Best Online Finance Courses

Introduction:

Financial Analysts are not only employed at Wall Street firms, but also banks, insurance companies, real estate investment brokerages, and other data-driven companies. Any business that frequently makes important decisions on how to spend money employs financial analysts to help make those decisions. Financial analysis majorly involves working in Excel, using a spreadsheet to analyze data and make projections.

Proficiency in relational databases, and statistical and graphics packages also add value. For anyone looking to gain all this knowledge or for current professionals wanting to brush their skills, taking a Financial Analyst course online is a great option. In addition to a comprehensive learning experience, one can earn a verified certificate to show to their potential employers. Here are the Best online finance courses for financial analysts.

Language & Tools of Financial Analysis by The University of Melbourne (Coursera)

Online Finance Courses by The University of Melbourne. This Financial Analysis course is the first course in a four-course Specialization on the Essentials of Corporate Financial Analysis and Decision-Making. The prestigious University of Melbourne has developed this program from first principles in partnership with their finance colleagues at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), which is one of the most successful financial institutions in the world.

This course imparts students with a firm grounding in the principles of financial analysis. It uncovers the essentials of accounting information underpinning financial analysis and teaches how to apply that information in financial analysis using discounted cash flow methodology to arrive at a fair evaluation of a company. The lessons are firmly rooted in the finance practice so you’ll learn not only academic but also practical knowledge of corporate toolset that will help you make well-informed business decisions.

The course is taught by Paul Kofman (PhD Erasmus University Rotterdam), the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Melbourne and Sean Pinder (PhD), an Associate Professor with the Department of Finance at the University of Melbourne. It is structured into 4 modules with video lectures, supplemental reading material and plenty of quizzes and exercises at the end of each module.

Key Highlights:

• Learn the foundations of accounting principles and financial analysis and develop an understanding of the links between these
• Learn how to measure value creation at the firm level
• Understand the key financial statements produced by a company and report to its shareholders with real-world examples
• Understand how financial analysts use ratio analysis to measure relative profitability, leverage, efficiency and the liquidity of a company
• Actual financial statements of US-listed food company Kellogg’s and its competitor Kraft are used in the course to demonstrate financial analysis techniques
• Learn Discounted cash Flow (DCF) analysis technique to evaluate financial decisions
• Option to audit the course for free. Earn a Verified Certificate by completing the course assignments and paying a small fee.

Duration: 14 hours, 4 to 6 hours per week

Rating: 4.7

The Complete Financial Analyst Course 2020 (Udemy)

Online Finance Courses on Udemy. This is arguably the best Financial Analyst course on Udemy with around 200,000 student enrolments. It is the most comprehensive, dynamic and practical course online and covers a multitude of topics including financial math, business analysis, financial statement analysis & valuation, capital budgeting and accounting. Students also get acquainted with the required tools for financial analysis like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint.

This course is provided by 365 Careers, which is the most popular provider of business Online Finance Courses on Udemy. So far more than 500000 students and employees from 80 Fortune 100 companies have taken their Udemy Online Finance Courses and Business. They have experience training top firms like Citibank, PayPal and Apple.

This course is a bundle of the following 10 different Online Finance Courses that together ensure you get the right training for each critical aspect of a financial analyst job:

• Beginner and Intermediate Excel
• Advanced Excel
• Accounting
• Advanced Accounting
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Working Capital management
• Fundamentals of Financial Analysis
• Capital Budgeting
• Financial Modeling
• PowerPoint

The course content is delivered through a series of animated videos. There are graded quizzes, practice exercises and a lot of course notes and downloadable reference material. Extensive case studies are included to reinforce what has been learnt. Students also get access to the course Q&A Forum where they can ask questions and clear doubts.

This Udemy financial analysis course is suitable for all skill levels and does not require any prior experience. Everything starts at the basics and then progresses to advanced topics.

Key Highlights

• Perform Financial statement analysis
• Gain essential Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint skills
• Learn to read and understand a company’s profit and loss statements and build them yourself
• Calculate Liquidity, Solvency, Profitability, and Growth ratios to analyze a company’s performance
• Understand Accounting and Bookkeeping principles
• Understand whether a company’s project is feasible from a financial perspective and be able to compare between different investment opportunities
• Understand the importance of timing in terms of revenue and cost recognition
• Understand 10-K reports
• Calculate a complete loan schedule
• Hands-on challenges to practice the acquired skills
• Full lifetime access to over 350 lectures, 3 articles and 477 downloadable resources
• Get a Financial Analyst certification upon completing the course

Duration: 17.5 hours on-demand video

Rating: 4.5