uwloo

ECON 371Business Finance 1

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Economics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 7 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 3 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

The course explores decisions faced by managers of firms. In particular, decision-makers must determine which long-term real investment opportunities to exploit. Once undertaken, managers must decide how to finance the projects, for example, by debt or equity. The course develops both the conceptual framework and the tools required for these decisions. The course assumes prior familiarity with probability, expected values, and variance.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Complete 1 of the following
      • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
        • COMM103 - Principles of Economics (0.50)
        • ECON100 - Principles of Economics (0.50)
        • ECON101 - Introduction to Microeconomics (0.50)
        • MSE263 - Managerial Economics (0.50)
      • Must have completed the following:
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • AE224 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • AFM113 - Analytic Methods for Business 2 (0.50)
      • ARTS280 - Statistics for Arts Students (0.50)
      • BME213 - Statistics and Experimental Design (0.50)
      • CHE220 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • CIVE224 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • ECE203 - Probability Theory and Statistics 1 (0.50)
      • ECON221 - Statistics for Economists (0.50)
      • ENVE224 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • GEOE224 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • LS280 - Social Statistics (0.50)
      • ME202 - Statistics for Engineers (0.50)
      • MSE251 - Probability and Statistics 1 (0.50)
      • NE215 - Probability and Statistics (0.50)
      • PSCI314 - Quantitative Analysis (0.50)
      • PSYCH292 - Basic Data Analysis (0.50)
      • SDS250R - Social Statistics (0.50)
      • SOC280 - Social Statistics (0.50)
      • SRF230 - Introduction to Statistics (0.50)
      • STAT202 - Introductory Statistics for Scientists (0.50)
      • STAT206 - Statistics for Software Engineering (0.50)
      • STAT220 - Probability (Non-Specialist Level) (0.50)
      • STAT230 - Probability (0.50)
      • STAT240 - Probability (Advanced Level) (0.50)
      • SYDE212 - Probability, Statistics, and Data Science (0.50)

Antirequisites

  • Not completed nor concurrently enrolled in any of the following:
    • ACTSC372 - Investment Science and Corporate Finance (0.50)
    • AFM273 - Financial Instruments and Capital Markets (0.50)
    • AFM274 - Introduction to Corporate Finance (0.50)

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001317157 / 100MW 08:30–09:50
LEC 002371774 / 100TTh 08:30–09:50

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00131100 / 100TTh 13:00–14:20
LEC 00234620 / 100TTh 08:30–09:50
LEC 701118777 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

67% liked it59% easy80% useful

From 72 ratings and 19 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • It's highly applicable in future jobs/co-ops, especially if they come under the finance/accounting cluster but I personally hated this course with all my heart given my love for math.
    It was 2 midterms and a final (MCQ + short answers)- do those practice sets if you have Predrag as ur prof

    Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Mostly memorization of definitions and concepts, plus plug and chug with basic formulas. MT's were very similar to the samples and final questions were fair. Formula sheets were given during my term for all exams. Can pass without going to class; I liked the prof so still went. Use lecture slides for examples. Lots of content overlap with ECON 206 and ACTSC 231 but much easier. Will be a breeze if you have taken those courses.

    Jun 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Interesting content. Doing the previous years tests and midterms is GREAT preparation for midterms/exam. Go to class to see examples.

    Aug 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Pretty useful stuff like stocks, share value, market value of a firm, etc. First half is very easy but second half picks up in difficulty considerably but not the worst. As long as you lock in in the second half, you will be good. Also, take it with Elshan because his classes were really engaging and interesting and he actually seemed to care a lot about the students.

    Sep 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • It's business finance so not the most interesting. First half of the term is easier while second half gets challenging. A lot of formulas and memorization. You can get the Mylab to help but not mandatory. Since professor reads off the slides, at least you can miss class if you have to without worrying about catching up You might find more than half the class stops showing up after the first midterm. Class is made up of 2 tests and the final (mcq's and short answer - lots of applications of formulas). Just get through it. Also don't expect a curve because it won't happen unless the class average is absolutely horrible.

    Sep 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

133 posts and comments in 107 threads mention ECON 371, September 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

How is ECON 424 "Machine Learning in Economics" for CS student? 4 points, 7 comments

“Wanted to take a ECON3xx/4xx course for the depth. Haven't taken Intro to Machine Learning/AI. How is this course? Do we need a lot of ECON or machine learning experience to do it?”

u/Psychological_Fig399: “apparently it doesn’t count for the depth requirement bc it is too related to CS”

u/LaApplePear: “bro there is no way, last time a check (half a year ago) they don't allow me, so I'm take a useless ECON371 rn”

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Winter 2025 Bird courses - ARTS 2 points, 1 comment

“So I'm in 3B doing a double major, and last term while I was on coop trying to plan out my last 3 study terms, I noticed I had about half the required courses for a PSCI minor, so I thought why not …”

u/Horiphic: “For arts courses, HRM 200, ECON 371, AFM 123, AFM 131 were all pretty bird imo. If you have space for non arts courses, I would recommend some of the 100 level EARTH courses. …”

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Spring 2024

Winter 2024

2B course load 2 points, 9 comments

u/planarsimplex: “How doable? CS 240 CS 241 CS 251 AMATH 250 STAT 231 ECON 371 It would be my first time doing 6 courses.”

u/soeffingconfusedbro: “I’m taking ECON371 right now with Predrag Rajsic, fantastic professor and super chill course. It’s very plug and chug (they give you a formula sheet for exams) and the content is easy to follow. …”

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Fall 2023

Most Useful Econ Courses 1 point, 3 comments

“I’m planning on doing an ECON minor, so 8 courses in total, 4 of which are 200+ level. Which courses are the most useful in terms of jobs (business field)/general knowledge/personal life. …”

u/mikewazaoski6969: “im also pursuing an econ minor and i am taking econ 371 currently. it's a great course and easy as well (the tests are super super easy). It teaches about annuity, bonds, stocks etc and this knowledge can be used in business as well as personal life”

u/M00bak: “Econ 371, Econ 372 are the Econ finance courses. Econ 424 is cool. Econ 423 I heard can be hard but interesting since it’s about finance stock data. https://www.reddit.com/r/uwaterloo/comments/9bcv0u/doseanyoneknowhowdifficultisecon423/.”

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Spring 2023

Winter 2023

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

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