How Long Do Financial Modeling Courses Take?

It feels empowering to master financial modeling, but like most skills, it’ll take time and patience. 

Time is a resource more valuable and finite than money, and if you use it wisely, you can find a financial modeling training regimen that works with your availability and desired timeline. This article explores the most common lengths for different types of financial modeling classes, how to match the training formats to your learning style, and tips for picking your perfect financial modeling course. 

Class Lengths

If you’re worried that you don’t have time to learn financial modeling, there’s likely at least one class that will fit your availability. Luckily, financial modeling classes come in a range of lengths designed for all types of learners, from beginners and dabblers to aspiring professionals. As a general rule, the lengths of most financial modeling classes are determined by how many skills are covered in the class, with the shortest classes lasting just a few hours and the longest taking months to complete. While you can rely on shorter classes as an amateur modeler, you’ll need to attend a more comprehensive career training program if you want to secure a financial modeling job. 

Introductory Financial Modeling Classes

Short classes typically target fewer, more specific skills, making them an ideal choice for learning beginner skills quickly. These live classes usually take just a few hours to complete, but may sometimes be spread out over several short sessions. 

Beginner-focused short classes generally don’t branch beyond basics like Excel, making them less useful for career preparation or intermediate study. However, these classes offer a judgment-free environment where amateur learners can learn financial modeling without the additional rigors of a bootcamp or college program. They also provide a relatively cheap way to explore financial modeling if you’re tight on cash or want to test whether you enjoy it before joining a bootcamp. 

Advanced Financial Modeling Courses

Once you’ve moved on from the short beginner-level financial modeling courses available in your area, you may find you still have more questions. If you still only have a few hours of time to participate in casual study, short advanced classes offer a way to level up your skill set. However, most advanced financial modeling courses require incoming students to take prerequisite beginner classes to qualify for entry, making it important to double-check requirements before signing up. 

Just like short beginner classes, these courses tackle small-scale subjects such as advanced Excel, SQL, or Tableau skills rather than offering holistic financial modeling training. While this means they’re not a great choice for career preparation, their small scale gives them a unique advantage when it comes to helping you answer niche questions related to personal projects. Rather than wasting time on information that doesn't pertain to your project, you can choose classes that target the financial modeling problems you find most relevant. The short length of these courses also makes them easy to fit into a busy schedule. 

Financial Modeling Bootcamps and Career Certificates

With financial modeling training that runs both broad and deep, bootcamps and career certificates provide an immersive experience. These intensive programs offer thorough training in a live online or in-person format and help you hone skills via real-world practice. Costing between a few hundred and several thousand dollars, the shortest bootcamps average around 20 hours to complete. Meanwhile, intensive career training programs can take well over 100 hours to wrap up and span several months part-time or several weeks full-time. Still significantly cheaper than attending college, their prices range between $5,000 and $10,000.

Typically, shorter bootcamps include fewer skills and may even focus on comprehensive mastery of one specific skill, such as Excel. In contrast, career certificates generally include a myriad of skills and benefits intended to help you launch a successful career in a specific finance niche, such as financial analytics. It may be hard to believe, but given the right strategy, a career-centered financial modeling certificate can actually replace a college degree.

Finance Degrees

If money and time aren’t a preventative obstacle, attending a college finance program is one of the most time-tested ways to prepare for a finance career and can even allow you to access higher wages. University-accredited degrees can provide you with professional training beyond what you can expect from a certificate, allowing you to become a true finance expert. In a finance degree program, you’ll get multiple years of professional experience with skills like financial modeling, economics, statistics, and accounting. While exploring finance at great breadth and depth, you’ll also have the opportunity to hone in on one particular area of focus, allowing you to target your skills toward specific job roles like Financial Analyst, or Investment Banker. 

This incredibly comprehensive training doesn’t come without significant costs, however. In addition to spending tens of thousands of dollars on a degree program, you’ll need to devote multiple years to the endeavor. To earn a Bachelor’s in Finance (BBA) degree, you can expect at least four years of full-time study, longer on a part-time schedule. If you want to qualify for upper-level finance positions such as Senior Financial Analyst, you’ll likely need to spend three to three more years earning a Master’s in Finance (MBA) degree. 

