Discover the Best Finance Classes Near Me
Finance is a term almost everyone knows, but they may not know how to understand it. Everyone has a bank account they put money into and pull money from. Finance incorporates all aspects of managing that money in the account. Governments and large companies use large finance accounts to store money.
Finance has multiple areas to consider when learning about the subject. There is personal finance, which is your individual finances that you manage daily. There is corporate finance, which businesses worldwide use to run their daily operations and spending. Lastly is public finance, which governments use to manage a country's revenue, expenditures and debts. Within each of these three areas of finance, different areas make it up, including investing, budgeting, lending, saving, forecasting, borrowing, and studying money.
Learning finance can benefit anyone, whether you want to understand how to improve your financial standing or enter the industry professionally. If you pursue financial jobs, you can find work in every industry worldwide, as every business needs money to run.
Best Finance Classes & Schools
You can learn basic finance skills by attending a training course. Anyone can access various resources in their daily lives if they wish to do so. Newbies or experienced professionals can learn a skill in many different ways. Although finance is a common skill, plenty of in-person and online training options are available regardless of where you live in the country. In-person training is a traditional classroom method of training. Students can learn the material at a set pace by meeting with their classmates and instructor at a predetermined time. As online training has gained popularity in recent years, students can enjoy a modified classroom experience. Students will meet in a virtual classroom rather than at school. Instructors can still answer questions and see the student's screen if problems arise.
The American Management Association leads talent development globally. It was founded in 1923 and aims to assist individuals and organizations with educational products and services. Based in Midtown, New York, most classes at AMA deal with building corporate skills like project management, managing, and business communication. Students can opt to take the two-session Fundamentals of Finance and Accounting course. This course teaches students how to grasp the numbers side of their job and translate performance into financial terms. They will learn different accounting processes and principles. Students will also know how to read and put together different financial statements.
Noble Desktop, located in Midtown, New York, aims to train designers, coders, and professionals with a high-quality curriculum. This school's classes include a custom workbook written by their top instructors. You can take the Financial Modeling Bootcamp if you are interested in finance and accounting concepts. Students will learn to create an Excel discounted cash flow (DCF) model. Students will be able to move from being beginner Excel users to being advanced Excel users. Students will also learn finance, accounting, and corporate valuation while building a real company's financial model. This course does have some prerequisites. While a financial background can be helpful in this course, it is not required; however, students should have intermediate proficiency in Excel for Business.
In Los Angeles, students have many choices to learn about finance. One of those choices is Santa Monica College. Santa Monica College offers students a unique educational experience with vast resources. Classes offered through their community education program offer students a way to enhance their skills or careers. These fee-based classes make it easier for more community members to attend. Students interested in learning finance and how to invest can take the Investment Bootcamp. This three-hour course covers the mechanics and returns on mutual funds, annuities, stocks, real estate, and bonds. Students will learn how to evaluate and judge investment choices while learning different tax strategies to help keep more of their earnings.
Another option students have is Los Angeles City College (LACC). LACC offers classes supporting the community as they offer for-credit and noncredit courses. The noncredit courses are for community members who wish to continue their education in different skills or enhance their careers. A main program that many financial professionals use is Quickbooks. QuickBooks manages the finance side of a business or personal finances. Those interested in pursuing a financial career might be interested in taking the QuickBooks Fundamentals 1 course. Students will learn the fundamentals of the program, from navigating the software to reconciling bank accounts. The course is one day and lasts eight hours.
Quality & Productivity Solutions, Inc offers courses across the United States, including Boston. This firm aims to provide practical and effective consulting and training to individuals and organizations. One course they offer is the PMI Risk Management Professional course. This course prepares students for the PMI Risk Management Professional (RMP) certification exam. Students will learn the fundamentals, processes and tools associated with risk management. Students must fulfill the other RMP certification requirements to attend this class, meaning students must already have some field experience to take the course. Students can continue to receive training and retake the course until they pass the exam.
The Discovery Center in Chicago aims to provide a lifelong learning center to the community. Students 16 years and older can attend the Intro to Bookkeeping course. They will learn bookkeeping basics for small business owners and familiarize themselves with simple bookkeeping systems. The course aims to take the uneasiness out of independent bookkeeping.
National Seminars Training Washington aims to expand the continuing education needs of adult professionals across all industries and professions. Students dealing with financial situations frequently in their non-financial positions can benefit from The Basics of Finance: A Crash Course for Non-Financial course. This course covers financial statements, reports, accounting, and financial ratios to help instill confidence when dealing with these issues in everyday scenarios.
Financial Impact, located in Denver, Colorado, offers companies and individuals a way to achieve financial freedom through financial training. The Money Course aims to teach individuals to make more well-informed spending and money behavior decisions. Students will learn how to manage their finances, grow their money, and maximize their earnings. Students will also learn how to eliminate their debts fast and forever. The course is open to students 12 years and older.
Practical Programming offers a Python for Finance Immersive online course. During this advanced-level course, students will learn about the financial libraries within Python and how to manipulate financial data. Students will build risk management models using Python libraries to create VAR models and Monte Calo simulations. The course meets for three sessions, totaling 18 hours. This advanced-level course does require students to have previous experience with Python and financial concepts.
While based in New York, Noble Desktop offers several live online options for students outside New York. The Financial Analyst Training Program provides students with basic and intermediate functions in Excel. Students will review corporate finance and accounting concepts. Students will learn how to build a 3-statement financial model. While learning to use Excel for financial modeling, students will begin working with several financial functions to make financial statements easier to create. Upon completing this course, students will be prepared for careers in financial analysis.
