What is business finance?

Business finance is the initial capital that is required to start a business and the managing of that money. It is usually in the form of funding that you've raised to start, maintain, or expand the commercial business venture. In a broader sense, business finance refers to the entire category of a company or organization managing its money, to have clarity on the company's investments, budgeting, credit, savings, and business forecasting. The financial decisions for a small startup or a sole proprietorship usually fall to the owner of the business. In a larger company, the matters of business finance are under the responsibility of an accountant or financial manager. These managers may have a team of people to help with the administrative tasks involved with company payroll, taxes, payments, and other areas of business finance.

Why is it important to learn business finance?

It's important to learn business finance because you can gain insights into funding a business operation, whether through a commercial loan, line of credit, or crowdfunding. Business finance can help you understand the pros and cons of raising money for your business, how to allocate capital, and how to best fund the day-to-day operations of the business. If you want to work in business, you'll have to learn to deal with financial issues of all kinds, especially if you own or manage the business. Learning business finance helps you determine how to make capital investment decisions, how to obtain business loans as needed, assess business valuation for the business, apply for grant funding, or liquidate some of your business to raise money.

What career opportunities can arise from learning business finance?

The types of careers associated with business finance knowledge and a good educational background include financial management roles like financial analysts, budget analysts, tax accountants, financial forecasters, and financial managers. Once you're armed with good work experience, you can branch out to work on your own or move into different industries as an insurance agent, a real estate broker, or a commercial loan officer.

How can taking online courses help me learn business finance?

Taking online courses about business finance can open up new areas of interest to you in venture capital financing, cash flow analysis, international finance, investments and markets, and more. If you're already working in a financial role, and want to expand your knowledge, taking online courses in business finance can help you to better understand income statements, balance sheets, and financial ratio analysis models.

What are the benefits of taking an online Business Finance course?

Online Business Finance courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your existing knowledge or learn new Business Finance skills. With a wide range of Business Finance classes, you can conveniently learn at your own pace to advance your Business Finance career skills.

What Business Finance courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Business Finance, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Top Business Finance Courses - Learn Business Finance Online

Explore the Business Finance Course Catalog

Corporate Finance Institute
Corporate Finance Fundamentals
Skills you'll gain: Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Valuation, Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Securities (Finance), Investment Banking, Equities, Private Equity, Financial Modeling, Interviewing Skills, Financial Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Underwriting
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
72 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Vanderbilt University
Generative AI Leadership & Strategy
Skills you'll gain: ChatGPT, Ideation, Verification And Validation, Succession Planning, Business Writing, Generative AI, Leadership, Meeting Facilitation, Organizational Leadership, Creative Thinking, Creativity, Strategic Leadership, Artificial Intelligence, Business Leadership, Proposal Writing, Thought Leadership, Communication, Risk Management Framework, OpenAI, Natural Language Processing
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
6.2K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 1 - 3 Months
IBM
Generative AI for Business Intelligence (BI) Analysts
Skills you'll gain: ChatGPT, Generative AI, Business Intelligence, Data Presentation, Infographics, Data Visualization, OpenAI, Dashboard, Data Storytelling, Business Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IBM Cloud, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), SQL, Data Analysis, Software Development Tools, Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Deep Learning, Image Analysis, Technical Communication
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
5.9K reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 1 - 3 Months
IBM
IBM Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst
Skills you'll gain: Dashboard, Data Storytelling, Data Warehousing, SQL, Data Presentation, Data Visualization, Presentations, Descriptive Statistics, Extract, Transform, Load, Business Intelligence, Data Visualization Software, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Tableau Software, Star Schema, Stored Procedure, Relational Databases, Interactive Data Visualization, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Excel Formulas, Microsoft Excel
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
14K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Google
Foundations of Business Intelligence
Skills you'll gain: Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Stakeholder Engagement, Dashboard, Data Modeling, Business Analytics, Real Time Data, Requirements Elicitation, Data Storytelling, Data Analysis, Business Metrics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Data Pipelines, Project Implementation
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
1.8K reviews
Advanced · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Corporate Finance I: Measuring and Promoting Value Creation
Skills you'll gain: Mergers & Acquisitions, Working Capital, Financial Analysis, Business Valuation, Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Management, Corporate Finance, Return On Investment, Capital Budgeting, Cash Flows, Cash Flow Forecasting, Balance Sheet, Performance Measurement, Risk Analysis
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.1K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Copenhagen Business School
Strategic Management and Innovation
Skills you'll gain: Business Strategy, Business Planning, Strategic Decision-Making, Plan Execution, Goal Setting, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Thinking, Resource Management, Competitive Analysis, Strategic Leadership, Organizational Structure, Market Analysis, Culture Transformation, Internal Communications, Change Management, Business Strategies, Global Marketing, Risk Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Business Transformation
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
5.1K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
University of Pennsylvania
Fundamentals of Finance
Skills you'll gain: Capital Budgeting, Finance, Return On Investment, Equities, Corporate Finance, Financial Management, Financial Analysis, Business Valuation, Investments, Risk Analysis, Business Mathematics, Cash Flows
3.9
Rating, 3.9 out of 5 stars
1K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free
Lund University
AI, Business & the Future of Work
Skills you'll gain: Organizational Strategy, Artificial Intelligence, Business Transformation, Business Risk Management, Business Leadership, Business Strategy, Digital Transformation, Automation, Thought Leadership, Emerging Technologies, Interviewing Skills
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
1.7K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
EDHEC Business School
Introduction to Portfolio Construction and Analysis with Python
Skills you'll gain: Investment Management, Portfolio Management, Investments, Return On Investment, Asset Management, Risk Analysis, Financial Modeling, Process Optimization, Risk Management, Financial Analysis, NumPy, Python Programming, Simulations, Pandas (Python Package), Correlation Analysis, Matplotlib
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Macquarie University
Excel Skills for Business: Intermediate I
Skills you'll gain: Microsoft Excel, Dashboard, Spreadsheet Software, Excel Formulas, Data Analysis Expressions (DAX), Consolidation, Business Reporting, Data Management, Automation
4.9
Rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars
17K reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months
EDHEC Business School
Investment Management with Python and Machine Learning
Skills you'll gain: Investment Management, Portfolio Management, Text Mining, Applied Machine Learning, Asset Management, Network Analysis, Data Visualization Software, Investments, Machine Learning Methods, Return On Investment, Financial Statement Analysis, Unstructured Data, Predictive Modeling, Web Scraping, Financial Management, Machine Learning, Financial Statements, Financial Market, Financial Analysis, Risk Analysis
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
1.8K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months