Is Financial Modeling a Hard Class?

Asking whether financial modeling classes are hard will yield a different answer depending on who you ask. The reason for this is that individual learning is heavily impacted by your personal background, support system, and goals. If you only want to learn financial modeling basics, taking a short beginner class will be miles easier than thoroughly preparing for a career. Likewise, financial modeling will be less challenging to learn if you already have experience with Excel or accounting. It’s also significantly easier to learn financial modeling when you have a live instructor to support you through difficult steps. 

No matter how many financial modeling skills you plan to learn, you can reach your goals with dedicated practice. This article will uncover common problems you might encounter while learning financial modeling and share recommendations for ways to make the process run smoothly. 

What is Hard about Learning Financial Modeling?

Despite the fact that you can start experimenting with beginner financial modeling skills within just a few hours, most finance professionals agree that it’s among the hardest financial skills to learn. Basic financial models are uncomplicated to set up, but when more variables are at play, more complexity is introduced. For example, creating a financial model of your personal expenses will be much simpler than creating a predictive model of stock market prices. For this reason, being detail oriented and being comfortable with math skills can give you an advantage when it comes to making sense of financial data. 

Another reason that financial modeling can be challenging is that it involves just as many soft skills as it does technical and math skills. In addition to paying close attention to small details, good financial modelers need to be active problem-solvers and strategic thinkers. To create a financial model that makes sense to its intended viewers, financial modelers also need a good grasp of visual communication. Because these types of skills are best developed through practice, experienced financial modelers generally concur that you simply have to do financial modeling to learn it. 

Financial modeling’s sheer breadth as a field may also present difficulties during your learning process. Unless you only plan to learn basic skills (such as beginner Excel), your first financial modeling class will be more comparable to the portion of an iceberg you see floating above water than the whole berg. In other words, financial modeling that you can learn for many years and never get bored of because there will always be new developments. While this can be exciting, it can also feel overwhelming if not downright discouraging. 

How Can I Make Learning Financial Modeling Easier?

Numerous resources are now readily available to make financial modeling education more attainable. While it can be tempting to pick the resource that sounds most convenient, you’ll learn more effectively if you choose a strategy that’s designed for your learning goals. 

Free Resources (For Exploring Basics and Answering Questions)

Because the Internet has made free information so accessible, you can explore beginner financial modeling and solve problems without paying for a class. Free learning content is available in a wide selection of formats and typically tackles small-scope topics such as how to create a Pivot Table in Excel. Lacking many of the advantages of live comprehensive training, these simple resources won’t likely take you beyond the beginner level. However, they can still be a valuable lifeline by helping you answer niche questions when an instructor isn’t available. Similarly, reviewing free tools can be a great way to prepare to keep up during a challenging class. 

If you want to use free resources effectively, however, you’ll need to know where to locate high-quality content. Since educational Internet content is often created by fellow amateurs posing as experts, it’s best to choose material published by prominent finance education companies like Noble Desktop. Through their online platforms, you can find free short video tutorials, financial modeling blog posts, and even whole classes on subjects such as stock market basics. 

Short Live Classes (For Amateurs Who Want to Get Comfortable with Financial Modeling)

If you want to learn financial modeling for personal enrichment (rather than as a career), you might be debating between joining a class and attempting to learn on your own. While either option can work at the beginner level, you’ll save yourself a lot of frustration by signing up for a live class. Instead of scavenging through a miscellany of dubious free sources hoping to find the right information, an instructor can guide you through new skills with hands-on learning assignments. When you have every opportunity to ask questions, you won’t need to spend hours on unsuccessful Google searches. 

Usually running just a few hours, short classes focus on fewer skills at once, making them accessible for beginners who don’t have time for a full-time class. In addition to single-session classes, some short classes are also split into several shorter sessions throughout one week. 

Most short financial modeling classes are aimed at beginners and focus on simple topics such as Excel. Although they’re not the best option for career preparation, they offer a low-pressure alternative for amateurs who aren’t interested in all the bells and whistles that come with vocational programs. Because short classes are usually less expensive, they can also be a smart way to figure out whether you like financial modeling enough to chart a career in it before spending significantly more on an intensive bootcamp. 

