Introduction

Dr. Kevin Bracker, Dr. Fang Lin and Jennifer Pursley

Dr. Kevin Bracker, Dr. Fang Lin and Jennifer Pursley

About Business Finance Essentials

Business Finance Essentials is a text designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of business finance without the additional cost of a textbook. This book has been developed with over a decade of classroom use in both face-to-face and online classes at Pittsburg State University. The goal was to create a resource to introduce students to the important elements that go into financial decision making which applies to corporations and their own personal lives in a simple framework. Whether it is learning about time value of money, bonds, capital budgeting or retirement planning, this book should make that process as straight-forward as possible. With the explosion of Open Educational Resource materials over the past few years, we saw this as a tool that could be made available to faculty as a launching point for their courses. Using a Creative Commons license that allows users to modify it to their needs with their own additions or through adding other resources, it is intended as not the final product, but the starting point. We hope that this process will keep the material current and flexible enough to help students gain not only a better grasp of finance, but also an interest in the field.

Open Education Resources

Business Finance Essentials is an Open Educational Resource that has been released under an open license that permits free use and allows editing. The open license retains author copyright but gives users permission to engage in the 5Rs of OER:

Retain -right to store, download, duplicate, etc.
Reuse -right to use in the classroom, on a website, in a video, etc.
Revise -right to edit the work, adapt it, modify it, translate it, etc.
Remix -right to combine this resource with other open resources to create a new work
Redistribute -share the original work, a mixed work, or a revised work with others.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license, CC BY-NC 4.0. Details about this license:

Users can engage in the 5Rs of OER as long as the provide attribution to the authors, see the How to Provide Attribution section below.
Users are not allowed to use the work, or derivative works, for any commercial purpose.

How to provide Attribution

Business Finance Essentials by Bracker, Lin, and Pursley licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

How to edit this textbooks

Business Finance Essentials was built using the book production software, PressBooks. Our Creative Commons license allows you to edit and share the work as long as you provide attribution to the authors and use the work only for non-commercial purposes. See the steps below for instructions on how to edit this textbook.

Create a PressBooks account (The free plan has a 5MB limit and includes watermarks in EPUB, MOBI and PDF exports). Make sure to register your book now, so you can create a copy of this textbook to edit.
Navigate to the Tools option in the left hand menu
Select Import
Use the drop down menu to select the Import Type, Web page or Pressbooks webbook
For the Import Source, select Import from URL
Copy the URL of Business Finance Essentials and paste it into the dialog box
Click Begin Import
Select Chapter(s) you wish to edit
Click Import Selection

Once you have imported the text, you are free to tailor it for your classroom. For edited works, be sure to use the new Pressbook URL or export the edited versions to EPUB, MOBI or PDF.

For technical assistance importing this textbooks, contact Pressbooks Help.

About the Authors

Kevin Bracker, Ph.D.

Dr. Kevin Bracker is a Professor of Finance in the Kelce College of Business at Pittsburg State University. He received a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Kansas in December, 1995, with his doctoral research focusing on understanding and forecasting correlations across international equity markets. Kevin has published in a wide range of academic journals, contributing to the following literature: international equity markets, futures markets, prediction markets, bank risks, the impact of R & D on firm value, and financial education. He received the Kelce School of Business “Excellence in Research” award in 1999 and has participated at professional association conferences, presenting papers, serving as a reviewer, and chairing research presentation seminars. He has also served as a reviewer for several academic journals.

Kevin currently teaches business finance (traditional/online) and investments courses. He has received the “Outstanding Faculty Award” for the College of Business three times (2008, 2010 and 2012), has been nominated by students on several occasions for the University “Outstanding Faculty Award” and received the award (one of three recipients) in 2003. Kevin’s passion as a professor is the opportunity to teach and interact with students in and beyond the traditional classroom. He has published journal articles with students, been a faculty advisor to the PSU Finance Club since arriving at the University in 1995, and served as a faculty mentor to the CFA Institute Research Challenge team starting in the fall of 2011. Kevin earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 2003 and has sponsored several students for CFA Student Scholarships since that time.

