Corporate Financial Institute Review: Is It Worth It? (2024)

Over the past few years, the finance industry has seen a trend of mammoth changes especially in regards to the integration of internet technology.

I would say that nowadays to run a very successful business or greatly improve it requires fundamental knowledge of the current state of banking and finance. Having the knowledge of some technical analysis and some necessary business tools is crucial.

The problem is where to get this so-called adequate knowledge. Where can we go? I'm not talking about enrolling in a college or university, I mean online institutes where we can get direct, efficient and practical information about banking and finance and learn at our own pace and comfort.

That's the problem we're going to solve today because today we're going review Corporate Financial Institute an online institute that offers to courses, business tools and delicate technical analysis they claim to aid us in gaining the necessary knowledge and skills required in various aspects of banking and finance with regards to how it has evolved in this 21st century.

Join me in this review article as I expose and dissect this institute of learning and tell you what is and what is definitely not obtainable.

Let's dive in.

Important Note: If after reading this review and want to give it a go >>Click Here<< to try out Corporate Financial Institute.

What is Corporate Financial Institute:

Corporate Financial Institute also known as CFI is a leading global provider of training and productivity tools for finance and banking professionals. It delivers necessary skills, certifications, CPE credits, and resources to help just about anyone from beginners to seasoned pros drive up their careers in finance & banking.

They are geared towards enhancing the skills, knowledge, and productivity of finance and banking professionals. They provide practical, real world skill development, expert led training, interactive lessons, on-the-job tools and resources, all on demand.

Who Owns Corporate Financial Institute:

The organization was founded by Scott Powell and Tim Vipond. Currently, the company is led in the capacity of CEO by Mrs. Anna Talerico.

When Was Corporate Financial Institute Founded:

The organization was incorporated as a joint venture with MDA Training In 2016. MDA Training was a London-based financial training company founded in 1988 by Professor Walter Reid, who was one of the founding professors of the London Business School (LBS).

In 2021, Corporate Finance Institute acquired Macabacus, a Microsoft Office Add-in for finance professionals, with tens of thousands of monthly and annual subscribers.

Corporate Financial Institute Courses:

Let's take a look at some of the courses offered by Corporate Financial Institute:

• Excel Fundamentals - Formulas for Finance
• Audit a financial model with macabacus
• Analyzing growth drivers and business risks
• Formatting a financial model with macabacus
• Accounting fundamentals
• Graph database fundamentals
• Environmental Social and governance (ESG)
• Introduction to banking
• Corporate Financial fundamentals
• Capital IQ fundamentals
• The role of FP and A professionals
• Math for financial professionals
• Introduction to business valuation
• Financial analysis and fundamentals
• Introduction to 3 statement modeling
• Reading financial statements
• Financial risk management
• Certified financial planning (CFP)
• Chartered alternative investment analysis (CAIA)
• Chartered financial analysis (CFA) certification
• Financial modeling and valuation analysis (FMVA) certification
• Certified public accountancy (CPA)

How Does Corporate Financial Institute Work:

Talking about the manner of operations, let's look into how CFI works.

CFI provides their services by offering a wide range of courses that cover various finance topics, from fundamentals to advanced mastery. This includes accounting, financial modeling, valuation, and more. The courses are designed to simulate the complexities of modern finance roles and therefore provide hands-on learning experience through video lessons, practical templates, and interactive exercises.

Professionals can also earn accredited certifications such as Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)®, Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)® and some other finance professional certifications from taking some sets of courses

CFI's mission is to deliver practical, real-world skill development and expert-led training that's accessible on-demand for finance and banking professionals worldwide. Whether you're starting out or looking to advance your career, CFI is an answer.

Corporate Financial Institute Courses Reviewed:

Let's review three Corporate Financial Institute courses to get an insight into what they're all about and the areas they cover.

Introduction to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance):

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has gained increasing attention over the past few years, with many institutional investors investing only in those companies that provide ESG performance reporting.

