Course duration
6 weeks
Excluding orientation
Language
English
Access resources from start date
Effort
8–12 hours per week
Self-paced learning online
Course overview
Duration: 6 weeks (excluding orientation)
To effectively drive organisational success, business leaders and managers across functions require a firm grasp of finance. It’s a key component to understanding how an organisation operates and these professionals need to be commercially-minded to participate in financial discussions and decision-making.
This online certificate course equips you with a practical grounding in modern finance. Develop the tools to understand financial statements and reports, corporate finance, and fundamentals such as the time value of money. You’ll also learn how to apply these to your business context through forecasting methods, project evaluation, realistic performance plans, and the monitoring of financial outcomes. Increase your managerial impact with stronger financial insight, and make more informed contributions to organisational discussions and decisions.
Is this course for you?
As employees are promoted to more senior positions or management level, these new roles often call for greater financial accountability. This online certificate course focuses on providing vital finance knowledge and skills to non-financial managers, and is geared towards anyone in a managerial or leadership position – as well as those aspiring towards one. You’ll develop your commercial acumen, as well as a practical understanding of the dynamic between a company's finances and its non-financial departments and projects.
This course is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service, and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with, UK-based professional bodies. The course has an estimated 65 hours of learning.
Note: should you wish to claim CPD activity, the onus is upon you. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and GetSmarter accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.
Course overview
Introduction
Duration: 6 weeks (excluding orientation)
To effectively drive organisational success, business leaders and managers across functions require a firm grasp of finance. It’s a key component to understanding how an organisation operates and these professionals need to be commercially-minded to participate in financial discussions and decision-making.
This online certificate course equips you with a practical grounding in modern finance. Develop the tools to understand financial statements and reports, corporate finance, and fundamentals such as the time value of money. You’ll also learn how to apply these to your business context through forecasting methods, project evaluation, realistic performance plans, and the monitoring of financial outcomes. Increase your managerial impact with stronger financial insight, and make more informed contributions to organisational discussions and decisions.
Is this course for you?
As employees are promoted to more senior positions or management level, these new roles often call for greater financial accountability. This online certificate course focuses on providing vital finance knowledge and skills to non-financial managers, and is geared towards anyone in a managerial or leadership position – as well as those aspiring towards one. You’ll develop your commercial acumen, as well as a practical understanding of the dynamic between a company's finances and its non-financial departments and projects.
This course is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service, and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with, UK-based professional bodies. The course has an estimated 65 hours of learning.
Note: should you wish to claim CPD activity, the onus is upon you. The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and GetSmarter accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.
What will set you apart
Course curriculum
Orientation Module
Welcome to your Online Campus
Module 1
Financial statement analysis
Module 2
Financial forecasting
Module 3
Discounted cash flow analysis
Module 4
Optimal investing
Module 5
Funding strategies
Module 6
Valuing entire companies
Get course prospectus
What past students
think
Veit Guenther
Managing Director, German Translation Unit
Anyone who runs a business should take a course like this, no matter what size or industry. It is like a ‘business driving license’: there is a difference between running a business by intuition or hard work, and running a business by knowing how to interpret certain financial indicators.
Course Convenor
View the prospectus to see all the industry thought leaders featured on this course.
Dirk Jenter
Associate Professor of Finance, LSE Department of Finance
About the certificate
Grow your financial knowledge and earn an official certificate of competence from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
Get a course brochure
Want to know more?
Why choose GetSmarter?
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, is an online learning expert with over 10 years' experience in developing high-quality online short courses from the world’s leading universities. We deliver market-led courses that equip working professionals with the expertise required for the workplace of the future. Through a data-driven approach, we analyze future skills requirements and ensure all courses address this need.
Students are supported at every stage of the learning journey, enabling them to thrive professionally through increased relevance, competence, and confidence. Find out more about GetSmarter’s approach to digital learning, course design, and online delivery here.
Payment options
You can pay your course fees before the course starts, or you may opt for a split payment plan on courses that are nine weeks and shorter. For courses 10 weeks and longer, there is a three-part payment plan available. To find out more about payment options please visit our Payment and Financing FAQ, or contact an Enrollment Adviser, to find out which option you qualify for.
Manage your time
GetSmarter's learning model is designed to help you, as a working professional, improve your skills without compromising on work and family responsibilities. The course work is broken up into weekly, manageable bite-sized modules, with incremental deadlines, designed to help you pace yourself over the duration of the course and allow you the legroom to work when it suits you best.
At the beginning of each module you'll be presented with the course content and assignments necessary for completion. You also have access to your Success Adviser who will help you manage your time, and support you with any administrative or technical queries you might have.
Seek employer assistance
By improving your skills and industry knowledge, you'll have an influence on the success of your organization. Why wouldn't you ask your boss to help you fund your studies if it's going to have an impact on the way you do business?
Of our past students, 37 percent have received financial assistance from their employers. You can ask for help, too. Here is a guide to show you how to request financial assistance from your employer.
If you are a Learning & Development (L&D) manager, or involved in training and upskilling for an organization, you can request information regarding our corporate offering on our GetSmarter for business page.
How to change your start date
As part of our commitment to your professional development, GetSmarter offers you a two-week period to change your course start date or request your money back if you’re not fully satisfied.
To qualify for a deferral of your course start date, or to cancel your enrollment and receive a refund of your course fee, your request would need to reach our Success Advisers before the release of Module 2. For more information, please read our Terms and Conditions.
Discover the Online Campus
The Online Campus will be your virtual classroom for the duration of your course. Through its easy-to-use interface you'll have access to a diverse variety of course content formats including: interactive videos, module notes, practice quizzes, presentations, assignment briefs, and additional web resources.
On the Online Campus, you'll also be able to ask questions and interact with your fellow students and teaching team through the discussion forums. If you are looking for your Online Campus login, please see the list of university partner login pages here.