Financial Planning & Analysis Certificate Program

FP&A is one of the fastest-growing professions in the United States — and the role has changed dramatically. What used to be a reporting function has become a seat at the strategic table. CFO organizations at both Fortune 500 companies and PE-backed firms are now expected to drive decisions, not just document them. That shift demands a different kind of finance professional: one who can model, forecast, tell the financial story of a business, and influence the people around them.

The Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep Financial Planning & Analysis Certificate Program was built for exactly that professional. Over 8 weeks, you’ll develop the complete FP&A toolkit — financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, business partnering, data analysis, and AI-enabled decision support — taught by Wharton faculty and practitioners who have run FP&A functions at some of the world’s most recognized companies.

The program works for finance professionals at any stage. If you’re newer to FP&A, you’ll build on a solid foundation. If you already have years of experience, you’ll validate your approach against best practices, fill gaps you didn’t know you had, and come away with frameworks you can apply immediately.

Upon successful completion of the final exam, you’ll earn a digital certificate from Wharton Online, which can be shared on LinkedIn and your resume.

Program Highlights

Built around how FP&A actually works. Every module is grounded in real planning cycles, actual deliverables, and the kinds of decisions FP&A teams face daily, from annual budgeting and rolling forecasts to variance commentary, management decks, and investment cases. Wall Street Prep is the global leader in FP&A training; this is the program they built for the profession.
Technical skills and the interpersonal ones that matter just as much. Strong FP&A work means nothing if you can’t communicate it. The curriculum covers financial modeling, forecasting, data analysis, and AI tools alongside the business partnering and financial storytelling skills that determine whether your analysis actually moves decisions. Most programs teach one or the other — this one teaches both.
Hands-on with AI from day one. Module 8 is dedicated to AI and the future of FP&A, but AI tools are woven throughout the curriculum. You’ll apply ChatGPT and Copilot to real FP&A workflows, learn 14 prompting techniques tailored to planning and analysis scenarios, and get a practical introduction to machine learning, not as a concept, but as a tool you can actually use.
Speakers who have run the function. Guest speakers include CFOs and senior finance leaders from U.S. Steel, BuzzFeed, Squarespace, Booking.com, Google, Thorne, and Affinity, alongside FP&A practitioners and Wharton Accounting faculty. You’ll hear directly from the people who’ve sat in the chair you’re building toward.
A credential that reflects the work. Earn a digital certificate co-signed by Wharton Online and Wall Street Prep — two names that carry real weight with finance hiring managers and CFOs.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Duration: 8 weeks

Format:
Online, self-paced

Tuition:
$5,000 ($200 application fee waived before early enrollment date)

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Program Format

The Financial Planning & Analysis Certificate Program runs over eight sequential weekly modules, each designed around a core competency that modern FP&A professionals need to do their jobs well. Modules combine video instruction, hands-on assignments, and guest practitioner sessions, all grounded in real planning scenarios.

The program is self-paced, with a recommended commitment of 8–10 hours per week. Live virtual office hours give you direct access to program faculty for Q&A and assignment review. A dedicated enrollment team supports you from registration through your closing ceremony and certificate.

Participants also earn 65 CPE credits upon completion. Wall Street Prep and Wharton Online are registered with NASBA as sponsors of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

Live sessions: Weekly virtual office hours with Wharton faculty
Time Commitment: Recommended 8–10 hours per week
Assessments: Hands-on exercises and multi-part case studies with final exam
Certification: Digital certificate from Wharton Online + Wall Street Prep, with optional in-person ceremony in NYC
Tuition Assistance: Up to $550 off — apply to qualify
CPE Credits: 65 CPE credits (NASBA-registered)
Cohort Frequency: February, June, and October

Eight Modules

Self-paced Online

Introduction to Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)	The Planning Cycle and Annual Budgeting
Forecasting	Financial Analysis in FP&A
Financial Modeling for Decision Support	Finance Business Partnering
Reporting, Presenting, and Storytelling	AI & Preparing for the Future of FP&A

Who Should Attend

The Financial Planning & Analysis Certificate Program is designed for finance and non-finance professionals in their early to mid-career who want to build, sharpen, or validate their FP&A skills. The program works across company sizes and industries, from early-stage startups to multinational enterprises.

