If you are a student of Finance, then you should definitely know about financial management software. Best software to learn for finance? They come in plenty. All of them claim to help you and make your life easier. But, which one is really good? Which one will teach you and guide you in the right direction?
So you’ve graduated and now you have to deal with managerial software for finance. You’re not alone. Students are faced with the same dilemma of which software should I learn. Here is a small list of some of the best financial management software that can be used for free so you don’t have to spend any money!
Python
Python has definitely taken the finance world by storm. Python does have an elegance about it in the way things are handled. Its learning curve is not as steep as some of the other languages. It is a high-level language which makes it more accessible to researchers and quants and that accessibility has certainly added to its appeal.
Python is especially popular for machine learning, data science and AI applications. These are certainly some of the bleeding edge applications in finance and fintech which is why Python finds such favour in our industry. It also lends itself quite well for mathematical applications like statistics thanks to its large array of libraries. No points for guessing how important that is in finance.
The immense demand for Python in the financial services industry and an acute shortage of talented Python programmers gives it the top spot in this list.
Java
Java is used extensively in the financial services industry. Some of the world’s largest banks use it for their electronic trading platforms, retail and corporate banking portals, wealth management offerings and other such front-end, customer facing applications.
Java’s popularity in the finance industry might have something to do with its enhanced security and cross platform capabilities. Security is intrinsically important in finance and the ability to offer your platform to users on a variety of platforms is also a core requirement. With Java, you have robust and easy to use security APIs, security manger that can isolate suspicious code, virtual machines etc.
Java also offers unmatched stability which is also crucial for mission-critical financial application. Not to mention its ability to run on any device due to the use of virtual environments. Choose Java if you want to create front-end applications for banks or FinTech firms.
Scala
Scala was born out of a need to address some of Java’s inherent issues. Since then, it has greatly increased in popularity and is widely used by software developers globally. Scala provides support for both both object-oriented and functional programming.
That functional programming aspect is a great asset for Scala. It allows for concise and compact code to be written. It inherently is a more powerful language with more elegant syntax. You can build almost anything using Scala – from front end applications to data heavy tools.
For the finance and FinTech industry specifically, the demand for Scala developers has been exploding. From data architecture to cloud based financial platforms, Scala is the preferred choice these days. It’s a language that needs to be on your radar if you want to be a finance/ FinTech developer.
Excel
Excel is a useful tool that, when used effectively, can help finance students and professionals alike to see the bigger picture of the data they work with. Although complicated at first, this spreadsheet software is used all over in the world of finance. It’s possible to organize and analyze anything from tax payments to revenue and make data-based decisions in the workplace. It’s vital that today’s students become familiar with this seemingly complicated software, especially when it comes to keyboard shortcuts and presenting data in a professional way. Using Excel is an invaluable skill that will ultimately make finance majors more employable.
Stock Simulator
Investopedia’s Stock Simulator is a useful tool for finance students in understanding what goes on in the world of stock trading, without risking real money. Finance majors should understand the pitfalls of daytrading through hands-on learning, as it tends to be only a limited few who make money through this activity. Ultimately however, professionals working in finance often deal with stocks and bonds when it comes to advising on company financial decisions. This stock simulator is a helpful learning tool for students and professionals alike in the finance world.
C++
Learning C++ back in college was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. But I swear I am not going to let that bias influence its ranking here!
The beauty of C++ is that it is closer to the machine as compared to most of the other languages on this list. That means it is much faster which makes it ideal for High Frequency Trading systems. HFT requires such low latency that firms pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of placing their servers right inside the stock exchanges!
Another advantage of C++ is that most legacy bank systems were built using C++. I would certainly be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time our IT guys used the phrase “Legacy System”.
The finance tech world is still dominated by C++ programmers but the only reason I haven’t placed it higher on this list is because there are already plenty of good C++ programmers out there. Nevertheless, it is still a solid choice especially if its speed that you need.
