Evaluate investments, manage financial risk, build operating budgets, and guide capital allocation decisions. In this course, you’ll develop the analytical skills financial analysts use to support strategic and risk-aware business decisions.

Analysis, Budgeting, and Risk Management
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Analysis, Budgeting, and Risk Management
This course is part of Financial Analyst: AI, Excel, and Power BI Skills Professional Certificate

Instructor: Professionals from the Industry
Included with
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Evaluate investments and allocate assets using risk-return principles
Calculate Value at Risk and apply structured risk assessment tools
Analyze capital projects and present risk-adjusted recommendations
Details to know

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March 2026
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Build your Finance expertise
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- Earn a shareable career certificate from Coursera

There are 17 modules in this course
You will differentiate between stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs based on ownership structure, risk exposure, and liquidity. You’ll examine how each instrument supports different financial goals and portfolio strategies.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will apply a standard visualization tool to create a pie chart representing data allocation. You’ll present portfolio balance clearly in a professional, client-ready format.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will recognize the definitions of retail banking, investment banking, and asset management. You’ll explore how each division operates and serves distinct financial needs.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will apply defined criteria to classify items into appropriate categories and justify the classification using structured reasoning.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will understand the purpose and limitations of Value at Risk (VaR) and how it summarizes potential portfolio losses. You’ll examine where VaR is useful and where it may fall short.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will apply the historical simulation method to calculate Value at Risk (VaR). You’ll interpret results and translate quantitative findings into risk insights.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will recognize different budgeting approaches, including incremental, zero-based, and rolling methods. You’ll evaluate when each approach is most appropriate.
What's included
3 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will apply a given inflation factor to populate an operating expense budget. You’ll calculate cost adjustments and assess their impact on planning decisions.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will understand the SMART framework for setting goals and performance metrics. You’ll connect structured goal-setting to measurable financial outcomes.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will apply the SMART framework to define treasury KPIs by identifying data sources and measurement cadence. You’ll ensure KPIs are practical, measurable, and aligned with strategy.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will analyze the correlation between changes in interest-rate curves and company borrowing costs to update forecast assumptions.
What's included
3 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will analyze leading economic indicators to assess their potential impact on revenue. You’ll connect macroeconomic signals to financial forecasting decisions.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will apply financial modeling techniques to calculate investment returns and identify key value drivers. You’ll evaluate deal assumptions using structured analysis.
What's included
2 videos1 reading1 assignment
You will analyze market, operational, and regulatory risks using a risk matrix. You’ll assess how risks influence expected returns and deal outcomes.
What's included
2 videos1 reading2 assignments
You will analyze risk-adjusted returns of investment options to recommend a superior choice. You’ll evaluate performance using structured comparison metrics.
What's included
3 videos2 readings1 assignment
You will create upside and downside scenarios for capital allocation decisions. You’ll model uncertainty and assess how outcomes shift under different assumptions.
What's included
3 videos1 reading2 assignments
In this project, you will evaluate two competing capital investment opportunities and present a risk-adjusted recommendation to senior leadership. Using provided financial projections, operating margins, inflation assumptions, and Value at Risk (VaR) estimates, you will compare expected returns and downside exposure. You will assess financial and market risk using a structured risk matrix, interpret economic conditions, and align your recommendation with company KPIs such as return on investment and cash flow stability. This project simulates a real corporate finance assignment where financial analysts support capital allocation decisions under uncertainty.
What's included
2 readings1 assignment
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Frequently asked questions
Yes. The course introduces investment, budgeting, and risk concepts step-by-step. No prior professional finance experience is required.
Yes. You’ll calculate Value at Risk (VaR), build risk matrices, and apply scenario analysis to real financial decisions.
Financial analysts assess investments, manage budgets, and evaluate risk. This course builds applied skills aligned with those responsibilities through hands-on exercises and a capstone-style project.
More questions
Financial aid available,
¹ Some assignments in this course are AI-graded. For these assignments, your data will be used in accordance with Coursera's Privacy Notice.





