Corporate Finance Institute FMVA Review 2023: Is FMVA Worth It?
Hello, This is Joseph.
I graduated from FMVA & CFI a few weeks back. I am a surveillance and investigation analyst with cognate years of experience in financial compliance, capital market regulation, and stock market analysis.
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Table of Contents
FMVA Review: What Made Me Enroll In FMVA?
I work in Stock Exchange as a Surveillance and Investigations Analyst. I am largely responsible for ensuring integrity, fairness, and orderliness in the stock market by proactively monitoring and preventing market infractions and manipulations.
Having studied Financial Modeling Valuation Analyst at university but privileged to have kick-started my career in the finance industry, there was a serious need to upskill myself, and gain more knowledge to become a world-class financial analyst.
And also wanted to bag relevant Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst certifications that would help me not only close the skill gap, but also boost my credentials, increase my pay, and help accelerate my career.
Those reasons above motivated me to search for more reasonable means to boost my career. Luckily for me, I came across the Corporate Finance Institute certifications on LinkedIn during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I figured out that the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst (FMVA) certification was the best for me at that time.
What is FMVA Certificate worth?
Since I added FMWA to my social profile, I have received a bunch of requests and questions related to banking investment, Financial Models, and Valuation. The FMVA certificate has given me endless benefits.
FMVA Review: My Thoughts On Content
The Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst syllabus is a very robust, comprehensive, and flexible one. There are about 8 Prep (optional) courses, 11 Core courses, and 10 Electives, from which you take a minimum of three.
I also observed the inclusion of relevant industry courses such as the Forex Market Essentials and the Macabacus Essentials in the prep courses and the Professional Ethics in the Core Courses.
A) Prep Courses (Step 1):
The prep courses are optional, but I took all of them. I found that they are as important as the core courses, and they offer some foundational understanding of the entire curriculum.
The Excel Crash courses and the Math for Corporate Finance I found exceptionally important and very useful as I learned some important excel shortcuts and basic math formulas for corporate finance.
B) Core Courses (Step 2):
The core courses cover the main topics of financial modeling and valuation; forecasting, accounting, professional ethics and Dashboard and Visualization topics.
Although this is intermediate compared to the Electives, out of the three stages, I found it the most important.
I learned how to build dynamically linked 3-statement financial models in Excel from scratch, creating a multi-year forecast to project the income statement, cash flow, and balance sheet of companies into the future.
In this section I also performed scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis, accretion/dilution analysis, and other advanced modeling practices using the advanced Excel formulas and functions that I had learned in these in prep courses.
The valuation part entails valuing a company using comparable company analysis, precedent transactions and discounted cash flow (DCF) modeling. Dashboards and data visualizations were built based on the valuations at the end of each session.
C) Elective Courses (Step 3):
The elective courses offer you the opportunity to pick three courses based on your unique interest and area of specialization.
There are about 10 courses covering LBO, M & A, Advanced Modeling cases for Renewable energy, Real Estate, and Mining industries; Advanced Excel Course, and the Corporate & Business Strategy.
Those courses offered me real-life, practical examples that buttressed my understanding of the entire program. The next section of the FMVA review is about case-studies.
Case-Studies:
I took about four courses, of which the Advanced Excel Formulas & Amazon Case Study were the most interesting and important.
I admire how the presenters used many real-life case studies to drive home the learning objectives and their step-by-step approach when using Excel to show practical examples during presentations.
The mode of presentation was 100% online. It was not only flexible but highly engaging, with interactive courses, case studies, and exercises from industry-leading instructors.
FMVA Vs CFA: Which Is Better?
Financial Modelling & Reporting Of FMVA Graduates:
Financial Reporting Of Paypal using PowerBI:
1. 3 Statement Financial Dashboards with vertical and horizontal Analysis using PayPal 5 years financial report.
2. Financial Ratios
3. Income statement from a General Ledger transaction Data directly from accounting software.
4. Aged receivables Report… and much more
Note: This is for information purpose only.
The dashboard contains vertical, horizontal analysis, and financial ratios Of Twitter.
Key Insights: (From 2016-2020)
- Revenue increased by 46.87%
- Net Income decreased by 37.86%
- Cost of revenue increased by 46.56%
- Twitter has maintained highly liquid assets of 56.71%
- Twitter has a gearing ratio of 32.23% in 2020
In the next topic of this FMVA Review, we will talk about opportunities after the course.
Opportunities After Course: FMVA Salary?
Reviews and experience from other students indicate that the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst increases your chances to land a better, high-paying job.
The Average FMVA salary is $121,000 per year, based on a survey of Corporate Finance Institute students conducted. I can testify to the credibility and relevance of the Professional certification, as I have been able to gain a promotion only a few months after completing the FMVA Certification.
While I am currently working in the capital market, my practical knowledge and skills are good enough to make me eligible for job opportunities in the investment banking, corporate development, and equity research fields.
Of course, my performance at work improved greatly, but the knowledge and skill I got from the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst course and one other Professional certification I took the same year made my promotion possible.
Impact Of FMVA On My Career?
I feel that it has had a good impact on my life, both personally and professionally. I have been able to gain more confidence in my work, and I also gained a promotion to show for it.
Example: My Team Leader requested me to model one of the companies on our watch list. Ordinarily, that was supposed to be a few weeks work;considering the perceived difficulty in valuation and Financial Models. But it took me less than 3 days. This gained me respect and recognition in my department.
I hope this FMVA review is helping you in all possible ways.
FMVA Cost: Self-Study Vs Full Immersion?