Outside of his role as a professor, Kevin is married (Debbi Bracker) and has one daughter (Sarah Bracker). He stays active with a variety of outdoor activities including running, biking and backpacking. He has also been known to spend way too much time in the fall/winter watching NFL football and managing his fantasy football teams.

Fang Lin, Ph.D.

Dr. Fang Lin has been serving as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Finance at the University of Washington Bothell since Autumn 2022. Prior to joining UWB, he was an Associate Professor of Finance in the Kelce College of Business at Pittsburg State University. Professor Lin holds a Ph.D. degree in Finance from the University of Oklahoma, and a master’s degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. His research interests are primarily in the area of empirical corporate finance, with a focus on corporate bond issuance, executive compensation, innovation, and energy markets. His articles have been published in journals such as the Journal of Corporate Finance and the Energy Journal. He also frequently presents his research at academic conferences.

While at PSU, Dr. Lin taught various courses including business finance, financial institutions and markets, risk management and insurance, investments, and seminar in financial management. He received the “Excellence in Teaching” award from the Kelce College of Business in 2017 and the “Outstanding Faculty Award” from at the university level in 2020. In his spare time, Dr. Lin enjoys travelling and watching sports, and he is becoming an avid runner.

Jennifer Pursley, MS

Jennifer Pursley is a Faculty Development Specialist in the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology at Pittsburg State University. Jennifer completed a Master’s of Science in Mathematics from Pittsburg State University in 2006 and a Master’s of Science in Finance from the University of Kansas in 2008. She has over ten years of experience teaching Mathematics courses face-to-face, online and hybrid. In addition to Mathematics and Finance, Jennifer’s professional interests include: Open Educational Resources, professional development, online course design, Quality Matters, accessibility, and general education.

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University, known as Pitt State or PSU, is a public university with over 7,000 students located in Pittsburg, Kansas. PSU offers over 100 academic programs within the college of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Technology. Pittsburg State University is not just your ordinary university. Many colleges can boast a small student to faculty ratio, a nicely sized institution with qualified faculty. But the unique advantages of selecting Pitt State for your higher education are significant and include…

Our esteemed Kelce College of Business, which has been continually accredited by the AACSB, as well as numerous top-shelf undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of academic areas including pre-med, nursing, education, music, design, broadcasting, and much more.
The Kansas Technology Center, which offers a number of internationally recognized technology programs.
The Bicknell Family Center for the Arts is the region’s premiere destination for the fine and performing arts. Designed and constructed by the world’s most renowned theater architects, this $33 million facility features a 1,100-seat performance hall, a 250-seat theater, a 3,500 square-foot art gallery and state-of-the-art technology.
Two new state-of-the-art centers for student health: the Student Recreation Center and the Student Health Center.
Strong support from alumni and friends – Pitt State just successfully completed its 10-year, $120 million capital campaign for scholarships, programs and more.
New apartment-style living for students in the modern Crimson Commons housing complex.
More GTE Academic All-Americans than any other NCAA Division II institution this decade, as well as a well-known athletics program that brings students and community members together to cheer on the Gorillas!
Reasonable, flat-rate tuition that extends well beyond the borders of Kansas. Our Gorilla Advantage program makes it possible for students in multiple counties surrounding Kansas to attend Pitt State at in-state rates. Qualified students who live outside of these areas, can take advantage of our new Gorilla Edge program, which allows students in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas to attend Pitt State at a reduced rate.

Kelce College of Business

The Kelce College of Business at Pittsburg State University is among the nation’s leading business schools for quality, high standards, and value. With a mission of offering a well-rounded, world-class education that engages students and prepares them for a future in the business world, the Gladys A. Kelce College of Business stands out as one of the premier business colleges in the country.

Kelce College of Business Accreditation, Rank and Recognition:

Accredited by the AACSB
Annually ranked among the Best Business Schools in the country by the Princeton Review
Ranked among the top 5 Family Friendly business schools in the country
In 2018, the Accounting Degree Review ranked the Kelce College #6 in the nation for programs offering degrees with forensic accounting.

Princeton Review Best Business School 2017