What is business finance?

Business finance is the initial capital that is required to start a business and the managing of that money. It is usually in the form of funding that you've raised to start, maintain, or expand the commercial business venture. In a broader sense, business finance refers to the entire category of a company or organization managing its money, to have clarity on the company's investments, budgeting, credit, savings, and business forecasting. The financial decisions for a small startup or a sole proprietorship usually fall to the owner of the business. In a larger company, the matters of business finance are under the responsibility of an accountant or financial manager. These managers may have a team of people to help with the administrative tasks involved with company payroll, taxes, payments, and other areas of business finance.

Why is it important to learn business finance?

It's important to learn business finance because you can gain insights into funding a business operation, whether through a commercial loan, line of credit, or crowdfunding. Business finance can help you understand the pros and cons of raising money for your business, how to allocate capital, and how to best fund the day-to-day operations of the business. If you want to work in business, you'll have to learn to deal with financial issues of all kinds, especially if you own or manage the business. Learning business finance helps you determine how to make capital investment decisions, how to obtain business loans as needed, assess business valuation for the business, apply for grant funding, or liquidate some of your business to raise money.

What career opportunities can arise from learning business finance?

The types of careers associated with business finance knowledge and a good educational background include financial management roles like financial analysts, budget analysts, tax accountants, financial forecasters, and financial managers. Once you're armed with good work experience, you can branch out to work on your own or move into different industries as an insurance agent, a real estate broker, or a commercial loan officer.

How can taking online courses help me learn business finance?

Taking online courses about business finance can open up new areas of interest to you in venture capital financing, cash flow analysis, international finance, investments and markets, and more. If you're already working in a financial role, and want to expand your knowledge, taking online courses in business finance can help you to better understand income statements, balance sheets, and financial ratio analysis models.

What are the benefits of taking an online Business Finance course?

Online Business Finance courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your existing knowledge or learn new Business Finance skills. With a wide range of Business Finance classes, you can conveniently learn at your own pace to advance your Business Finance career skills.

What Business Finance courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Business Finance, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Top Business Finance Courses - Learn Business Finance Online

Explore the Business Finance Course Catalog

Status: Free Trial
Status: AI skills
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Dashboard, Excel Formulas, Extract, Transform, Load, Power BI, Data Analysis Expressions (DAX), Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Copilot, Data Modeling, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Star Schema, Data Analysis, Data Presentation, Data Visualization Software, Spreadsheet Software, Data Validation, Interactive Data Visualization, Data Transformation, Data Cleansing, Data Storage
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
7.4K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Duke University
Business Impact
Skills you'll gain: Financial Analysis, Financial Data, Operational Efficiency, Business Metrics, Financial Management, Profit and Loss (P&L) Management, Business Strategy, Return On Investment, Strategic Decision-Making, Business Analysis, Performance Analysis
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
23 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Strategic Leadership and Management
Skills you'll gain: Business Strategy, Organizational Change, Stakeholder Management, Organizational Structure, Corporate Strategy, Governance, Conflict Management, Organizational Strategy, Trustworthiness, Team Building, Strategic Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Business Management, Organizational Effectiveness, Business Ethics, Team Management, Change Management, Decision Making, Leadership Development, Teamwork
Build toward a degree
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
9.9K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
University of London
Corporate Strategy
Skills you'll gain: Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy, Resource Allocation, Strategic Decision-Making, Organizational Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Growth Strategies, New Business Development, Business Valuation, Portfolio Management, Analysis
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
2.7K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Università Bocconi
Financing and Investing in Infrastructure
Skills you'll gain: Project Finance, Risk Analysis, Capital Budgeting, Financial Analysis, Credit Risk, Risk Management, Investments, Loans, Contract Management, Banking
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
2.1K reviews
Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months
University of New Mexico
International Business II
Skills you'll gain: International Finance, Entrepreneurship, Global Marketing, Business Management, New Business Development, Business, Organizational Structure, Workforce Management, Organizational Strategy, Economics, Market Dynamics, Cultural Diversity
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
791 reviews
Mixed · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free Trial
IBM
IBM & Darden Digital Strategy
Skills you'll gain: Strategic Thinking, Digital Transformation, Business Strategy, Cloud Computing Architecture, Competitive Analysis, Cloud Services, Large Language Modeling, Business Transformation, Cloud Security, Cloud Technologies, Cloud Infrastructure, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Platforms, Data Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Cloud Hosting, OpenAI, Product Lifecycle Management, Business Technologies
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
45K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Tableau Learning Partner
Tableau Business Intelligence Analyst
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Exploratory Data Analysis, Requirements Elicitation, Ad Hoc Reporting, Data Governance, Data Ethics, Tableau Software, Business Analysis, Data Literacy, Data Visualization Software, Data Warehousing, Business Metrics, Dashboard, Statistical Visualization, Extract, Transform, Load, Data Analysis, Spatial Data Analysis, Data Quality, Data Presentation, Interactive Data Visualization
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
970 reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Status: AI skills
IBM
IBM Data Engineering
Skills you'll gain: NoSQL, Data Warehousing, SQL, Apache Hadoop, Extract, Transform, Load, Apache Airflow, Web Scraping, Linux Commands, Database Design, IBM Cognos Analytics, MySQL, Apache Spark, Data Pipelines, Apache Kafka, Database Management, Bash (Scripting Language), Data Store, Jupyter, Generative AI, Professional Networking
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
59K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Starweaver
Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®)
Skills you'll gain: Process Analysis, Requirements Elicitation, Business Analysis, Risk Analysis, Backlogs, Requirements Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Business Process, User Requirements Documents, User Story, Business Requirements, Requirements Analysis, Business Modeling, Business Process Improvement, Business Risk Management, Business Intelligence, Business Strategies, Financial Analysis, Performance Measurement, Business Planning
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
257 reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: New
Status: Free Trial
IBM
IBM Relational Database Administrator
Skills you'll gain: Data Warehousing, SQL, Extract, Transform, Load, Apache Airflow, Web Scraping, Linux Commands, Database Design, Database Administration, MySQL, Data Pipelines, Apache Kafka, Database Management, Bash (Scripting Language), Shell Script, Database Architecture and Administration, Data Transformation, Data Store, IBM DB2, Jupyter, Generative AI
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
58K reviews
Intermediate · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
IBM
Applied Data Science
Skills you'll gain: Dashboard, Data Visualization Software, Plotly, Data Visualization, Predictive Modeling, Interactive Data Visualization, Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Wrangling, Data Analysis, Jupyter, Matplotlib, Pandas (Python Package), Seaborn, Data Presentation, Data Import/Export, Web Scraping, Python Programming, Data Structures, Data Science, Data-Driven Decision-Making
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
58K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months