Financial analyst skills in demand in 2026, from Excel to SQL and AI

Financial analyst skills in 2026 start with the tools that the United States Department of Labor's O*NET OnLine lists for financial and investment analysts: Microsoft Excel, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, VBA and R (site updated 6 October 2026). Behind the tools sits analytical thinking, which 69% of companies in the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 called essential.

O*NET is a United States database. What follows is what occupational data and employer surveys name, which makes it a guide to learning priorities rather than a count of vacancies.

What skills do financial analysts need in 2026?

The table maps each tool or skill to the source that names it and to what that source says.

The rows come from different kinds of source. O*NET describes an occupation, the World Economic Forum surveys employers worldwide across industries, and TeamLease surveys fintech employers in India. Only the last is specific to India, and it names roles rather than tools.

Which Excel and financial statement skills do analysts need?

O*NET lists Microsoft Excel under spreadsheet software for financial and investment analysts. The spreadsheet is where an analyst builds a model that links assumptions to the financial statements, or a budget compared with actuals, so the skills that matter are the ones that make a workbook reliable:

• lookup and logical functions that pull the right figure from a data table
• pivot tables and charts that summarise long lists of transactions
• scenario and sensitivity analysis on a forecast
• clean layout and checks that let another person audit the workbook

Underneath the spreadsheet sit the statements themselves: the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement, and the ratios and valuation measures drawn from them, such as margins, returns and net present value. The World Economic Forum's survey puts analytical thinking first among core skills, which fits the idea that tools serve the reasoning.

When does a financial analyst need SQL, Power BI or Tableau, and where does Python fit?

O*NET lists SQL under database query software and Power BI and Tableau under business intelligence software. In practice SQL retrieves the data and a dashboard tool presents it, and the need grows with the volume of data an analyst handles. Beginner dashboard projects are in 15 Power BI projects for beginners to add to your portfolio, which can double as work samples.

The India-specific signal comes from TeamLease. Its Employment Outlook, as reported by CXOToday on 24 June 2026, says fintech employers are prioritising roles across product management, digital lending, fraud analytics, cybersecurity, compliance, risk management and data engineering. In the same outlook, 37% of fintech employers were interested in hiring for finance functions, behind IT (57%) and sales and marketing (51%). Several of the prioritised roles, fraud analytics and data engineering among them, are built on data work, which is where SQL and dashboard tools enter.

ONET's list does not include Python, while R is flagged as a Hot Technology. That makes Python an extra for analysts who want to automate reporting or work with large datasets, not a stated baseline. ONET is United States data, so the absence of Python from one list does not show that Indian employers never ask for it.

How is AI changing finance work, and what do regulators expect?

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 (Figure 3.4) puts AI and big data at the top of the fastest-growing skills for 2025 to 2030, followed closely by networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy. The same report ranks FinTech Engineers second among the fastest-growing jobs globally, behind Big Data Specialists. Both are global employer-survey projections, and the second concerns engineering roles rather than analysts.

On 13 August 2025 the RBI published the report of its FREE-AI committee, the Framework for Responsible and Ethical Enablement of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Sector, with 7 Sutras as foundational principles and 26 actionable recommendations under six strategic pillars. It is a committee report with recommendations, not binding rules, but it signals that regulators expect AI use in finance to be governed and audited. For an analyst, the practical reading is that output from AI tools needs checking and documenting before it reaches a report.

Why do risk, compliance and cybersecurity count as finance skills?

In the World Economic Forum's survey, financial services and capital markets rank first among industries for the share of employers (82%) saying networks and cybersecurity skills will grow in importance by 2030, and second (84%) for technological literacy. It is a global survey, not an India-only one. LinkedIn's Skills on the Rise 2026 (24 February 2026, covering 12 markets including India) names risk and compliance management skills, such as governance, risk management and compliance, among global skills trends.

Regulation gives those skills a concrete shape. SEBI's Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework circular of 20 August 2024 is addressed to entities including stock brokers, depositories, mutual funds and asset management companies, investment advisers and research analysts, portfolio managers and credit rating agencies. SEBI extended the compliance timelines more than once in 2025, so no final date is stated here.

The RBI's Master Direction on Information Technology Governance, Risk, Controls and Assurance Practices (issued 7 November 2023) took effect on 1 April 2024 and applies to commercial banks, NBFCs in the Top, Upper and Middle Layers, credit information companies and all-India financial institutions. Technology risk, audit and governance duties therefore sit inside banks and NBFCs, which matters for risk, compliance and audit-adjacent finance roles.

What should be learned before joining as a business analyst in a banking domain?

The list below draws on what is published for financial analysts and finance employers, and is a judgement rather than a published standard for the business analyst title. It is ordered by career stage:

• before a first job: financial statements and ratios, Excel modelling and reporting, basic SQL and one dashboard tool
• two years in: querying and cleaning data at volume, forecasting and scenario work, and reading the circulars that apply to the segment, such as RBI directions for banks and NBFCs
• specialist roles: risk, compliance, credit, fraud analytics or research, where domain depth matters more than tool breadth

Projects count as work samples. A dashboard built on public data, a financial model of a listed company and a short ratio analysis make a small portfolio that can be shown in an interview. Which analyst role to aim at is compared in financial analyst vs investment banking vs FP&A vs equity research, and the route into a first job is in how to become a financial analyst in India after B.Com or any degree.

One structured route is the SPJIMR Certification in Finance and Financial Analysis, a mostly live online programme certified by SPJIMR, with Masai as implementation and learning support partner and an optional campus immersion at SPJIMR. Its modules include Excel for Finance & Reporting, FinTech, Risk & Digital Finance and GenAI for Finance Workflows, and it ends with a capstone dossier. A certificate does not replace work samples.

Frequently asked questions

What skills are required for a career in finance?

Analytical thinking tops the World Economic Forum's list of core skills, with 69% of companies calling it essential (Future of Jobs Report 2025). In financial services and capital markets, 84% of employers expect technological literacy to grow in importance by 2030 and 82% expect the same of networks and cybersecurity skills. O*NET adds the tools: Excel, SQL, Power BI and Tableau.

What are the core skills for financial analysts?

The core is reading financial statements, building models in Excel and reasoning with the numbers. ONET OnLine (updated 6 October 2026) lists Excel, Power BI, Tableau, SQL, VBA and R for financial and investment analysts, and analytical thinking is the top core skill in the World Economic Forum's 2025 survey. ONET's list does not include Python.

What skills and qualifications are needed for an entry-level financial analyst position?

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education (page last modified 27 August 2026). In India, 30% of employers told the World Economic Forum they expect to drop degree requirements for skills-based hiring, so skills shown through work samples are gaining weight.

What is the role of a financial analyst?

A financial analyst studies financial statements and business data, then builds forecasts and models that show managers or investors what the numbers imply. O*NET OnLine groups the work under Financial and Investment Analysts. The title covers corporate, credit, research and banking roles, which differ in pay and in the questions each one answers.

Is Python required for a financial analyst job?

Not as a listed requirement. O*NET's list of tools for financial and investment analysts names Excel, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, VBA and R. That is United States data, so a job description in the target segment is the final check. Python can still help with automating reports.

Next step

The SPJIMR Certification in Finance and Financial Analysis page sets out the curriculum and how to apply.