9 months: extend into valuation and strategic finance
Complete the 3-month core and 6-month extension first. This path assumes 10 hours weekly, about 360 estimated total hours. Weeks 25–36 add company analysis, valuation, capital allocation, and a final presentation. Investment analysis is an optional learning branch—not individualized investment advice.
Each week is planned for 10 hours: approximately 6 hours learning, 3 applied work, and 1 communication/review. Continue weekly English explanation and data-quality/reconciliation checks; every two weeks, replan using finished work and application or interview feedback.
Dependencies and remediation: complete the weeks in order; each deliverable builds on the previous one and the 3- and 6-month plans. If a completion check is missed, pause, revisit the linked resource, reduce the work to one small example, verify one calculation by hand, and request a review. Repeat the check before moving on.
| Week (10 h) | Objective and resource | Practice and deliverable | Completion check and remediation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Read financial statements and business context. Use the “Getting data” and “From financial disclosures to value” materials in NYU Stern’s Valuation Online Class and a public issuer’s published reports. | Write a source register and a short description of the business model and reporting period. | Inputs link back to published materials; distinguish reported values from estimates. |
| 26 | Examine historical trends and operating drivers using the NYU Stern valuation course and supporting tests. | Calculate revenue, margin, working-capital, and cash-flow trends from sourced figures. | Recalculate key ratios independently and record definitions. |
| 27 | Build a forecast from operating assumptions. Review selected NYU Stern corporate-finance sessions. | Create a simple forecast tied to business drivers and financial statements. | Statements are internally consistent; show forecast periods and assumptions. |
| 28 | Understand cash-flow valuation. Use selected sessions and post-class tests from NYU Stern’s Valuation Online Class. | Create a basic discounted-cash-flow model with sourced or explicitly hypothetical assumptions. | Formulas trace to inputs; cash-flow and discount periods align. |
| 29 | Evaluate discount-rate and risk assumptions with selected NYU Stern valuation sessions. | Explain how changed assumptions affect value; distinguish market data from judgment. | Sensitivity outputs reproduce; no single discount-rate value is represented as certain. |
| 30 | Compare valuation methods and peer selection using NYU Stern’s valuation course and application tools. | Identify comparables with a written inclusion/exclusion rationale. | Units and periods are normalized; explain why no company is a perfect comparable. |
| 31 | Run sensitivity and scenario analysis. Use selected NYU Stern valuation sessions/tests. | Show a small sensitivity table and narrative on the largest value drivers. | Model responses are directionally sensible and inputs are visible; test formula boundaries. |
| 32 | Write an investment-analysis memo. Review the NYU Stern valuation-course material. | Summarize thesis, evidence, key assumptions, risks, and disconfirming information. | Claims cite sources; uncertainty and limitations are prominent. Label as a learning exercise, not investment advice. |
| 33 | Practice a corporate-finance alternative with NYU Stern corporate-finance sessions. | Compare two synthetic capital-allocation or working-capital options. | Compare cash timing, operating impact, and assumptions consistently. |
| 34 | Add control and review discipline. Use Microsoft’s Excel formula guide and relevant Power BI model lessons. | Create a review checklist for source lineage, formula integrity, unit consistency, and version history. | Another learner can reproduce the main model and identify model limitations. |
| 35 | Integrate payment and finance analysis. Revisit Banco de México payment data definitions and corporate-finance materials. | Link payment performance or cost assumptions to a forecast without claiming unsupported causality. | Each link is explained as a measured relationship or labeled scenario assumption. |
| 36 | Present and reassess. Review Citi’s early-career programs as an example of an employer’s published program eligibility. | Deliver a 7–10 minute English presentation, a concise written recommendation, and a portfolio walkthrough. Refresh the role sample and application tracker. | Reviewer feedback is logged; next development step is chosen from evidence, not certificate accumulation. |
What this plan does not prove
Study hours, simulated cases, free courses, and certificates do not establish years of professional finance/accounting/FinOps experience, authority over real client funds, regulatory competence, investment performance, or seniority. The long-term senior financial-analysis reference role includes a degree-field requirement and several years of direct experience; this curriculum cannot substitute for either. Verify each real posting’s eligibility requirements separately.
After week 36
Maintain one learning artifact at a time, update examples from current public data, and keep a dated source log. Choose later training only when job-posting evidence or actual work reveals a specific gap. Review the resource and credential notes before spending on an exam.