Master the skills needed to excel as a Commercial & Industrial credit analyst.
This Learning Path builds the complete foundation needed to succeed as a Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Credit Analyst by learning to underwrite commercial business loan requests—typically under the supervision of a Senior Credit Analyst, Credit Administrator, or an experienced senior lender. It is designed to move an analyst from basic familiarity with financial statements to the ability to assemble a clear, defensible credit recommendation supported by both quantitative and qualitative evidence.
A proper understanding and application of the Uniform Credit Analysis (UCA) cash flow statement is critical for successful completion of the Learning Path and its associated certification. For someone new to commercial credit, this is a 12–24 month progression organized into five components covering 21 courses, intentionally sequenced to build reliable credit judgment step-by-step.
Learners begin with the fundamentals of commercial credit—how businesses are organized, what lenders look for, and how to identify early signals of strength or concern. They then strengthen accounting fluency and the ability to interpret financial statements with confidence. From there, the curriculum focuses on two skill sets that drive day-to-day analyst performance: accurate, consistent spreading (to eliminate common errors that distort conclusions) and disciplined UCA cash flow construction and interpretation (to understand true debt capacity and repayment reliability). Finally, the underwriting series brings the full credit decision process together—evaluating the borrower, the guarantor, and the collateral, while applying structured risk assessment and risk mitigation to arrive at an appropriate recommendation.
The program also emphasizes credit communication. Analysts learn how to produce write-ups that clearly explain the "why" behind the numbers—avoiding elevator analysis and data dumping—so the reader can quickly understand borrowing causes, repayment sources, key risks, and mitigants.
If an employee has demonstrable working knowledge of accounting, they may skip the Accounting Essentials Skill Series; however, refreshing these fundamentals may be necessary to achieve mastery of the later underwriting material.
Upon successful completion of this Learning Path, the employee will be eligible to receive a C&I Analyst Certificate of Mastery.
5 components · 21 courses · Intentionally sequenced for mastery