Kickstart Your Career As A Financial Analyst

Kickstart Your Career As A Financial Analyst Finance acts as a backbone for organizations and aids their growth in the market by maintaining cash-flows, obtaining the right investors and navigating appropriate financial pathways.

Financial analytics plays a vital role in the success of an organization by contributing to its revenue, economic feats, and other accomplishments.

This abstract is just a synopsis of a more detailed learn path in finance certification courses, which provides an overview of the financial analyst role along with a detailed description of job responsibilities, educational background, skills required, and the future outlook for the financial analyst job market. You can find the link to it towards the end of this article.

What is financial analytics?

Financial analytics is a broad domain that examines financial data and uses its findings to help organizations make informed business decisions. It is also sometimes referred to as finance analytics, and is based on a concept that provides different viewpoints on a business’s financial data.

It provides acumen that facilitates strategic decisions and improves the long-term performance of a business. It has an impact on all the facets of a business and plays a vital role in sanctioning future business predictions, calculating profit and answering important questions about a business.

Learning paths In comparison to many high-paying careers, the qualifications needed to become a financial analyst are much less rigorous and well-defined. There are two different approaches to get you acquainted with a competent skill set and gain desired knowledge before venturing into this field.

The first one is online learning; it is recommended for those who want to pursue professional certification courses and diploma programs. It can help an individual to get entry-level jobs in this field.

The second one is traditional or offline learning; this is suitable for those who are ready to invest a lot of time in mastering the desired skill set and furnishing their knowledge. It is basically ideal for those who want to pursue a master’s degree or are interested in taking an internship.

Well, both methods cater to different sets of audiences. However, it’s generally best for working professionals to go with online certification courses and students to go with an extensive master’s degree program.

Essential skills and tools required ➔ Soft skills These are also called people skills and are extremely crucial to thrive in this industry.

They are as follows:

◆ Communication: As a financial analyst, having effective communication skills means being savvy with sending emails, leaving messages, communicating important financial information, and using non-verbal communication to navigate professional working relationships. ◆ Critical thinking: Financial analysts must possess excellent critical thinking skills, which will facilitate them in making critical business decisions and thinking through important financial questions. ◆ Commercial Cognizance: A financial analyst is expected to be well versed with the company’s investment portfolio, political issues and economic rewards, which will help in tracking fiscal returns. ◆ Resilience: Given the high-pressure level of the job, the individual should have the ability to bounce back from difficulties or any unforeseen situations. ◆ Leadership: This skill is essential as an individual may sometimes be in charge of finance departments or teams, and effective leadership skills will be required by an employer.

➔ Technical skills The following are some important skills which are used in making informed business decisions through predictive analysis and forecasting:

◆ Financial Statements Analysis: It refers to the process of analyzing and reviewing financial statements of an organization such as balance sheets, income statements, to gain better understanding of the financial status and make strategic business decisions.

How to Learn?

The courses are available online, including both paid and non-paid. We have listed a few courses from CFI, and Future Learn.

1. Understanding Financial Statements Provider : Universal Class, Price : Approx ₹6,000 or $77, Duration : 6 months 2. Financial Analysis Fundamentals Provider : CFI, Price : ₹2414 or $31, Duration : 6.5 hours, Level : Intermediate ◆ Financial Modeling: It is the process of forecasting a company’s financial performance by developing an outline in spreadsheet software like MS Excel.

How to Learn?

The courses for financial modeling are vast in nature, so we have listed a few courses for acquiring the required skills.

1. Financial Modeling Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹26,550 or $342, Duration: 40 hours, Level: Intermediate 2. Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst Provider : CFI, Price : ₹37,000 or $477, Duration : 6 months, Level : Intermediate ◆ Accounting skills: It encompasses general knowledge about accounting, which will be required when dealing with an organization’s financial statements. These include knowledge of: ● Cash Flow Management ● General Ledger ● Journal Entry ● Balance Sheets ● Tax Reporting How to Learn?

The skill can be learned via online courses, campus learning, or accounting textbooks. Below, we have listed some relevant online courses provided by Coursera and Alison (University of Virginia).

1. Introduction to Finance and Accounting Specialization Provider : Coursera, Price : ₹12,369 or $160, Duration : 5 months, Level : Beginner 2. Financial Accounting Fundamentals Provider : Coursera, Price : Free, Duration : Approx 14 Hours, Level : Beginner

➔ Essential tools ◆ Spreadsheet Programs: It refers to a worksheet which helps in analyzing, organizing, and storing data in tabular form. The topmost programs to learn are Basic Microsoft Excel and Google Sheet.

How to Learn?

The skill can be learned through online classes, which will be best-suited to progress in this program. We have shortlisted a few courses provided by Coursera: 1. Introduction to Spreadsheets Models Provider : Coursera, Price : Subscription-based, Duration : Approx 6 Hours, Level : Beginner 2. Spreadsheets for Beginners Provider : Coursera, Price : ₹744 or $10; Duration : Approx 2 Hours, Level : Beginner ◆ SAP: Systems Application and Products in data processing is a software program that organizes and stores financial data of each department within an organization which facilitates operational productivity.

How to Learn?

The skill can be learned through certification and training programs online. We have shortlisted a few courses you can refer to: 1. SAP-FICO by Henry Harvin Provider : Henry Harvin, Price: ₹26,550 or $342, Duration : Approx. 44 hours, Level : Intermediate 2. SAP-FICO Training by Multisoft Provider : Multisoft Virtual Academy, Price: ₹22,500 or $290, Duration : Approx 3 weeks ◆ Oracle Hyperion: It is highly useful in financial analysis as it aids in strategy execution and organizational goal management and facilitates strategic business decision-making.

How to Learn?

The Oracle Hyperion serves a wide variety of products; the online courses or certifications are widely used to add an advantage to the financial analyst profile.

Different types of certifications are provided on platforms such as Udemy and Intellipaat.

1. Hyperion Financial Management Advanced Course Provider: Udemy, Price: ₹12,800 or $165, Duration: Approx 9 hours, Level : Advanced 2. Oracle Hyperion Training Provider : Intellipaat, Duration : Approx 16 hours

◆ MATLAB-Math works: It is a programming platform that helps in asset allocation, data analysis, and credit analytics.

How to Learn?

The courses are available online and usually are 14 hours or two days long. All the essential tools and skills, along with practical knowledge, will be imparted in this timeframe.

1. MATLAB for Finance Provider : Nobleprog, Price: ₹2,97,000 or $3827, Duration: Approx 14 hours ➔ Certification programs Some of the widespread certification programs related to financial analytics that you can consider pursuing include: ● Financial Accounting and Analysis Course ● Financial Analysis ● Special Certification Program-CFA How to Learn?

1. Financial Accounting and Analysis Provider : Edx, Price : ₹3,715 or $ 48 (verified track), Duration : Approx 1.5 months, Level : Intermediate 2. Financial Analysis with KPMG Provider: Imarticus Learning, Price: ₹65,000 or $892, Duration: 3months, Level: Advanced

Conclusion Nowadays, a career as a financial analyst is considered to be the most sought after and gratifying career option that has the potential to deliver not just financial benefits but also derive the legitimate satisfaction of being an integral part of the business outlook. And, so if you’re interested in more comprehensive details on Financial Analytics, then go through our extensive learn path for Financial Analytics that includes insights about types of financial analyst positions, how it is different from investment analyst, key responsibilities, learning methodologies, essential skills and tools required, relevant courses available and a lot more.

We also have a plethora of learnpaths on several different topics; you can view them from our advice page.

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