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Technical Skills
Excel, accounting, modelling and valuation. The part recruiters actually test.
Hard6 to 9 months
Importance★★★★★5.0
Career Hub
Master the skills used by professionals every day. Learn what matters, in what order, and how to prove it.
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Section 1
Six skill families. Every finance role is a different mix of these.
Excel, accounting, modelling and valuation. The part recruiters actually test.
Turning messy numbers into one clear answer a manager can act on.
Knowing how a company earns money before you judge its financials.
Explaining a number in one sentence, in writing and out loud.
Ownership, deadlines, feedback and staying calm on a busy day.
Power BI, SQL and Python. Optional early, valuable later.
Section 2
Tap a card to open why it matters, where it is used, and how to practise it. Slide your own progress.
Why it matters
Almost every finance output starts life in a spreadsheet. Speed in Excel is the difference between finishing analysis at 6 pm and 10 pm.
Where it is used
Budgets, variance reports, comparable company sheets, cash flow trackers, three statement models.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Accounting is the language the numbers are written in. Skip it and every model you build later is guesswork.
Where it is used
Reading results, adjusting one off items, checking whether profit turned into cash.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow are one connected system. Interviewers test the links, not definitions.
Where it is used
Quarterly results, credit reviews, investor updates, screening candidates for research.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Anyone can pull a number. You are paid to say what changed, why it changed and what it means next quarter.
Where it is used
Monthly business reviews, research notes, credit memos, investment committee packs.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Numbers are the result. The business model is the cause. Understanding the driver stops you from over reacting to one bad quarter.
Where it is used
Sector notes, pitch preparation, due diligence, strategy discussions.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
A model forces your assumptions into the open. It is the single most tested skill in banking and research interviews.
Where it is used
Three statement models, budgets, deal models, scenario planning.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Valuation joins your analysis to a number a decision maker can argue about. It is judgement supported by method, not a formula contest.
Where it is used
DCF, comparable companies, precedent transactions, football field summaries.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Your analysis is judged through the slide that carries it. Clean formatting quietly signals that you check your work.
Where it is used
Pitch decks, board packs, research summaries, internal reviews.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
In appraisals, communication is weighted as heavily as calculation. Being right silently does not move a decision.
Where it is used
Stand ups, client calls, email updates, escalating a problem early.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Presenting is communication under pressure with an audience that interrupts. It is learnable through reps, not theory.
Where it is used
Monthly reviews, client meetings, internship demo days, interviews.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
The dangerous answer is the one that looks reasonable and is never questioned. Critical thinking is the habit of asking what would prove me wrong.
Where it is used
Reviewing assumptions, spotting a data error, challenging a consensus view politely.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Most of the answer already exists in a filing, a transcript or a regulator's database. Research is knowing where to look first.
Where it is used
Annual reports, concall transcripts, RBI and SEBI data, industry associations.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Real work arrives broken: missing data, unclear ask, tight deadline. Structure beats brilliance here.
Where it is used
Reconciling two data sources, fixing a broken file an hour before a review.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
One wrong cell reference can travel into a client document. Reputation in finance is built on files that do not need rechecking.
Where it is used
Formula audits, footnote checks, number to text consistency in decks.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Finance runs on closing calendars. Delivering 90 percent on time usually beats 100 percent late.
Where it is used
Month end close, results season, deal timelines, exam preparation.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Why it matters
Short, specific writing gets read. Long writing gets skimmed and misunderstood.
Where it is used
Email updates, research summaries, credit notes, internship reports.
Free learning resources
Practice exercises
Section 3
The software on a finance desk. Tap any tool for real usage, tips and free alternatives.
Section 4
One path, twelve months, in order. Tap a milestone to see exactly what to do.
Proof you finished
You can explain inflation, equity and risk in your own words.
Proof you finished
A sales dashboard built by you, in under two hours.
Proof you finished
You can explain why profit and cash differ.
Proof you finished
A two page summary of one listed company.
Proof you finished
A comparison note on two companies in one sector.
Proof you finished
A clean model file you can walk anyone through.
Proof you finished
A one page valuation summary with a defended range.
Proof you finished
A shareable project folder linked on your resume.
Proof you finished
One completed internship with a written takeaway list.
Proof you finished
Two mock interviews completed with feedback.
Proof you finished
You apply without hesitating.
Section 5
Your progress is saved on this device only. Move the sliders in the skill cards above and this updates.
Section 6
Unlock one node at a time. Each node only makes sense once the one above is done.
Section 7
Every skill above maps to something free you can open right now.
Section 8
Learning without practice is incomplete. One project per skill is enough to prove it.
Take any public revenue table, clean it and build one dashboard with three charts and a filter.
1 weekend
Pick one listed Indian company and explain every major line in plain English.
3 evenings
Compare two companies in one sector on growth, margin, cash and returns. End with one conclusion.
1 week
Forecast five years, build a terminal value and test three scenarios.
2 weeks
Turn your analysis into 8 slides with message titles and one clean valuation page.
3 evenings
Summarise a 200 page annual report into a two page note with five risks.
1 week
Answer five business questions using GROUP BY and JOIN only.
1 weekend
Record yourself explaining one project to a non finance friend and rewatch once.
1 evening
Section 9
Each of these costs months. The fix is on the same card.
Learning Excel but never practising
Fix: Do one timed exercise per week. Watching does not build speed.
Watching videos without building projects
Fix: After every two hours of video, produce one file.
Ignoring accounting
Fix: Give accounting eight honest weeks before modelling. It is the base layer.
Skipping annual reports
Fix: Read one report fully per month. Filings beat summaries.
Copying financial models without understanding
Fix: Rebuild the model blank. If you cannot, you have not learned it.
Learning too many things at once
Fix: One skill per block. Finish it, prove it, move on.
Chasing certificates before skills
Fix: A certificate supports a portfolio. It does not replace one.
Waiting to feel ready
Fix: Apply at 70 percent readiness. The last 30 percent is learned on the job.
Section 10
Tick honestly. Ten boxes stand between you and your first serious application.
0 of 10 complete
0%Section 11
Free first. Paid only when it genuinely adds something.
Education only. VIA Capital does not provide investment advice, job guarantees or personalised financial guidance.