Step 1.
For Individuals
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11 courses to earn Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization -
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Self-Paced & 100% Online -
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Get full Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization, community, & more with a CFI membership
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Get this program and CFI's full training catalog for your organization -
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For teams of 2 or more learners
Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization Overview
CFI's Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization provides a practical understanding of core and advanced accounting concepts.
Starting with fundamental accounting concepts, the curriculum covers detailed financial statement analysis for banks and insurance companies, business combinations, and equity investments. Key topics also include specialized accounting for inventory, leases, shares outstanding and earnings per share, along with techniques for normalizing income statements.
Designed for real-world application, this specialization will prepare you to interpret and analyze financial statements across different companies, industries, and geographies.
What's in the Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization?
11 courses
Consisting of 510+ lessons
30+ interactive exercises
Learn by doing with guided simulations
Blockchain certificate
To verify your skills
500,000+ 5-star ratings
Best-in-class training, as rated by you
Earning Your Certificate in Financial Analysis
Step 2.
1 Elective Course
Skills & Learning Objectives in Accounting for Financial Analysts
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Identify key items on the financial statements and describe the relationship among the three core financial statements.
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Understand the most common accounting concepts encountered by financial analysts and explain how these impact financial statements and models.
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Recognize how differences in accounting policies among companies affects comparability.
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Adjust financial statements for differences in accounting, leading to greater comparability.
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Calculate and interpret various financial ratios, offering insights into profitability, asset utilization, leverage, and liquidity.
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Analyze companies using horizontal (trend) analysis and how these companies compare against peers and the industry average.
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Define the key components of company financial reports.
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Analyze company filings including financial statements, notes, and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A).
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Identify non-recurring items and adjust for these factors since they can skew a company's actual financial performance.
Meet Your Instructors
Scott Powell
Scott is the Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of CFI. Over the past 30 years, he has focused on designing and delivering learning solutions for clients in the financial services sector, particularly in the areas of commercial banking, investment banking, capital markets, and asset management.
Jeff Schmidt
Jeff is the Vice President, Financial Modeling at CFI. Prior to joining CFI, Jeff Schmidt taught financial modeling and valuation to thousands of learners all over the world for over a decade.
Careers in Accounting for Financial Analysts
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![Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)]()
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) professionals help guide company strategy by performing budgeting, forecasting, and analysis that support major corporate decisions of the CFO, CEO, and the Board of Directors. Knowledge of accounting is absolutely crucial in order to analyze key metrics and project financial targets. -
![Corporate Development]()
Corporate Development
Corporate Development professionals analyze potential acquisition opportunities, similar to M&A advisors at investment banks. The difference is that corporate development professionals work for corporations and not at sell-side investment banks. A thorough understand of accounting is necessary to analyze potential acquisition targets as well as performing due diligence. -
![Investment Banking]()
Investment Banking
Investment banking financial analysts help companies facilitiate financial transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises. Accounting knowledge helps them assess the financial health of companies involved in transactions, conduct due diligence, and structure deals to maximize value for clients. -
![Private Equity]()
Private Equity
Private equity professionals make significant investments in private companies. Accounting knowledge allows PE analysts to perform thorough due diligence, evaluate financial health, and structure investments effectively. This knowledge helps support accurate valuation, portfolio management, and exit strategies, helping ensure adequate returns on investment. -
![Equity Research]()
Equity Research
Knowledge of accounting helps equity research analysts evaluate financial statements, assess company profitability, and forecast future performance. This foundational skill supports rigorous valuation modeling, enhancing credibility with clients and investors.
Accounting for Financial Analysts Specialization Graduates Work in Leading Organizations
What Our Members Say
This particular course is very engaging and clear even for me, who have very little knowledge of finance.
Akshay Sanwal
The introductory course was very concise, detailed, and informative with relevant real world examples which significantly helped apply the concepts in assessing my own business’ footprint.
Brittian Foster
ESG specialization is highly required skills and glad CFI is solving that issue.
Chaitanya Korra
CFI’s ESG programme is a very useful tool towards mitigating contemporary challenges facing the business world.
Johnny Marudu
Frequently Asked Questions
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