About this course: Financial Accounting is often called the language of business; it is the language that managers use to communicate the firm's financial and economic information to external parties such as shareholders and creditors. Nobody working in business can afford financial illiteracy. Whether you run your own business, work as a manager or are just starting your career, you want to understand financial information and be able to interact with accountants, controllers, and financial managers. You want to talk business! This course will provide you with the accounting language's essentials. Upon completion, you should be able to read and interpret financial statements for business diagnosis and decision-making. More importantly, you will possess the conceptual base to keep learning more sophisticated accounting and finance on your own. Do not forget that, as with any other language, becoming proficient with accounting requires constant practice.
Who is this class for: This course if primarily aimed at recent college graduates just beginning their career and anyone (managers, entrepreneurs, etc.) who needs to understand basic accounting concepts on the job.
Taught by: Marc Badia, Assistant Professor
Accounting and Control
| Basic Info | Course 1 of 5 in the Foundations of Management Specialization |
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| Hardware Req | None |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Reading: Course Overview & Syllabus
- Reading: Reminder of Coursera's Honor Code
- Reading: About Week 1
- Reading: Transactions Week 1
- Video: Introduction - Welcome to the Course
- Video: 1. Accounting: The Language of Business
- Video: 2. Practice Case: The Campus Bookstore I
- Video: 3. Practice Case: The Campus Bookstore II
- Video: 4. Accounting for our First Transactions
- Video: 5. Accounting for More Transactions
- Video: 6. Explaining the Balance Sheet
- Video: 7. Defining an Asset
- Video: 8. Defining a Liability
- Video: 9. Recap
- Reading: Required Reading Week 1: "The Balance Sheet"
- Reading: Required Reading Week 1: "Introduction to Financial Accounting"
- Reading: Quiz 1 with Solutions
- Reading: About Week 2
- Reading: Transactions Week 2
- Video: 1. Introduction to Week 2
- Video: 2. Recap of Week 1
- Video: 3. Purchasing More Inventory
- Video: 4. Sales and Cost of Goods Sold
- Video: 5. Selling, General and Administrative Expenses
- Video: 6. Some Collections and Payments of Cash
- Video: 7. Depreciation and Amortization
- Video: 8. Interest from Bank Loan and Taxes
- Video: 9. Preparing the Balance Sheet
- Video: 10. Introducing the Income Statement
- Video: 11. Recap of Week 2 and Conclusions
- Reading: Required Reading Week 2: "The Income Statement"
- Reading: Required Reading Week 2: "Introduction to Financial Accounting"
- Reading: Quiz 2 with Solutions
- Reading: About Week 3
- Reading: Transactions Week 3
- Video: 1. Introduction to Week 3
- Video: 2. Recap of Week 2
- Video: 3. T-Accounts and Journal Entries
- Video: 4. Setting up T-Accounts for the Campus Bookstore
- Video: 5. Sales, Cost of Goods Sold, Collections from Customers and Payment to Suppliers
- Video: 6. Other Operating Costs
- Video: 7. Transactions with Non-Current Assets
- Video: 8. Bank Loans and Interest
- Video: 9. Taxes, Closing Entries and Payments of Dividends
- Video: 10. Preparing the Balance Sheet
- Video: 11. Preparing the Income Statement
- Video: 12. Introducing the Cash Flow Statement I
- Video: 13. Introducing the Cash Flow Statement II
- Video: 14. Recap of Week 3 and Conclusions
- Reading: Required Reading Week 3: "The Statement of Cash Flows"
- Reading: Quiz 3 with Solutions
- Reading: About Week 4
- Reading: Transactions Week 4
- Video: 1. Introduction to Week 4
- Video: 2. Recap of Week 3
- Video: 3. Accrual accounting vs. cash accounting
- Video: 4. Measuring performance with accrual accounting
- Video: 5. A few examples: prepaid insurance, accrued interest and advances from customers
- Video: 6. Performance evolution of the Campus Bookstore I
- Video: 7. Performance evolution of the Campus Bookstore II
- Video: 8. Reading and interpreting real financial statements I
- Video: 9. Reading and interpreting real financial statements II
- Video: 10. Advanced topics you can explore on your own
- Video: 11. Conclusions
- Reading: Quiz 4 Part I with Solutions
- Reading: Quiz Week 4 Background Information for Reference
- Reading: Recommended Reading
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| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Excellent course!
The last part of interpretation of the Financial Statements is a little less accurate (or too quick) in terms of methodology, at least for a total beginner like me. In general I enjoyed the course and learned the basics I wanted to learn. Very nice!
All is great except the last part. You didn't really teach in detail for how to interpret a company's financial statements. I had to watch the last 4 or 5 videos over and over again and do some research on my own. For example, you can calculate the ROS or ROE; but what should that be to be considered "VERY profitable"? You can calculate the days of sales in inventory, but how long should that be to be considered as "good"? How much cash do you need to be considered as having a "good" liquidity? These terms are very vague. I understand that you have no problem making such judgements, since you are experienced. But I'm not. So I just can't tell these things without having a precise criteria. And many other things were vague as well. I feel like the course ended abruptly. Maybe this course needs a Week 5. So 4 stars for 4 weeks.
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This course is really helpful and impressive for a beginner. I will recommend this course to my friends.