Enroll in the best finance course from some of the world’s renowned universities such as the University of California (Irvine), the University of Florida, University of Hong Kong, and get certified to enhance your profile. Choose the one that suits you.
Summary of best finance courses
| Course Provider | Course name | Best For | Duration | Enrollment | Learn More |
| Finance for Non-Financial Professionals | Non-Financial Professionals | 7 hours | Free to audit | Learn More | |
| Excel for Corporate Finance Professionals | Working professionals | 2h 25m | Paid | Learn More | |
| Personal & Family Financial Planning | Personal Financing | 15 hours | Free to audit | Learn More | |
| The Complete Advanced Accounting and Finance Course | Accounting & Startups | 4.5 hours | Paid | Learn More | |
| Financial Management Specialization | Specialization | 8 months | Upon subscription | Learn More | |
| Python for Financial Analysis and Algorithmic Trading | Computer scientist/ engineers | 17 hours | Paid | Learn More | |
| The Complete Investment Banking Course | Investment banking | 9 hours | Paid | Learn More | |
| Communication Skills for Finance Leaders | Finance Managers/leaders | 1.50 hours | Paid($129) | Learn More | |
| Introduction to FinTech | Digital finance | 6 Weeks | Free to audit | Learn More |
Coursera- Finance for Non-Financial Professionals
Offered by: University of California, Irvine
For those who think finance is a very complex subject and is very confusing to understand then this course is especially for them. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to deal with some of the basic finance-related matters. This basic-level course is for everyone irrespective of their profession. The course teaches some of the chief principles of financial management like accounting, budgeting, cash flow statement, and finding out financial ratios in a very easy to understand manner. Professor David Standen did a great job by explaining the fundamental concepts in a layman’s term without getting into numbers.
Key learnings
- Financial Statements
- Costing Methods and allocation
- Break-Even Analysis
- Financial Ratios
- Valuation Methods such as NPV and IRR.
Pros
- Very quick and easy to understand and informative course.
- Well presented course delivery.
- Lucid and compelling explanation by the instructor.
- No specific prerequisites and background knowledge needed to take this course.
Cons
- More graphics, animations, or visual engaging content can further uplift the course if added.
This course is not for those who are already well-aware of basic financial concepts and practices as it will be very general to them.
Linkedin Learning- Excel for Corporate Finance Professionals
This individual course is specifically for working finance professionals. You’ll learn financial planning and analysis using Microsoft Excel together with the professor. The course teaches you, how to selectively pick investment for your firm, determining cost capital, perform budgeting functions, and how to perform scenario analysis in Excel to analyze future events. By the end of this course, you’ll get top skills such as Business Analytics, Advance Microsoft Excel, Corporate Finance best practices.
Key learnings:
- Project selection and evaluation
- Cash flow in budgeting
- Capital budgeting and analysis in Excel using techniques like NPV, IRR
- Scenario analysis in Excel
- WACC and Capital Structure
- Operational Budgeting
Pros
- Discover useful Excel tips and tricks for regular corporate financial planning and analysis
- A practical understanding of all key topics.
- Very useful training for all corporate finance practitioners.
Cons
- Not at all as long as you’re familiar with Microsoft Excel.
Coursera- Personal & Family Financial Planning
Offered by: University of Florida
Master the art of personal financing by taking this course. The course covers all the key topics and concepts, one needs to know before starting personal financing. Though this course is more suited for US residents, the basic understanding of which is still very useful and requisite for personal as well as family financial planning. From managing income tax to investing in mutual funds this course will enhance your personal along with your professional financial skills.
Key learnings:
- Time Value of Money
- Financial Statements
- Income tax basics
- Maintaining Good Credit
- Risk management and insurance decision making
- Saving and Investing
- Designing a personal investment plan
- Debt and equity investment planning
Pros
- Well-designed course to kickstart personal/family financial planning.
- Easy to follow video tutorials and presentations.
- All the information is easy to put into practice.
- Also helpful to anyone commencing his/her professional career in finance.
Cons
- Most of the information given in this course is useful to residents of the United States only.
Udemy- The Complete Advanced Accounting and Finance Course
For anyone who wants to master accounting and finance for managing their new business and startup, this course is best for them. The course goes into detail explaining some general accounting principles as well as more specific topics concerning to growing companies. Moreover, the course also talks about issues such as deferred revenues, intercompany transactions, foreign currency accounting, and so on. The instructor of the course is Chris Benjamin with over 25 years of experience in accounting and finance space such as CFO Consulting, Securities and Exchange Commission, and auditing.
Key learnings:
- Excel Basics
- Deferred Revenue Accounting
- Intercompany Transaction
- Foreign Currency Transactions Accounting
- Partnership Accounting
- Derivatives Accounting
- Leases Accounting
- Options & Warrants Accounting
Pros
- Easy to understand and informative learning materials and teaching by the instructor.
- Useful for entrepreneurs who are just starting their ventures and dealing with financial matters like funding, lease agreements, subsidiaries, handling intangible assets.
- A lot of advanced accounting topics directly applies to a particular professional job.
Cons
- There are suggestions by students to include deferred expenses, depreciation, and amortization into the course.
