Top 5 Short-Term Finance Courses in India

In this digital age, millennial kids want fast access to a successful career. While there is no short cut to success, there are many short-term courses which accentuate your chance to zoom past your peers. Finance is a much sought after field of education, and short-term certifications in Finance are quite in vogue today. These courses provide the necessary skills in a relatively short span of time and can be conveniently pursued with existing job or studies.

We have compiled a list of top 5 courses which are highly preferred by students and employers alike. This is an indicative list which has been formed by analysing Google Trends, availability of jobs on leading portals and overall popularity amongst aspirants.

Few reasons why students are more inclined towards short-term courses are:

Quick learning: These short-term courses enables faster knowledge building, sometimes in a span as low as 3 months. This criteria is gaining increased relevance in today’s time as students can quickly upgrade themselves for better opportunities.

Rapid Changes: The world of finance is rapidly changing. The changes are of all kinds, macro, micro as well as country specific. For eg: Let’s take the case of GST and IFRS. With such a landmark change in tax regime and financial reporting standards, it becomes mandatory for professionals to quickly learn the new ways and implement them.

Testing the waters: The fresh graduates or 10+2 pass outs mostly face the dilemma as to which field would suit them. These short-term courses help students to realise where their true potential lies in the most cost and time-effective way.

1. Financial Modelling

Financial Modelling is the backbone of finance industry today. It works on a basic principle of working on historical data of a company/ industry, analysing its performance and building models to predict its future performance. The knowledge of Financial Modeling helps you to master advanced excel skills and sharpen your ability to judge the future course of events. These qualities are a must for a good analyst working in any field. While there are various courses in the market, the one offered by NSE Academy stands out. The module covers the basics as well as advanced levels. After the completion of the certificate you will be able to work as a financial modeller in functional areas such as:

• Investment Banking

• Credit Ratings

• Project Finance

• Merger & Acquisitions

• Financial Analysis

Certification providers: NSE Academy, Edupristine, Simplilearn

Duration: 3-6 months, Fees range: Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000

2. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

In the wake of globalization, most countries are converging their standards towards IFRS or adopting IFRS as they are, to enable uniform reporting. India, as a step closer to convergence with IFRS, has adopted IND-AS. Various IFRS profiles are being offered in several sectors of the industry that include ITES, software, pharmaceutical, auto spare part, professional advisory companies, auditing firms, banking industry, Insurance industry, KPOs, etc. Skilled and experienced IFRS experts can establish their own consultancies to help companies migrate to IFRS.

Candidates pursuing graduation, post-graduation in commerce, or qualified professionals like MBAs, CAs, CMAs, CSs, CFAs, CFPs or any other relevant course in the field of finance can opt for this certification in IFRS.

Certification providers: NSE Academy, Dip and Cert IFRS: ACCA, Edupristine, KPMG, Ernst & Young

Duration: 3-6 months, Fees range (Training and exams): Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000

3. NCFM

The NCFM Modules offered by the NSE Academy has been one of the most recognized certifications in the capital markets industry. For some profiles in the capital markets, this certification is mandatory. At present the NSE Academy offers certifications in Capital Markets, Derivatives segment, Debt market, Banking and Risk Management. There are beginners, mid-level and advanced modules for Financial markets certification and the training curriculum is designed to impart balanced learning on conceptual as well as practical aspects.

Certification providers: NSE Academy

Duration: 3 months/ Flexible, Fees range (Training and exams): Rs 2,000 to Rs 6,000

4. Chartered Financial Planner (CFP)

Indians always lacked in awareness about Personal Finance planning. However, the trend is changing and more of the young working class are warming up to the idea of savings and investment. There are growing number of firms and portals which offer financial planning advice and employ Chartered Financial Planners for the same. An increasing number of MNCs such as ICICI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, American Express Bank and others have made it mandatory for their Relationship Managers to acquire the CFP certification in order to raise current service standards

As per current industry estimates, the requirement for financial advisers will be around 50000 in the coming years. If you want a career in Financial Planning, Wealth Management or Retail with a globally recognized certification then CFP is the right course to pursue.

There are several training providers. The duration and fee range is mentioned below.

Duration: Within 1 year, Fees (Training, registration and examination): Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000

5. Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM)

If managing wealth and assets is your forte then Chartered Wealth Manager is a course you should pursue. CWM is often confused with CFP, but both cater to two different arenas. Wealth management is a more comprehensive field than Financial Planning. CWM is organized by the American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM).

CWM covers capital and the financial market, principles of financial service organizations, investment and portfolio management and other financial market knowledge. The key profiles wherein a CWM can be employed are portfolio and asset manager, wealth manager, broker, market analyst, financial controller, private banker.

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