Coursera · Brian Bushee, University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to Financial Accounting
An introduction to reading financial statements and understanding how accounting choices affect the reported picture of a business.
Beginner10+ hoursCertificate
Accounting courses and tutorials
Explore financial-accounting introductions for statements, transactions, and organizational reporting, with advice on interpreting relationships between the numbers.
1 learning resource in this collection
About Accounting
Accounting describes and organizes an organization's financial activity. An introductory course helps you connect transactions with statements and understand what the reported numbers represent. Relationships between the statements matter as much as individual terms.
Choose a useful starting point
Start with a financial-accounting introduction if the balance sheet, income statement, and cash-flow statement are unfamiliar. Work through the examples with their assumptions visible. A completion certificate is different from a professional accounting qualification.
Build on the lessons
Trace a fictional transaction through the relevant statements. Explain why profit and cash can move differently, and check that the records remain internally consistent.