Certificate: Leading in Finance and Technology

The discipline

Finance today is both more technical and more accessible than ever before. Capital markets are being reshaped by digital infrastructure, traditional institutions are adopting the methods of emerging disruptors, and executives across functions are increasingly expected to interpret financial statements, evaluate investments, and engage confidently with evolving financial technologies. This certificate is designed for professionals seeking exactly that capability.

Curriculum

  • Six courses total
  • 9 credits
  • Delivered across one academic year
  • Beirut campus

Three defining courses • 4.5 credits

These three courses define the certificate.

ACC711 • Accounting for Executives
Financial statements as decision-making instruments. Interpreting and using the information contained in financial statements from a user’s perspective—liabilities, stockholders’ equity, activity-based costing, cost allocation, and job and process costing.

  • Oct – Dec 2026
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 21 class hours
  • 1.5 credits

FIN712 • Executive Business Finance
The principal tools executives use to make financial decisions—time value of money, capital budgeting, the valuation of stocks and bonds, and the fundamental relationship between risk and expected return.

  • Jan – Mar 2027
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 21 class hours
  • 1.5 credits

FIN781 E • Financial Technology (FinTech)
How financial technology and emerging innovations—including artificial intelligence—are reshaping the delivery and management of financial services. Practical insight into how digital tools enhance decision-making, efficiency, and customer engagement in modern finance.

  • Apr – Jun 2027
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • ~21 class hours
  • 1.5 credits

 

Three elective courses • 4.5 credits

Executives complete the certificate by selecting any three of the following five electives—the combination that best reflects their professional focus.

FIN781 T • Investment Analysis
Conventional investment instruments alongside emerging asset classes such as cryptocurrencies. Security selection, wealth allocation, risk–return tradeoff, diversification, portfolio construction, and performance evaluation.

Prerequisite: FIN 712 Executive Business Finance

  • Offered annually
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 1.5 credits

FIN747 • Financial Risk Management
Options, futures, and forward contracts—their structure, the mechanics of their markets, and their application to the hedging of investment portfolios.

Prerequisite: FIN 712 Executive Business Finance

  • Offered annually
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 1.5 credits

FIN721 • Corporate Financial Strategy
Corporate financial decisions at the strategic level—capital structure, cost of capital, dividend policy, and stock repurchase strategy as instruments of executive choice.

Prerequisite: ACC 711 Accounting for Executives

  • Offered annually
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 1.5 credits

ACC781 K • Financial Statement Analysis
Analyzing the financial statements of a corporation from a user’s perspective—ratio analysis, cash flow analysis, and financial forecasting as the diagnostic language of executive finance.

Prerequisite: ACC 711 Accounting for Executives

  • Offered annually
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 1.5 credits

FIN781 N • Cryptos and Digital Assets
The rise of cryptocurrencies and digital assets in modern finance. Blockchain-enabled tokenization, decentralized finance, and new investment models—with emphasis on business applications, regulation, and strategic opportunity.

  • Offered annually
  • Beirut · Weekend
  • 1.5 credits

 

Program Outcome
Executives are able to read and pressure-test financial statements, construct and defend an investment thesis, evaluate fintech propositions with rigor, and contribute meaningfully to board-level financial discussion.

A note on sequencing

Accounting is taught first, establishing the language of financial statements on which the subsequent courses rest. Finance and FinTech follow in sequence, with prerequisites enforced where doctrine requires it. Electives are chosen to reflect the executive’s focus—portfolio and risk for investment professionals, corporate strategy and statement analysis for corporate finance executives, crypto and digital assets for those tracking the frontier.

 

Start with a Question

David Matta, Director of Executive Education
david.matta@lau.edu.lb  ·  +961 1 786 456  ·  ext. 1611