Financial Consultants

High School

In high school, take business, finance, mathematics, and accounting classes. English and speech classes will come in handy because as a consultant, you’ll constantly be writing reports about your findings and meeting with company executives and your colleagues to discuss financial issues. Other useful classes include computer science, psychology, business, foreign language, and social studies.

Postsecondary Education

You will need at least a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a related field to become a financial consultant, although some employers—especially major firms—prefer to hire consultants with a master’s degree in business or finance, or at least a bachelor’s degree plus several years of appropriate work experience. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that 24 percent of employers required management consultants to have a master’s degree.

The University of Notre Dame, University of Colorado-Boulder, the College of William & Mary, and other colleges offer degrees and concentrations in consulting.

Certification

Georgetown University, University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Dallas, and other colleges and universities offer consulting certificate programs. Contact these schools to learn more.

Professional associations also provide certificate programs. For example, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants offers an International Financial Reporting Standards certificate program; the certificate is awarded upon completion of 25 online, self-study training courses. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants provides certificate programs in international auditing and international financial reporting. The National Association for Business Economics offers the following certificates: Applied Econometrics, Business Applications of Statistics and Data Analytics, Communication and Presentation Skills for Business Economists and Analysts, Economics of Strategy and Managerial Decision Making, Economic Measurement, Machine Learning & Data Science for Economists, Time-Series Analysis and Forecasting, and Writing Skills for Business Economists and Analysts. Contact these organizations for more information.

Other Education or Training

Many professional associations provide continuing education (CE) opportunities to financial consultants. For example, the Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA) offers a 13-session foundational survey course called Mastering Management Consulting. It also offers continuing education in the form of webinars, seminars, and more to help consultants to improve their consulting skills, manage their practices, and find appropriate clients. IMC USA also organizes C2M Live!, monthly webcasts that feature interviews with well-known consultants on a variety of topics such as branding, marketing, and career and skills development.

Financial Executives International, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Institute of Management Accountants, Investments and Wealth Institute, National Association for Business Economics, and many other national and state consulting associations provide CE opportunities. Contact these organizations for more information.