Certificates and Bootcamps (For Comprehensive Career Preparation)

Attending a certificate-granting financial modeling course is by far the most efficient way to prepare for a finance career. Unlike short classes, immersive bootcamps offer comprehensive vocational training that can include benefits such as one-on-one mentorship, portfolio workshops, and career support. Although they can take several months to complete, these courses are still quicker and cheaper than college degrees. 

Through live hands-on training, they’ll set you up with enough experience to land an entry-level finance job. Finance degree programs offer more extensive training, but if your goal is to learn financial modeling at a professional level quickly (and without going into debt), certificate-granting courses are your best option. 

Because many potential careers can come out of financial modeling training, different bootcamps cover different skills, such that no two programs offer the same training. To serve different lifestyle and learning needs, certificate-granting financial modeling courses also come in a variety of formats and scheduling options.

For broad-spectrum training, look for bootcamps that are intended to prepare you for a specific job role (like Financial Analyst). The immersive training these courses offer will help you develop proficiency in multiple skills while gaining professional experience at the same time. For example, the assignments in Noble Desktop’s Financial Analyst Training Program will give you hands-on experience building DSF and three-statement financial models for businesses. Working one-on-one with an expert, you’ll create an impressive job portfolio that you can substantiate with real skills in Excel, market forecasting, financial reporting, accounting, and valuation.

You may alternatively be looking for comprehensive training in only one particular skill, such as Excel, Tableau, SQL, or Python. Courses like Noble Desktop’s Excel Bootcamp make it possible to take your time building a strong foundation that will strengthen your capacity to tackle additional finance skills. In this beginner-friendly course, you’ll learn how to use the world’s favorite office software for a variety of tasks, including analyzing financial data and creating basic models. Single-topic bootcamps like this one can also fill gaps that other training courses have left and can be combined with other classes to create a holistic training plan. 

For example, the Excel Bootcamp makes the perfect stacking course when combined with Noble Desktop’s Financial Modeling Bootcamp. Because this course assumes participants already have intermediate Excel skills, you won’t need to spend extra time and money repeating your beginner training to gain a professional financial analytics skill set. Instead, you can focus on learning advanced Excel and adding corporate finance techniques to your arsenal. To accomplish this, you’ll spend time building complex financial models with guidance from an expert mentor. 

Short On-Demand Classes (For Affordable Supplementary Training)

If you want to study financial modeling at home but don’t like the drag of sifting through free learning content that may or may not be trustworthy, consider on-demand classes as an affordable alternative. Through providers such as Udemy, Coursera, and Skillshare, you can purchase pre-prepared self-study materials exploring small-scope topics suitable for beginners. There are no scheduled meetings in on-demand classes, meaning that you can explore reading assignments, video lessons, and other tools at your own pace. 

However, because hands-on training is the most effective way to learn financial modeling, on-demand training is most successful when treated as a supplement to live instruction. 

You’re more likely to be a good candidate for on-demand training if:

• You’re self-motivated and not likely to procrastinate.
• You’re not looking for comprehensive career training.
• You’re looking for a way to supplement an existing training regimen, rather than a class that will be your main focus. 
• You want more information on a topic than your current class can provide. 
• You came across a niche problem that needs solving while working on a project. 

Best Ways to Learn Financial Modeling Without Difficulty

Joining a live financial modeling class is the number one way to cut down on difficulty and frustration while learning. With personalized feedback and support from a live instructor, you’ll not only grow faster but nix bad habits before they become ingrained. In a live class, you’ll learn by doing, which is widely agreed to be the most effective way to master financial modeling. 

Live classes also simplify financial modeling education by lending more resources. Free access to financial modeling software and equipment is often covered by tuition, leaving you with one less expense at the end of the day. Vocational classes may also incorporate career-focused benefits such as job support, tutoring, portfolio revision services, and study guides for certification exams.