This course provides an overview of an ESG framework and how it supports a company’s overall risk management. It examines each component in detail and provides insight into how they converge to impact a company and its stakeholders.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Explain what ESG is and its relevance to making financial decisions

• Describe key environmental, social, and governance issues

• Explain how stakeholders influence corporate ESG performance

• Analyze ESG risks and opportunities;

• Assess ESG company performance using publicly available information

• Translate ESG information to business intelligence.

Accounting Fundamentals:

Understanding the basics of accounting is a crucial skill for almost all finance professionals as it gives us insight into profitability, operations, growth, and the underlying drivers of the business. The Accounting Fundamentals course covers the importance of the financial statements and various financial statement terms. We will record transactions and prepare a multi-year income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the role and importance of the financial statements.

• Define various financial statement terms

• Explore the format of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

• Record financial statement transactions.

• Understand how transactions move through the financial statements.

• Prepare simple financial statements.

Introduction to Business Intelligence:

This Introduction to Business Intelligence course provides an overview of business intelligence. The course starts with basic insights into business intelligence and how it differs from data science before covering the key roles and processes involved. You’ll learn about each role in detail and what skills are essential in each position. As you progress through the course, you will understand how these roles work together to deliver actionable insights, as well as look at examples of BI tools and how they help revolutionize your work.

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

• Explain different roles that form part of a business intelligence team

• Discuss how BI serves the needs of a business

Introduction to Business Intelligence is part of the Business Intelligence & Data Analyst (BIDA)® certification, which includes 27 courses.

Skills Learned:

• Data visualization, data warehousing and transformation, data modeling and analysis

Career Prep:

• Business intelligence analyst, data scientist, data visualization specialist

Corporate Financial Institute Pricing:

Corporate Financial Institute has various offers which come at unique price tags. Each price dependent on the usage and payment plans involved

Let's break it down

There are two usage plans:

• For Individual
• For Teams

Each usage plan has two separate offers from which to choose from and make your payment.

For Individuals:

1. CFI Self-Study:

This payment plan gives you access to all courses offered by CFI.

Price: $298.20 per year

Features:

• 5,000+ lessons & 200+ courses.
• Unlimited access to all Certifications & Specializations.
• Members-only online community.
• Ready-to-use financial models & templates.
• Skill-focused CFI specialization programs.
• Quizzes, assessments, and case studies.
• Exclusive access to Fin, CFI’s AI-powered chatbot integrated into your course experience.

1. CFI Full Immersion:

This payment plan has everything the CFI self study plan has with the major addition of expert guidance.

Price: $508.20 per year

Features:

• Course-integrated AI-chatbot
• 1-on-1 guidance, financial model review
• Exclusive Partner offers
• 5,000+ lessons & 200+ courses.
• Unlimited access to all Certifications & Specializations.
• Members-only online community.
• Ready-to-use financial models & templates.
• Skill-Focused CFI Specialization Programs
• Quizzes, Assessments, and Case Studies
• Exclusive access to Fin, CFI’s AI-powered chatbot integrated into your course experience.

For Teams:

This offers CFI's on-demand training and certifications, plus exclusive business tools and analytics to monitor progress, engagement, and return on investment. CFI for Teams subscriptions are billed annually and start at two learners.

CFI for Teams is the solution to improving your team's financial skillset at scale. From basic fundamentals to expert training, It has the tools and content to meet your learners where they are in their learning journey and take them to the next level.

1. Basic:

This offer gives you access to the full CFI learning library and basic business tools.

Price: $399

Features:

• The ability to create and assign customized learning paths.
• License reassignment if a learner leaves your organization.
• 200+ on-demand courses and 5,000+ Video Lessons.
• Role-based learning paths: transform your team into role-ready experts.
• Management dashboard and reporting.
• Premium email support.
• Ask-an-Expert: 1-on-1 guidance from curriculum specialists (up to five per week).
• Consolidated billing.

1. Premium:

This offer gives you an upgraded experience from the Basic plan including professional certifications and advanced business tools. With this plan you can access the full CFI learning library and basic business tools.

