Looking to boost your financial knowledge but don’t want to spend any money? In today’s digital age, there are numerous free online finance courses offering certifications to help you learn essential money management skills, investing strategies, accounting basics, and more—without charging you a penny.
Whether you’re a student hoping to broaden your business education, an entrepreneur needing to better understand financial planning, or an individual wanting to take control of your finances, free certified finance courses can provide you with the tools and knowledge you need. Plus, earning an official certificate can be a great addition to your resume or CV.
In this comprehensive guide, we reveal 15 of the best free online finance courses offering certifications in 2023. Read on to discover top-rated classes covering budgeting, financial modeling, investing for retirement, cryptocurrency, accounting, fintech, and much more.
Introduction to Key Finance Topics Personal Finance and Budgeting
Retirement and Investment Planning Financial Modeling and Analysis
Accounting and Bookkeeping
Fintech Cryptocurrency and Blockchain
Best Free Online Personal Finance and Budgeting Courses
Taking control of your finances and budgeting better starts with learning the essential concepts of money management. Thankfully, there are some great free personal finance classes available online.
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Personal Finance:
Life Planning and Money Management Offered by: Purdue University Global Skills Academy on Skillshare Certificate: Certificate of completion (4 CEU points) Length: 23 lectures (~3 hours)
With close to 30,000 enrollments, Purdue Global’s personal finance night class is one of the most popular on Skillshare. The short, 3-hour course provides an excellent introduction to critical money management topics.
Through 23 lectures, you’ll learn strategies for achieving financial goals, managing income and expenses, mitigating risk, leveraging credit cards responsibly, and more. Topics also include taxes, financial services, consumer strategies, budgets, and financial statements.
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Foundations of Personal Finance Offered by:
Business & Financial Analysts Society (BFAS) Certificate: Certificate of completion (8 CFU points) Length: 8 modules (~8 hours)
BFAS offers an 8-hour online personal finance course exploring topics like saving strategies, credit, insurance, taxes, budgets, financial statements, retirement planning, real estate, and estate planning.
The self-paced course features downloadable resources and mini-quizzes to supplement the instructional videos. Upon completing the final exam, you can download a certificate of completion with 8 CFU credits.
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Personal Finance
Offered by: UC Irvine on Coursera
Certificate: Certificate of completion + shareable certificate Length: 4 weeks (~4 hours/week)
For a more comprehensive personal finance program, check out UC Irvine’s course offered through Coursera. The 4-week course covers traditional PF topics while also incorporating behavioral finance concepts to explain financial decision-making.
Students can earn a Coursera certificate with the free option. However, there is a paid upgrade that includes UC Irvine certification.
Best Free Online Retirement Planning and Investing Courses
Saving enough money to retire comfortably takes careful planning and smart investing moves. These free, certified investing and retirement planning courses can help guide you.
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Investing for Retirement
Offered by: edX Certificate: Verified certificate of completion
Length: 2 weeks (~2-4 hours/week)
EdX’s Investing for Retirement course helps students learn how to evaluate savings and investment options to live comfortably post-career.
Through video lessons and exercises, the 2-week course explores risk profiling, asset allocation strategies, investment plans, and how to adjust your portfolio over time. Students can earn a verified edX certificate by passing a final exam (+$99 official ID certificate available).
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Making Sense of Investing
Offered by: FutureLearn and the University of Geneva
Certificate: Certificate of completion Length: 3 weeks (~4 hours/week)
This free online investing course aims to make the world of investing easier to navigate for beginners.
Over 3 weeks, Making Sense of Investing covers different asset classes, risk management strategies, behavioral finance concepts, sustainable investing approaches, retirement planning, and more. Students will come away with the knowledge to start investing confidently.
Best Free Online Financial Modeling and Analysis Courses
Whether you’re an aspiring finance professional or an entrepreneur needing to value a business, online financial modeling courses can provide incredibly useful abilities. Master Excel while learning to assess companies, forecast performance, estimate equity values, and evaluate investment decisions with the following certified free classes.
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Financial Analysis Models
Offered by: edX
Certificate: Verified certificate of completion
Length: 8 weeks (~2-4 hours/week)
Dive into financial modeling and analysis with edX’s 8-week Financial Analysis Models course. Learners will explore several common valuation methodologies, including comparable company analysis, precedent transactions, DCF, and LBO models, through Excel modeling.
The course utilizes real-life case studies to demonstrate applications and teach critical interpretation and communication skills. Earn a verified completion certificate by passing all graded assignments and the final exam.
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Finance Fundamentals
Offered by: Harvard ManageMentor
Certificate: Certificate of completion Length: 10 modules (~10 hours)
The Harvard Management’s Finance Fundamentals course features a series of self-paced modules exploring critical analysis skills like benchmarking, forecasting, break-even analysis, and modeling techniques.
While focused on broad business finance concepts, the course nicely supplements more technical modeling abilities. Users can download a certificate upon completing all modules and model worksheets.
