OER platforms required clear instructions on access and navigation. Some chapters needed reordering to align with the traditional finance sequence (e.g., covering time value of money before financial statements). The main challenge was balancing cost savings, accessibility, and content depth while maintaining rigorous assignments. The open textbook integrates well with the corporate finance curriculum and provides high-quality, no-cost materials. Supplemental lecture notes, in-class examples, and Canvas-based quizzes effectively bridge content gaps and support active learning, resulting in a seamless transition from traditional textbooks to open educational resources.

Instructor: Dr. Alireza Talebi

Title/Institution: Lecturer of Finance, California State University, Long Beach
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Courses Taught at CSULB: FIN 300 (Business Finance).

Teaching Philosophy & Research Interests: Dr. Talebi emphasizes applied learning and financial empowerment through experiential exercises, data-driven problem solving, and connections between personal and corporate finance. His research interests include financial decision-making, behavioral finance, and financial education.