Best Online Financial Modeling Courses

Coursera's Business and Financial Modeling Specialization program is offered by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, well-known for its business programs. 

With this self-paced online financial modeling course, you’ll learn how to create quantitative models, use spreadsheets to their full potential, understand how to measure and manage risk, and optimize the tools you use to make informed business and financial decisions.

Upon course completion, you’ll be able to use data to explain what’s happening in a company, evaluate various scenarios, and make predictions about a firm’s performance. And no specific background is required to enroll, but a good understanding of high school math, including pre-calculus, will be useful.

At the cost of $79 a month, this course provides a good value among online financial modeling classes we reviewed. Plus, you're automatically enrolled in five robust financial modeling courses that will move you from basic to more advanced topics. At the end of each course, you’ll earn a certificate of completion.

It’s up to you how many of the courses you complete, in what order you complete them, and how long you take to complete them. You can expect the entire program to take six months but it could be shorter or longer, depending on your availability and how quickly you’d like to finish the program.

The course materials include videos and readings, practice quizzes, graded assignments with feedback from your peers, graded quizzes with feedback, and other graded assignments. If you have questions, you can interact with your peers and course instructors.

Founded in 2012, Coursera is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and works with colleges and universities to provide affordable world-class online learning resources to learners globally.

If you’re looking to learn the basics of financial modeling and you’re on a budget, the Introduction to Financial Modeling class offered by Udemy is a great place to start. You’ll learn how to build a simple financial model in Microsoft Excel and gain insight into how the three primary financial statements are related. There aren’t any prerequisites, but you may find it beneficial to have a basic understanding of Microsoft Excel.

When you sign up for this free class, you’ll get access to six hours of on-demand videos. There aren’t any other resources (e.g., worksheets or articles) provided with the course, and you won’t get to interact with the instructor. You will able to earn a certificate of completion. Despite the drawbacks, you’ll learn the basics of financial modeling for free. There are paid courses that come with instructor Q&As and direct messaging, as well as certificate of completion. The cost of these paid courses varies widely.

Udemy, founded in 2010, is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company is one of the leading marketplaces for online learning globally, with over 200,000 courses and 59 million learners.

If you’re a beginner at financial modeling, the online Financial Modeling Foundations class by LinkedIn Learning is a great place to start. With this course, you’ll learn how to build financial models with Microsoft Excel that are useful for various careers (e.g., commercial banking, investment banking, corporate finance). Plus, you’ll earn a certification of completion.

To register for this class, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription with LinkedIn Learning, which ranges from $29.99 a month (if you pay annually) to $39.99 a month (if you pay monthly). If you’re new to LinkedIn Learning, you can get a free seven-day trial when you sign up for a subscription. 

This class typically takes about three hours to complete. When you sign up, you’ll get access to on-demand videos you can watch at your own pace. Plus, you’ll be given Microsoft Excel exercise files you can download and save to your personal library. The course also includes a Q&A section where you can post questions to content experts and your fellow learners. The ability to interact with others when taking an online class is a great feature.

LinkedIn is a professional networking company launched in 2003 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Over 900 million people use this social media platform in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The LinkedIn Learning division was designed to help people upskill to advance in their careers.

Aspiring financial analysts with a business degree can learn financial modeling practices used in investment banking with Financial Edge's The Investment Banker online course. The course covers materials similar to those taught to new hires at some of the largest investment banks. With this course, you’ll learn about accounting, financial modeling, business valuations, merger and acquisition (M&A) analysis, and leveraged buyout (LBO) analysis. This self-paced course takes about 44 hours to complete and costs $499 ($299 for a limited time).

You’ll get access to more than 274 practice exercises delivered via four self-paced online courses. If you have questions, you’ll be able to reach out directly to your instructors for assistance. You’ll earn a skills certificate or a certificate of completion after you pass each online class. Upon program completion, you’ll earn a micro-degree certificate demonstrating your subject matter expertise in investment banking.

Financial Edge is a training company that provides in-person corporate training as well as online courses. The team includes trainers with real-world banking industry experience. Financial Edge created The Investment Banker online class based on training materials it delivered to real investment banks. Although a review of various sources suggests Financial Edge has a good reputation, this micro-degree certificate program isn’t an accredited degree program.

Entrepreneurs who want to learn how to build financial models and forecasts for their businesses will find the Financial Modeling for Startups & Small Businesses course offered by Udemy is a great option. This course has a one-time fee of $119.99, but this is sometimes discounted as low as $19.99, and includes 11.5 hours of on-demand videos, 92 downloadable resources, 13 articles, and lifetime access to the course materials. Plus, you’ll earn a completion certificate.

To succeed in this course, you should have access to Microsoft Excel (version 2011 or newer), working knowledge of spreadsheet functionality, formulas, and cell references, and basic knowledge of algebra. You don’t need any other formal education or training to take this financial modeling course. 

In the Financial Modeling for Startups & Small Businesses course offered by Udemy, some of the things you’ll learn how to do include:

• Creating financial models for your small business
• Developing models to estimate user growth, expenses, revenue, and more
• Building models for businesses in various industries (e.g., tech, businesses with physical locations)
• Forecasting your business's cash needs
• Determining how much capital or funding you need to start a business

After you’ve enrolled in a class with Udemy, you can send your instructor a direct message with any questions. Also, you can search for the answer to your question in the course’s Q&A section or ask the question yourself if it hasn't already been answered. The ability to ask questions is a benefit that isn’t offered by all online courses.

Udemy is one of the leading marketplaces for online learning globally, with over 200,000 courses on its platform and 59 million learners.

If you want to become a financial analyst but didn’t learn about financial modeling in your degree program, the Certified Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA) program from the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) is a great way to fill this skill gap. The skills you’ll learn from this program include financial modeling and business valuations, advanced spreadsheet skills using Microsoft Excel, and accounting and financial analysis. 

You can complete this self-paced course entirely online for a one-time payment of $497. Upon course completion, you’ll receive the FMVA Certification you can share on your resume and with your network.

Plus, you’ll get lifetime access to the entire CFI library of courses, which includes:

• Eight optional preparation courses to help you review the financial modeling basics
• 12 required core financial modeling and valuation courses
• 19 elective finance courses (you must take a minimum of three) 

If you want additional resources and support, the cost of this course increases to $847. With this option, you’ll get six-month access to a PitchBook data user account, additional case studies, personalized weekly feedback on your financial models from qualified financial analysts, a monthly comprehensive review of your resume and cover letters, and more. 

This self-paced course typically takes about six months to complete, although this will vary from person to person. Everyone who enrolls in the course will get access to recorded video lectures, application exercises, quizzes, and assessments.

You must earn a grade of at least 80% on each course assessment and pass a final exam to earn the FMVA Certification. Once this is done, you’ll get the blockchain-verified FMVA Certification sent to the email address the CFI has on file for you.

The Corporate Finance Institute, founded in 2016, is one of the leading providers globally in online financial modeling and business valuation courses. CFI is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.