Best Free Online Accounting and Bookkeeping Courses
Brushing up on essential accounting and bookkeeping skills allows individuals and business owners to better understand critical financial documentation and statements. Check out these free, certified accounting classes.
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Financial Accounting
Offered by: edX Certificate: Verified certificate of completion
Length: 7 weeks (~2-6 hours/week)
EdX offers an in-depth Introduction to Financial Accounting course covering accounting fundamentals and financial statement analysis.
Over 7 weeks, learners explore topics like bookkeeping, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, accounting systems, GAAP principles, and more through video lectures, readings, and practice problems. Pass all graded assignments and the final exam to earn a verified edX certificate.
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Bookkeeping
Offered by: Google Digital Garage
Certificate: Certificate of completion Length: 26 modules (~20 hours)
Google Digital Garage provides an excellent free online bookkeeping course to help small business owners or future accounting professionals understand bookkeeping basics.
Over 26 modular lessons, students learn practical skills like organizing financial data, preparing financial statements, managing payroll, leveraging accounting software and tools, and more. Users can download a certificate upon completing the six graded assessments.
Best Free Online Fintech Courses
The fintech revolution continues to disrupt financial sectors as technology enables greater access, efficiency, and affordability. These free, certified fintech classes offer useful industry knowledge.
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Introduction to Fintech
Offered by: Emeritus
Certificate: Certificate of completion Length: 7 hours
Emeritus provides an engaging 7-hour Introduction to Fintech course exploring important concepts and trends shaping the financial industry’s future.
Through expert-led video lectures and supplemental materials, students learn about AI automation, blockchain, digital banking, alternative lending, digital investments, regulation, and other critical topics to understand this booming sector.
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Digital Transformation in Financial Services
Offered by: Coursera Project Network
Certificate: Certificate of completion Length: 2.5 hours
Can financial services firms fully digitize? Coursera Project Network’s hands-on course challenges learners to assess the digital transformation potential across different FS segments.
In over 14 activities, students evaluate case studies across banking, insurance, investments, and financing to provide recommendations on implementation strategies and process improvements. Earn a completion certificate by finishing all modules.
Best Free Online Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Courses
Understanding cryptocurrency and blockchain technology allows individuals to take advantage of their disruptive influence across finance and other sectors. These free, certified crypto classes offer great starting knowledge.
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Cryptoassets
Offered by: edX
Certificate: Verified certificate of completion Length: 5 weeks (~2-4 hours/week)
Dive into the world of crypto with edX’s course taught by engineers and executives from Ripple, exploring the creation, characteristics, and disruptive potential of digital assets and blockchain technology.
Over 5 weeks, Cryptoassets covers technical foundations, use cases, regulations, challenges, and the future of cryptocurrency and blockchain through video lectures, readings, discussion forums, and graded assessments. Earn a verified certificate by passing the final exam.
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Blockchain and FinTech:
Basics, Applications, and Limitations
Offered by: edX
Certificate: Verified certificate of completion Length: 5 weeks (~2-4 hours/week)
For a more finance-focused cryptocurrency course, enroll in edX’s Blockchain and FinTech class taught by Berkeley professors.
The 5-week course explores blockchain’s core technical foundations for powering Bitcoin and other digital currencies. But it also covers the broader business context, like financial and legal applications, structural limitations, and the future of decentralized public ledgers.
FAQs
Q. What are the benefits of taking free online finance courses?
Ans: Free, certified finance courses allow you to boost your financial literacy or career opportunities at no cost. Benefits include:
- Learning essential finance skills (e.g. budgeting, modeling, and accounting)
- Earning credible certificates for your resume or CV
- Trying subjects before paying for premium programs
- Flexible access to courses from top universities and companies
Q. Which finance course certificate is most valuable?
Ans: It depends on your needs. Verified certificates from edX/Coursera confirm your identity and mastery of course material, making them quite valuable for career or education applications. Certificates from top schools like Purdue or Harvard also carry weight.
Q. What jobs or careers use skills learned in finance courses?
Ans: Online finance course skills apply to roles in accounting, business/finance analysis, financial advising, insurance, banking, investing, etc. These abilities also help entrepreneurs make better decisions when starting or running companies.
Q. Who should enroll in free certified finance courses?
Ans: Anyone motivated to boost their financial literacy and money management abilities can benefit. Topics allow both students to explore career options and professionals seeking advancement to learn relevant, in-demand skills affordably.
Q. Can I access course materials online after completing a free class?
Ans: Access duration depends on platforms. For example, Coursera grants unlimited class access after enrolling. edX and others primarily limit access to course duration windows. Review policies before enrolling.
Conclusion
Financial literacy unlocks life-changing opportunities. Now anyone can access top-notch financial education, including official certification, 100% online and for for free through courses like those above.
Whether you’re a student seeking applicable money skills or a professional aiming to advance your career, reputable finance classes allow you to curate customized learning. Audit a single course or complete multiple programs at your own pace to enrich your financial abilities, resume, and overall well-being.