On-demand Financial Modeling Classes

Growing in popularity among casual learners, on-demand learning offers an antithetical learning module to college with unrivaled flexibility and convenience. Rather than teaching through interactive class activities and discussions, on-demand classes supply self-study materials such as pre-recorded videos, reading lessons, workbooks, and practice recommendations. In general, these classes typically treat the same topics (and depths) as short introductory and advanced financial modeling classes.

Because on-demand classes allow students to learn at whatever pace they choose, the length of these classes can vary substantially. Most students adjust the course to fit their needs, by studying after work or during a child’s brief nap. 

However, these courses also have limitations that you don’t want to look past. In a class with little instructor oversight, few deadlines, and no scheduled meetings, falling behind or forgetting to study is surprisingly easy to do. Additionally, a lack of instructor support can make it harder to work through challenging material and get answers to questions. You may find that a topic that might have taken only a couple of hours to learn in a short live class takes you up to a year to learn in an on-demand course.

Part-time Versus Full-time Financial Modeling Classes

Full-time and part-time financial modeling training will both get you to the same destination, but which one you choose can have a huge influence on your experience and how well you learn. If your plate is currently ruled by a full-time job or another time-consuming responsibility such as child rearing, choosing a full-time financial modeling program may just tip you over the edge into burnout. Alternatively, you may thrive on cramming your schedule to the max. Whatever your style, knowing the advantages that come with each option can help smooth out your decision. 

The best way to differentiate between full-time and part-time training is to think of full-time training as a sprint while viewing part-time training as a speed walk. Created to equip you with the tools and experience you need to launch a career as quickly as possible, full-time financial modeling programs operate at a lightning pace and demand a greater time commitment. Meanwhile, a part-time class allows you to learn at a slower pace, giving you more room to tend to life’s other responsibilities. You can also use this extra time to master financial modeling more thoroughly by practicing outside of class more frequently, taking advantage of career benefits, and even participating in internships. 

Learn Financial Modeling Skills with Noble Desktop

With classes from Noble Desktop, you can learn financial modeling on your preferred timeline, whether you want to prepare for a career in record time or simply explore beginner skills over the weekend. This top-notch provider of hands-on financial modeling classes can help you reach your goals in-person in NYC or through an interactive live online class. 

You can take the first steps toward a career in finance by participating in an immersive certificate class such as Noble Desktop’s Financial Analyst Training Program, which offers comprehensive training at an accelerated pace. Work with a real restaurant company to build a functioning Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model that will help you learn core financial modeling and corporate finance skills. To strengthen your professional portfolio, you’ll also have the chance to create a three-statement financial model under the tutelage of an expert. Before you’re through, you’ll know enough about Excel, market forecasting, accounting, and corporate valuation to earn an entry-level finance job. 

If an all-out finance career isn’t what you have in mind, Noble Desktop also has plenty of financial modeling classes that are less intensive. If you’re looking for a simple course that can give you the tools to practice financial modeling in your personal finances or small business, the beginner-friendly Excel Bootcamp is a great option. While some other financial modeling classes call for complex skills like coding and stock market literacy, all you need to get by in the Excel bootcamp are basic computer skills. Using straightforward office software, you’ll learn how to analyze numerical data, create visual charts, and organize a digital database. 

Maybe you already know a bit about Excel but you’re itching to do more. Try your hand at upper-level financial modeling techniques in Noble Desktop’s Financial Modeling Bootcamp. In addition to learning more advanced Excel skills, you’ll apply corporate finance skills as you complete real-world financial modeling projects. In this course, you won’t waste any time listening to an instructor drone on about theoretical concepts for hours at a time. Instead, you’ll get your hands wet learning through practical tasks. You’ll not only learn the meaning of concepts like accrual versus cash accounting, enterprise value, and market capitalization but how to use them to your advantage.