Financial Analysis Software
When it comes to providing clients with financial forecasts and helping them create business goals, financial analysis software is vital. There are plenty of popular and reliable options, including ReadyRatios, PlanGuru, and MATLAB. For students, it’s incredibly helpful to use the free trial from each of these programs to gain proficiency and learn professional skills. These tools are used in the finance world to build reports, manage cash flow, and ultimately make the most efficient business decisions. By building these skills now, finance students will gain a competitive edge over their peers and face an easier transition to the workplace.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is a standard comprehensive financial management tool geared towards small and medium businesses and accountants. It helps you with bank reconciliation, invoices, tracking expenses, payroll, and advanced reporting. There are both cloud and on-premise solutions.
While on the more complex side, it’s powerful features offer a compelling reason if you usually deal with high volumes. A small business with limited requirement might find QB a bit overwhelming.
Suitable for: Accountants and Enterprises
Pricing: Quickbooks has multiple plans starting from $10/month
Kissflow Finance & Ops Cloud
While not exactly a finance management tool, Kissflow is designed to help you develop a system of approval workflows for finance processes. There are pre-built apps for purchase orders, invoices, expense reimbursements or you can create your own, depending on your requirements with zero coding. With standardized approval flows and fairly automated processes, you can make finance process automation a complete breeze.
What sets Kissflow apart is that its visual interface lets you customize the apps based on your needs. There’s no coding required, regardless of the complexity. If your finance processes involve a lot of approvals and repetitive tasks, give Kissflow a try.
Suitable for: SMBs and Enterprises
Zoho Finance Plus
Zoho’s finance suite breaks down departmental silos and offers an end-to-end integrated platform for all your back-office operations: accounting, invoicing, inventory, expense management, and tax compliance. The suite delivers flexible, scalable, and secure applications to manage your entire finance process.
Every app is accessible from the rest making the usage seamless. The granular user roles limit access based on your needs and you can customize them to the smallest detail.
Suitable for: Small and medium businesses
Pricing: There’s a free 14-day trial after which the monthly pricing is at $149/organization.
PlanGuru
PlanGuru is all about helping your company create budgets and sticking to them with forecasting and financial review processes aimed at helping improve your finance decision-making. It allows you to import information from other finance management systems like Quickbooks or Xero, offers over 20 types of forecasting methods and plan ahead better using rolling forecasts.
Pricing starts at $75 per month.
NetSuite
A service offered by Oracle, NetSuite automates the budgeting process and centralizes your company’s financial and operational data allow for budgeting as well as forecasting. You can model what-if scenarios and generates reports all using one solution.
NetSuite Budgeting and Planning is part of their ERP system solution and the company tends to tailor its price to each customer.
Xero
Xero is an accounting tool that lets you create professional recurring invoices, reconcile bank and credit card statements. It also helps businesses with purchase and sales orders, contact management, payroll and inventory management.
Xero is light-weight and easy-to-use.
Suitable for: Small and medium businesses
Pricing: The starter plan starts at $20/month with optional purchases.
Oracle Financials Cloud
Oracle Financials Cloud is an ERP system that’s completely based on the cloud. It’s a scalable, comprehensive, and integrated ecosystem of finance tools. While on the expensive side, it might be a good choice for enterprises that look for more control and scalability.
Suitable for: Enterprises
Pricing: $600/user/month with a minimum of 10 users
Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct’s applications are suitable for small and midsize companies, helping them manage the general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management and order management. With an open API structure, you can integrate them with other business applications like CRM, payroll, or POS systems.
Suitable for: Though enterprises find the value, it may not be the same for small and medium businesses
Pricing: The base price of $5000/year makes it one of the costliest options in the market.
Conclusion:
There are a lot of software programs out there to help you learn about finance or to improve your financial management knowledge. There are also many types of finances an individual can know about: stocks, bonds, futures, and other financial instruments.