FP&A Analysts and Managers: Early- to mid-career FP&A professionals looking to advance, close skill gaps, adopt AI tools, and align their practice with industry best standards.
Finance Professionals: Corporate finance professionals, investment bankers, and treasury analysts seeking to broaden their skill set and move into more strategic finance roles.
Accountants: Controllers, accountants, auditors, and tax professionals looking to transition into FP&A and build the planning and analytical skills the role requires.
Consultants: Fractional CFOs and strategy or technology consultants who want to provide more rigorous financial analysis and planning support to their clients.
Business Leaders: Entrepreneurs, C-level executives, and department heads who need a stronger command of financial planning to make better decisions and run tighter operations.
Non-Finance Professionals: Operations managers, HR professionals, and other functional leaders who want to improve their fluency in budgeting, forecasting, and workforce planning.
Career Switchers: Early- to mid-career professionals in adjacent fields looking to make a deliberate move into an FP&A role.
Students: Undergraduate and graduate business, finance, and accounting students preparing for FP&A internships and full-time roles.

Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Reach out to the enrollment team at:

enrollment@wharton.wallstreetprep.com

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Delivered in collaboration with program partner Wall Street Prep:

Program Directors

Christopher D. Ittner, PhDSee Faculty Bio

EY Professor of Accounting; Chairperson, Accounting Department, The Wharton School

Research Interests: Cost accounting, intangible assets, performance measurement

Christian WattigSee Faculty Bio

FP&A Program Director, Wall Street Prep; Founder, FP&A Prep; formerly Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Squarespace, Datarails

Program Faculty

Paul Barnhurst — Founder, The FP&A Guy; host of the FP&A Today podcast; 12+ years in FP&A across multiple industries

Alan Brooke — 30+ year career in finance and accounting; 20 years teaching financial modeling to investment banks and corporates; formerly CFO of an Australian multinational; chartered accountant; MBA, Henley Business School

Jim Chen, CPA — Formerly investment associate at JLL Partners (middle-market PE) and investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley; BS, Northwestern University (magna cum laude)

Bill Coda — 25 years in financial services; professional development instructor in sales, presentations, negotiation, and leadership; MBA, Baruch College

Chad Eatinger — Investment banking associate, Guggenheim Partners M&A Group; formerly finance manager at Hotwire.com (Expedia); MBA, NYU Stern

Aviad Haimi-Cohen, CFA — Formerly CFO of a venture-backed fintech; VP in leveraged finance at Wells Fargo; experience across hedge funds and venture capital; BA, Brown University

Diana Kawarsky — Senior training and development professional; 20+ years consulting with Fortune 500 companies across the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia; Certified Coaching Professional

Anders Liu-Lindberg — Co-Founder, Business Partnering Institute; 10 years as business partner at Maersk; co-author of Create Value as a Finance Business Partner

Jason McClain — Wharton MBA and former CFO; $3B+ in transactions at Goldman Sachs and boutique investment banks; formerly U.S. Marine Corps aviator

Mark Potter — Finance professor, Babson College (since 1995); research published in the Journal of Portfolio Management; cited in the Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger’s

Keynote Speakers

Jack Alexander — Principal & Author, Jack Alexander & Associates; formerly CFO of large publicly traded companies; author of Financial Planning and Analysis and Business Performance Management (Wiley)

Nicolas Boucher — Founder, AI Finance Club; AI for Finance educator with 800,000+ LinkedIn and newsletter subscribers; trained 3,000+ professionals in ChatGPT for FP&A

Frank Garafalo — CFO, Eden Capital; formerly SVP of Finance, WCG Clinical; CFO, Schoology

Jessica T. Graziano — SVP & CFO, U.S. Steel; formerly EVP & CFO, United Rentals

Glenn Hopper — CFO, Eventus Advisory Group; author of Deep Finance; master’s in finance, Harvard University

Neil Hoyne — Chief Measurement Strategist, Google; Senior Fellow, Wharton School; author of Converted

Guy Hutchinson — Co-Founder, Startup CFO; formerly Finance Director for Europe, ANGI Homeservices

Josette Leslie — CFO, Affinity.co; 20+ years steering companies toward public readiness and growth

Marcela Martin — President, BuzzFeed; formerly CFO at Squarespace, Booking.com, and National Geographic

Ron Monteiro, CPA, CMA — 20+ years in FP&A at Kraft Foods, Campbell Soup, and Kruger Products; trainer, speaker, and host of a finance podcast focused on technical and soft skills

Christopher Reilly — M&A and FP&A consultant; formerly FTI Consulting, Hilton Worldwide, and middle-market private equity; Villanova School of Business

Debbie Sebastian — CFO, Eagle Family Foods Group; formerly Americas CFO at Upfield; 15-year tenure at Unilever

Saloni Varma — CFO, Thorne; formerly CFO at MotifFoodWorks and ByHeart; Wharton MBA

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