Coursera- Financial Management Specialization
Offered by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
This specialization course on financial management offered by Coursera in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a part of the iMBA program. The specialization is designed by combining seven different individual finance courses namely:
- Financial Accounting: Foundations
- Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics
- Investments I: Fundamentals of Performance Evaluation
- Investments II: Lessons and Applications for Investors
- Corporate Finance I: Measuring and Promoting Value Creation
- Corporate Finance II: Financing Investments and Managing Risk
- Financial Management Capstone
Key learnings:
- Strategic financial management
- Evaluation of major corporate investment decisions
- Strategic financial decision-making
- Financial statements
- Portfolio management
- Major firm valuation techniques.
Pros
- Gives you a strong understanding and knowledge of strategic financial management.
- The course has significant career outcomes such as pay increase or promotion.
- Each course in this specialization counts towards college credit if you take up the iMBA program by the University of Illinois.
- You can also audit each course in this specialization for free.
Cons
- The course is lengthy, you need to spend nearly 8 months to complete this course.
Udemy- Python for Financial Analysis and Algorithmic Trading
What role do NumPy and Pandas play in financial analysis? Do coding and finance co-exist? Find out and explore the world of finance by Algorithmic lens. The course teaches everything about using Python for financial analysis. It is recommended for all the course takers to have prior knowledge and familiarity with Python. If you’re a finance enthusiast studying engineering or computer science then this course is a win-win situation for you. The course start-off by taking fundamentals of Python and then follows through diverse core libraries used in the Py-Finance Ecosystem such as NumPy, pandas, matplotlib zipline, and much more.
Key learnings:
- Pandas for Efficient Data Analysis and visualization
- Calculation of financial statistics including Cumulative Returns, Volatility, etc
- Capital Asset Pricing Model
- Algorithmic Trading
Pros
- A very interesting course allows you to experiment with what you’ve learned by taking on a Capstone Project.
- A great introduction to algorithmic trading.
- Comprehensive course content
- Good cohesive overview of python and equity trading.
Cons
- The course needs to be updated as some content is outdated.
Udemy- The Complete Investment Banking Course 2020
Want to learn about investment banking and different valuation techniques used by top IB companies such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley? Yes, but sound unfamiliar to you; don’t be so concerned everything in this course will be followed step-by-step to attain full understanding. The course claims to provide everything you need to land a job on Wall Street. The key topics being covered in this course are Capital Markets, Initial Public Offerings, Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management, and Leveraged Buyout (LBO)
Key learnings:
- Building financial models from scratch
- The mechanics and process behind an Initial Public Offering
- How to successfully pass investment banking interviews
- What is LBO and how to carry out LBO deals
Pros
- A good mixture of theory and practical approach.
- Contains all necessary information needed by anyone who wants to succeed in the Investment Banking field.
- A person with no background knowledge subject can also take this course.
- Abundance learning resources available such as pdf, excel files, infographics.
- Real-life examples and extensive case studies.
Cons
- Few terms are difficult to understand from a beginner’s perspective.
Forbes- Communication Skills for Finance Leaders
Offered by: [email protected]Forbes
In this course, you’ll learn the necessary communication and listening skills essential for every finance manager or professional. The course trains you in several aspects of soft skills practices such as body language, time management, active listening through real-world and fictional examples. You’ll be able to communicate effectively with audiences of different backgrounds and professions. If you have significant experience working in the finance sector at the senior level, this course will open additional doors of opportunity for you.
Key learnings:
- Best practices for effective communication and listening
- Persuasion methods
- Self-discipline best practices
- Defining body language
- How to interact in face-to face meetings
- Time management
Pros
- In less than 2 hours you’ll master your communication and other soft skills like never before.
- Rene Kamstra, the course instructor worked in diverse industries with more than 100 CFOs will teach you by sharing her marvelous experience and useful insights.
- There is a direct relationship between this course and your career upliftment.
Cons
- There are not any cons so far but the course is focused primarily on financial managers or supervisors. It is not for those who are at a lower level of management.
edX- Introduction to FinTech
Offered by: University of Hong Kong
This course by the University of Hong Kong explores the world of digital finance popularly known as Fintech. Fintech is generally defined as using technology to conduct financial services. This introductory course on Fintech covers a holistic approach to digital finance including banking, payments, cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, AI and machine learning, and more. Today, the way financial transactions are administered is changed dramatically with the emergence of newer technology and start-ups. It is imperative for all finance students as well as professionals to understand this changing landscape.
Key learnings:
- FinTech- Transformation, Evolution, Infrastructure, and Typology
- Payments- Mobile Money, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain
- Digital Finance- AI in FinTech, Crowdfunding, Lending, New Models and products
- FinTech Regulation- Challenges and opportunities, Smart Regulation and Fraud Detection, Regulatory Sandboxes
- Data – Open Banking API, Data Protection, GDPR Compliance, Personal Privacy, Metadata, and Differential Privacy
Pros
- Good introductory course on finance, technology, and regulations.
- No prior knowledge is required at all to take this course.
- The course will enrich your profile and career significantly.
Cons
- The course is free to audit however if you want to get certified then you have to pay for the certificate which is quite expensive