Master Financial Fundamentals

Master Financial Fundamentals

This course is part of Strengthen Your Business Savvy Specialization

Instructor: Harvard Business Review

2,226 already enrolled

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3 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

13 reviews

Intermediate level

Some related experience required

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

3 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

13 reviews

Intermediate level

Some related experience required

1 week to complete

at 10 hours a week

Flexible schedule

Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

Understand and analyze financial statements to gauge financial health and monitor operational success
Weigh costs and benefits, track financial performance, and make the most of resources
Create operating budgets and capital outlay budgets that support organizational strategic objectives
Analyze budget variances and perform sensitivity analysis to optimize financial planning and control

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

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Add to your LinkedIn profile

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Strengthen Your Business Savvy Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 3 modules in this course

Organizations are powered by sound financial decisions: informed choices about resources, investments, and strategic spending that fuel long-term success. No matter your role, you can create immense value by understanding how to interpret financial data and make decisions that maximize your team's resources. In this course, you'll learn how to read financial statements, create effective budgets, and invest wisely to produce desired returns. Discover evidence-based strategies to analyze financial performance and guide your organization toward sustained profitability.

Let’s face it—money is the fuel that keeps your organization running. No matter your role, by understanding the fundamentals of finance, you ensure your team will make the most of its resources. Learn how to interpret financial statements, create a budget, and invest wisely to produce the desired returns.

What's included

13 videos34 readings1 assignment

13 videos Total 33 minutes

Tackle Finance with Curiosity 3 minutes
Cash Is King—Don't Give It Away 4 minutes
How Managers Should Read Financial Statements 2 minutes
Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Intimidating 2 minutes
Confronting a Bad Deal 3 minutes
Realistic Budgets 3 minutes
Understanding NPV 1 minute
The (Im)precision of Finance 2 minutes
How to Use Breakeven Analysis 2 minutes
Look Beyond Obvious Risks 3 minutes
Create Efficiencies 2 minutes
Use Bad News to Your Advantage 3 minutes
Face Your Fear 3 minutes

34 readings Total 340 minutes

Understand Financial Statements 10 minutes
Why financial intelligence matters 10 minutes
Accounting methods 10 minutes
Three financial statements 10 minutes
Assumptions, estimates, and biases 10 minutes
Assess Financial Health 10 minutes
Ratio analysis 10 minutes
Valuation methods 10 minutes
Other assessment methods 10 minutes
Develop a Budget 10 minutes
Definition 10 minutes
Budgeting activities 10 minutes
Budget approaches 10 minutes
Prepare a budget 10 minutes
Articulate your assumptions 10 minutes
Quantify your assumptions 10 minutes
Defend your assumptions 10 minutes
KSS example 10 minutes
Perform Cost/Benefit Analysis 10 minutes
Cost/benefit analysis defined 10 minutes
Return on investment analysis 10 minutes
Payback period analysis 10 minutes
Net present value analysis 10 minutes
Internal rate of return analysis 10 minutes
Breakeven analysis 10 minutes
Sensitivity analysis 10 minutes
Estimate unquantifiable benefits and costs 10 minutes
Track Financial Performance 10 minutes
Track your investment 10 minutes
Track your operating budget 10 minutes
Adapt to changes 10 minutes
Build Your Team’s Financial Intelligence 10 minutes
Why it matters to your team 10 minutes
Financial literacy strategies 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Finance Essentials Assessment 30 minutes

Budgeting isn’t just for finance teams. Each decision a manager makes needs to take into account the resources that are available to them. Learning to budget ensures you can allocate resources wisely, communicate financial expectations, and keep teams on track with their budgets.

What's included

12 videos34 readings1 assignment

12 videos Total 31 minutes

Budget Impacts 2 minutes
Opportunity vs. Cost in a New Market 3 minutes
Budgeting in an Uncertain Market 3 minutes
How Not to Lose Sleep Over Your Budget 2 minutes
Realistic Budgets 3 minutes
Embrace Uncertainty 3 minutes
The Upside of Understanding Unit Costs 2 minutes
The Art of Contingency Planning 2 minutes
The Refresher: Net Present Value 2 minutes
Deciphering Cost Variance 3 minutes
Use Bad News to Your Advantage 3 minutes
Adapt Your Budgeting Process for Dynamic Times 3 minutes

34 readings Total 340 minutes

Understand Budgets and Budgeting 10 minutes
A definition 10 minutes
Your role 10 minutes
Why budgets matter 10 minutes
Overview of the budgeting process 10 minutes
Traditional and alternative approaches 10 minutes
Types of costs 10 minutes
Fixed vs. flexible budgets 10 minutes
Limitations of budgets 10 minutes
Develop an Operating Budget 10 minutes
Seven steps 10 minutes
Define your goals 10 minutes
Articulate your assumptions 10 minutes
Forecast sales volumes 10 minutes
Forecast revenues 10 minutes
Forecast COGS 10 minutes
Estimate SG&A costs 10 minutes
Calculate operating income 10 minutes
Put it all together 10 minutes
Prepare a Capital Budget 10 minutes
Understand capital assets 10 minutes
What is a capital budget? 10 minutes
Understand the cost of capital 10 minutes
Who develops a capital budget? 10 minutes
Understand capital budgeting techniques 10 minutes
Understand Sensitivity Analysis and Variance 10 minutes
Conduct a sensitivity analysis 10 minutes
Analyze variance 10 minutes
Report variance 10 minutes
Communicate news promptly 10 minutes
Adapt Budgeting to a Changing Environment 10 minutes
Understand budgeting's changing requirements 10 minutes
The Balanced Scorecard 10 minutes
Using budgeting to manage organizational performance 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Budgeting Assessment 30 minutes

What's included

2 assignments

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Instructor

Harvard Business Review

24 Courses 11,920 learners

Offered by

Harvard Business Review

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Reviewed on Feb 6, 2026

This course has definitely developed a new skill in my profession

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Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

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