Financial Analysis - How to Get Started

Financial Analysis - How to Get Started

Learn how to get started in a career in financial analysis. Not sure if this is right for you? We’ve put together a quick, two minute quiz to help you find out. Take the quiz now!

Start Here – Learn Excel (No really, it’s your new best friend)

MS Excel – From 0 to Working Professional in 1 Hour

Cost: Free

Length: 1 hour.

What you will learn: Learn the very basics of Excel, from how to navigate through some useful formulas.

Useful Excel for Beginners

Cost: Free

Length: It’s 9.5 hours of self-paced work.

What you will learn: An expanded ‘basics’ course that dives into detail on all of the essential attributes in using Excel.

Excel 2016 – The Complete Excel Mastery Course for Beginners

Cost: $20

Length: It’s 5.5 hours of self paced work.

What you will learn: Another course that goes beyond the basics. Helpful for both beginners and intermediate users.

Excel Analytics – Advanced Excel Formulas & Functions

Cost: $40

Length: It’s 5.5 hours of self-paced work.

What you will learn: Master advanced Excel functions & formulas with hands-on exercises designed by an award-winning Excel instructor.

Then – Learn the Basics of Finance

Introduction to Financial Modeling

Cost: Free.

Length: 1.5 hours

What you will learn: Learn to build a simple integrated financial statement model.

Accounting in 60 Minutes – A Brief Introduction

Cost: Free.

Length: 1.5 hours

What you will learn: What? Accounting? Yes! Here’s a secret – knowing and understanding how the books are kept goes a very long way towards being an effective financial analyst. The same is true for any data analysis – the better you understand the source, the more efficient you’ll be when you need to really dig in.

Go Deeper on Learning Advanced Finance Skills…

The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2016

Cost: $50

Length: It’s 8 hours of self-paced work.

What you will learn: Excel, Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Business Analysis, Financial Math, PowerPoint: Everything is Included!

Introduction to Bookkeeping and Accounting

Cost: $20

Length: 1 hour.

What you will learn: Introduction to Bookkeeping and Accounting, Assets, liabilities, income, expenditure and the Accounting equation

Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis: Complete Training

Cost: $20

Length: It’s 2.5 hours long.

What you will learn: This course walks you through the complete picture and includes practical examples.

…or Broaden Your Knowledge of Business Fundamentals

Coursera / Wharton Business Foundations Specialization

Cost: $95 per course, $215 for the capstone course, $500 for the whole package.

Length: 22 weeks of coursework and you should budget 5-6 hours per week. You can typically take more than one class at a time, and you can also move ahead and finish a course early. 

What you will learn: In this Specialization, you’ll develop basic literacy in the language of business, which you can use to transition to a new career, start or improve your own small business, or apply to business school to continue your education. In four courses, you’ll learn the fundamentals of marketing, accounting, operations, and finance. In the final Capstone Project, you’ll apply the skills learned by developing a go-to-market strategy to address a real business challenge.