I am inclined to think that the pricing is very affordable for the quality I received. There are two payment options: Self-Study and the Full Immersion.
The Self-Study costs $497, while the Full-Immersion costs about $847. Students who subscribe for either of them get the exact same quality of lectures and equal access to the FMVA final exam.
How much I Paid?
For FMVA, I enrolled in the full-immersion plan for $847. I suggest selecting a plan according to your needs and budget. Also, CFI has changed the plan now you get access to the entire CFI course catalog and certificates at $847.
Practical Advantages In Full-Immersion:
- Additional financial modeling case studies
- Free entry to the annual financial modeling competition
- Reviews & Feedbacks
- Physical Certificate delivered doorstep
- Premium Support
What About Offers & Discounts?
10% Off – All Access Subscription – Code: OCGRAD10
My Thoughts On Course Timeline:
I started my CFI journey in August 2020. At that point, I was only taking the eight free prep courses pending when I would have enough money to pay for the certification.
In October that same year, I started taking the core courses because I was lucky enough to register. And in March 2021, I passed the final exam and received my FMVA designation with CFI. That is roughly 7 months in total.
But late payment, coupled with the demise of my late Mom, prolonged the journey. My late Mom’s death was a devastating experience that made me abandon the FMVA classes for more than a month; and even failed the final exam at the first attempt, delaying me for an extra month, plus a $50 fee, before I could rewrite it.
But the truth is, considering the interactive lectures and the determination and zeal I had, My journey could have been way shorter than that (around 4 months). Now in the next topic of this FMVA reviews, we will talk about who is behind CFI?
How Good Are CFI Instructors?
Tim Vipond (Founder): He has vast experience in financial research and investment banking, He is active in the financial & capital markets since 2005 and is a great instructor for investment banking as well as an Internet Entrepreneur.
In an Interview, According to Tim what makes CFI stands out?
Scott Powell: He has worked in New York, London, and Hong Kong for the majority of his career. Scott has more than 25 years of expertise building and delivering bespoke learning solutions for financial services companies such as JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, and HSBC, to mention a few.
And more details about instructors you can see on CFI’s website.
Is FMVA Certification Worth It?
In this section, we will review the FMVA certification. Gaining the reputable (FMVA)® Certification is one accomplishment I relish most, and I am proud of because it kick-started – and helped me complete – this journey during the most traumatizing and challenging period of my life.
The certification is worth every cent I paid and every sleepless night; because the knowledge, insights, and experience gained are highly valuable and practicable for my new career.
Indeed, an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
I have to say that the instructors of the CFI FMVA course deserve applause for crafting such a robust, world-class curriculum and for making the supposed difficult courses simple, understandable, and affordable.
Before going to the conclusion of the CFI FMVA review, I will share some pros and cons of FMVA as per my experience.
What I Liked?
It is “Flexible” in the sense that all the courses and exams are 100% online, although you are recommended to complete the certification within 6 months.
There are no deadlines whatsoever, hence making it easier for one to learn at one’s own pace and time without disrupting family or work time.
I also like the “Relevance and Credibility” of the certification, in the sense that it is highly sought after in the financial industry. Probably due to its extremely robust and rich course contents. The curriculum covers critical topics in accounting, financial modeling, Excel, pitch book, budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, LBO, ethics, etc.
Secondly, I need to state here that once you register for any of the CFI’s certification programs, you automatically become their student for life.
And finally you get access to 4 certifications (FMVA,CMSA,CBCA,BIDA) at one subscription cost.
What I Disliked?
I did not like it as much as others because it is not as rigorous as I had expected, and the FMVA final exam pass rate to get the certification is so high (about 70%) compared to other finance certifications (about 49%).
I know it may seem false if I say there is nothing that I disliked about the CFI FMVA certification. Well, if I must highlight any, I’d say that was the only thing I disliked.
Conclusion: Is FMVA Worth It?
Naturally, there are many people asking “Is CFI FMVA Worth It?”, as there are a lot of unauthentic FMVA reviews. As a graduate, I tried to keep it raw, natural, and honest.
I would recommend FMVA to any finance/accounting professional who wishes to become an excellent financial analyst and gain incredible knowledge in Financial modeling and valuation.
If you are a finance professional who is interested in corporate finance, financial planning and analysis, private equity, and corporate development spaces, then you can be sure the FMVA Certification is worth it.
As well as closing the skill gap between theoretical and practical knowledge, it is very hard to find any opportunity as convenient, comprehensive, reputable, and highly practical as the CFI certifications. Of course, getting a job is never 100% certain, as it depends on many factors, but you can be sure obtaining this certificate will help you land your dream job.
Author – Joseph
I am a surveillance and Investigations Analyst At The Stock Exchange.
5+ years of experience in financial modeling & valuation, market intelligence & reporting, and data analytics.
Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)®
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FAQs:
Is there any refund policy for FMVA course?
No, unfortunately there is no refund policy for the FMVA course.
What’s the difference between the self-study and full immersion plans?
The main differences are added case studies, entry to financial modeling competition, reviews and feedback, as well as many more features.
Can I get a physical certificate?
Yes, you can order a physical copy for $77 within North America and $97 for everywhere else. The digital certificate comes included in the all access subscription.
What is the average time to complete FMVA?
It takes an average of 4-6 months to complete the FMVA program. You can work at your own pace. Some people have completed it within one month and others have taken up to a year.
Also read: CFI FMVA Cost
Hope you find this CFI FMVA reviews article Helpful!
