Introduction

This course is an introduction to programming with VBA – the Visual Basic for Applications language. In this course, students will obtain VBA programming skills which enable them to understand and implement financial models. Students will learn how a simple VBA macro can automate time-consuming tasks and calculations.

Course Description

The goal of this course is to teach our students Excel usage at a high level, including the built-in data tools and formulas, as well as an introduction to programming with VBA -the Visual Basic for Applications language-within Excel. Excel is used everywhere in finance, and VBA allows practitioners to go beyond standard spreadsheet calculation and modeling. The course focuses on advanced topics such as interacting with databases as well as addons and creating macros to perform complex tasks

Course Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Implement financial programs and models within the Excel macro environment

2. Create customized functions and procedures to facilitate computation.

3. Write well-structured programs and understand data structures and objects.

4. Learn to integrate VBA programming within Excel.

Textbook

Beninga, Simon and Tal Mofkadi Principles of Finance with Excel, 5th edition, Oxford University Press, 2022.

Walkenbach John, Excel 2016 Bible, Wiley, 2015

Alexander, Michael and Dick Kusleika, Microsoft Excel 365 Bible, 1st edition, Wiley, 2022.

Timothy R. Mayes, Financial Analysis with Microsoft Excel, 9th edition, Cengage Publishing, 2020.

Walkenbach John, Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA, Wiley, April 2013.

Grading Policies

The final grade in the class will be determined in the following manner:

• Class Participation 5%
• Class Exercises 35%
• Assignments 60%

There is no credit for project or exams not submitted on time. Problem sets late by less than 24 hours and submitted before solutions are posted are penalized 10%. There is no credit for submissions late by more than 24 hours. However, you can use up to a total of three late days to extend your submission date for problem sets. Late days cannot be used for other assignments. You cannot use more than two late days for a problem set. If you use late days in a problem set, state so at the top of your submission.