Industries That Use Finance
Finance is a part of everyday life, making it an important skill for professionals in almost every industry. When it comes to learning finance, there are many different avenues you can go career-wise. If you're interested in entering a certain industry, you can pick the school or class you want to take to fit more into that industry. If you aren't sure where to apply your financial skills, here are some industries to consider.
- Healthcare: When choosing to enter the healthcare industry with a financial background, you are dealing with the financial resources that cover the collective health needs of each individual and ensure the health system continues to run efficiently.
- Transportation: The financial aspect of the transportation industry deals with funding and collecting funding that improves infrastructure.
- Agriculture: In the agriculture industry, finance deals more with loans. There are agriculture-specific loans that help farms continue to grow.
- Retail: The retail industry deals with money from top to bottom. Jumping into this industry can include anything from pricing items to maintaining a company's finances.
- Manufacturing: The manufacturing industry involves purchasing inventory and equipment, which can tie up a lot of capital in a company. You can either deal with the finance aspect, which deals with managing these high-cost assets or go into financing, which deals with the financial strategy to acquire assets.
- Information Technology: When combining IT and finance, you typically create new technology for the financial industry. However, there are still financial jobs that deal with the financial data of IT companies.
- Aerospace: Financing in this industry refers to financing the purchase or creation of an aircraft.
- Business: Business finance is essential for procuring goods, raw materials, and other economic activities. More specifically, it is essential for running a business.
- Financial Services: Within the financial services industry, banks offer various services such as mortgages, credit cards, payment services, tax preparation and planning, accounting, and investing.
- Real Estate: As a general rule, real estate refers to the land and permanent structures, such as homes or improvements attached to the land, whether natural or constructed. Finance includes the financing required to purchase land or investment properties that will produce profit for the owner.
Finance Jobs & Salaries
Regardless of the industry, you can find several different financial jobs to consider. Each position will require different financial skills to be successful, but if you know which position you want to pursue, you can gear your training toward that position. Here are some financial careers for you to consider.
Accounting is responsible for ensuring accurate and clear financial documents, including taxes. Besides doing math, accountants need to be able to communicate their conclusions to a wide range of audiences, which can involve writing reports or presenting their findings verbally. It is also possible for accountants to act as advisors for individuals and groups. They make between $40,000 and $85,000 across the United States.
A Financial Analyst analyzes financial data and makes investment or business recommendations based on factors such as business environments, market trends, the financial status of companies, and expected outcomes. They make between $50,000 and $105,000 annually in the United States.
A Financial Advisor works with clients to assess their financial situation and help them achieve their financial goals. A financial advisor assists clients with establishing financial plans for their goals and helps them invest their clients' money, including college savings, estate planning, insurance, investments, mortgages, and taxes. They make between $40,000 and $155,000 annually in the United States.
Bankers assist clients with opening accounts, obtaining loans and investments, and effectively managing their money. They make between $35,000 and $65,000 annually in the US.
A Payroll Clerk is responsible for keeping track of time logs and providing paychecks to employees on time, ensuring they receive their correct pay. They make between $35,000 and $65,000 annually across the US.
Economists study the relationship between a society's production of goods, services, and resources on a local, national, or global scale. They make between $60,000 and $190,000 annually.
Risk Analysts assist companies looking to expand or invest in new markets in the finance industry. They analyze plans and offer financial advice to increase profits, create growth and limit risks. Their annual salary ranges from $50,000 to $130,000.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is responsible for the organization's financial actions in a company. They oversee lower-level financial managers, assess financial risks, and ensure that all financial reports are accurate. CFOs can make between $90,000 and $245,000 annually, depending on the company's size.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts financial jobs will grow 7% between 2021 and 2031, the average for all occupations. Approximately 700,000 new jobs will be created in the financial industry during this time, and about 1 million job openings each year will need to be filled.
You may see some differences from the salaries shown above based on where you live or where the company is located.
A huge difference exists in the cost of living between these two areas, which means there will be a difference between the salaries that individuals will see in each city. New York City's cost of living is 80% higher than the national average, with houses 230% higher than the average. Houston, Texas, cost of living is 8% lower than the national average, with housing 18% lower than the average.
With more businesses in New York City, higher financial positions will see a larger increase in their annual salary. CFOs in New York make around $175,000 annually but have the potential to make upwards of $300,000 per year.
What Will I Need to Learn Finance?
Learning finance does not require any materials as it is the study and management of money. Unlike other skills, you don't need any materials to understand finance basics. When you start getting into financial professions, you may need certain programs to be successful; however, most companies will include those with your employment.
The programs you may want to learn when jumping into a financial career include Microsoft Excel, QuickBooks, and Python. You will commonly find yourself using these throughout your career.
When learning personal finance, you may want to familiarize yourself with your bank and different accounts. Some banks require a minimum amount or a fee to keep an account open. You may even consider looking into other account types, like investing accounts which can help build personal wealth.
Is it Difficult to Learn Finance?
Having the right dedication to your coursework can make learning finance relatively easy. Understanding the subject becomes even easier if you understand two essential aspects of the field.
In a nutshell, economics involves studying how individuals and groups utilize resources. Money is a primary resource, and as a result, finance plays a major role. By understanding the basics of economics, you can absorb your coursework more efficiently and gain the knowledge you need for your future. The knowledge of investing at a foundational level will assist you in your Finance studies, though it's not required. When investing in finance, the goal is to produce a return.
Although basic finance techniques can be learned for free, it takes years to fully comprehend more complex topics. Investments, for example, can take professionals up to ten years to fully comprehend. As you proceed, you can take courses in the various areas of finance that you wish to learn. You can follow along and ask questions when necessary to ensure you are learning at a pace that fits your schedule.