Price: $497

Features:

• Final Certification exams for FMVA®, CBCA®, CMSA®, BIDA®, FPWM™, FTIP™.
• Blockchain-Verified Micro-Credential and Certifications: verified certificates that are downloadable and shareable

Unlimited access to:

• 200+ on-demand courses with 5,000+ lessons
• Role-based learning paths
• Build your own learning paths
• Management dashboard and reporting
• Premium email support

Corporate Financial Institute Free Courses:

Corporate Financial Institute offers an array of free courses and resources, like templates, to help you solidify your knowledge and break into the industry. Although major programs, like the FMVA, CMSA, BIDA, etc, require you to subscribe.

You can find a collection of free courses when you make use of the filtering options available. Use the cost filter to weed out the free courses, then use the filter options below to find free courses in specific programs or topics that interest you. You can also search for specific free courses by using the search bar provided.

How to Sign Up to Corporate Financial Institute:

Follow these quick and easy steps to sign up to Corporate Financial Institute and start learning today:

• Firstly, Click Here
• Select the your preferred usage plan (Individual or Team)
• Select the appropriate payment plan (Basic/Premium plan or Self-study/Full Immersion)
• Proceed to fill in your details for the creation of your CFI account
• Next make your payment
• Enjoy Corporate Financial Institute Offerings

Corporate Financial Institute Pros and Cons:

This review wouldn't be complete if we don't discuss the pros and cons involved in using Corporate Financial Institute.

Pros:

• Expert Instructors: CFI's courses are taught by industry professionals with extensive experience, ensuring that students receive practical insights along with theoret

• cal knowledge.

• Practical Skills: CFI's curriculum is designed to close the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills, thus preparing students to perform actual financial analysis.

• Flexibility: With the option to learn anywhere, and at any time, CFI's courses cater to busy professionals and hybrid teams.

• Comprehensive Curriculum: Covering all topics from basics to advanced, CFI provides in-depth training across various finance domains

• Global Recognition: CFI's certifications are recognized globally, adding significant value to a professional's credentials.

Cons:

• Cost: CFI's certifications and courses can be relatively expensive, which might be a barrier for individuals or students on a tight budget.

• Internet Accessibility: The online nature of CFI's programs requires a stable and reliable internet connection, which may not be accessible to everyone, especially in regions with limited connectivity.

• Time Commitment: The nature of the courses demands a significant time investment from users to be able to complete. This might be seen as challenging for working professionals or those with other commitments.

It is worthy of note that these cons of corporate Financial Institute are relative to the circ*mstances around the user. Therefore, not every user should expect to face hindrances from them.

Is Corporate Financial Institute Legit:

Yes it is. They are verified on Trustpilot and have a score of 4.4 out of 5. With over 2 million enrolled, 200+ courses, 5000+ video lessons, alliance with global corporations like , Amazon, Citi, JPMorgan, CreditSuisse, HBSC, Salesforce, Black Rock, and Deutsche Bank, Corporate Financial Institute is certainly a formidable force.

It is also worthy of note that CFI certificates are well recognized even internationally and therefore you can apply for jobs using the certification you've obtained.

Is Corporate Financial Institute Worth It:

It actually is. If you're a person considering gaining knowledge on the intricacies of finance or a brand owner trying to get his team up to speed in various aspects of finance and banking. I assure it will be worth your while.

Corporate Financial Institute is geared towards boosting the expertise, knowledge, and performance of finance and banking novices and professionals. It offers hands-on, real-world training led by a team of experts, engaging lessons, and practical tools and resources to apply on the job.

Corporate Financial Institute Customer Reviews:

Here are some customer reactions and reviews from using corporate Financial Institute. They were sourced from the company website and Trustpilot.

Conclusion: Corporate Financial Institute Review

The Corporate Finance Institute (CFI) is a highly regarded provider of online financial education, known for its comprehensive offerings and commitment to quality. I enthusiastically recommend CFI for individuals in the banking industry, entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their financial acumen, freelancers involved in finance-related work, and anyone desiring a deep understanding of banking and finance.