Financial Accounting Foundations

In this course, you will learn foundations of financial accounting information. You will start your journey with a general overview of what financial accounting information is and the main financial statements. You will then learn how to code financial transactions in financial accounting language. In the meantime, you will learn about the most important concept in contemporary financial accounting: accrual accounting. You will then critically analyze how firms recognize revenues. Finally, you will finish the course with an analysis of accounting for short-term assets where you will go into detail on how firms account for accounts receivables and inventories. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand main financial statements and the financial information they provide • Write a financial transaction in financial accounting language and understand how this impacts main financial statements • Understand how accrual accounting and fundamental accounting concepts work • Understand revenue recognition principles and how they impact main financial statements • Account for accounts receivables and inventories.

This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
Course Orientation
Module 1: Introduction to Financial Accounting
You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.
Week 2
Module 2: Recording Transactions and Financial Statement Preparation
Accounting is the language of business. Managers communicate the results of operations within a firm through accounting to various financial information users including investors and creditors. In this module, you will explore various users of accounting information and the main financial statements they use to acquire accounting information. You will develop an understanding of the particular type of information provided by each financial statement and how financial statements are related to each other.
Week 3
Module 3: Fundamental Accounting Concepts and Revenue Recognition
The starting point of financial statements is individual financial transactions. In this module, you will learn how to code financial transactions in accounting language and how to build main financial statements from these coded financial transactions. This bottom-up approach will help you appreciate the impact of various financial transactions on main financial statements.
Week 4
Module 4: Short-Term Assets
Fundamental accounting concepts and revenue recognition principles are at the heart of coding financial transactions in accounting language as well as preparation of financial statements from these coded financial transactions. Real life transactions are reflected in financial statements through the lens of these concepts and principles. A good understanding of these concepts and principles will help you understand the type and the nature of information you can learn from financial statements.

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Reviews

Thank you Professor Oktay Urcan! I found this course very useful as it provided lots of real cases of Financial Statements for us to work on. Highly recommended this course.

This course is very helpful for me to understand the process of financial reporting. I learn a lot of new terms in the financial accounting. I hope it will be useful for my future study.

LOVED THE COURSE. THANKS TO COURSERA SO THAT THEY GRANT ME SCHOLARSHIP. WITHOUT THIS IT WOULD NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO PERUSE THESE GLOBAL LEVEL COURSES AS I CANT AFFORD THIS. THANK YOU PROFESSOR.

I suggest this specialization courses for those who love to learn about Financial Accounting more professionally. Thanks for the Coursera team to provide such valuable courses for us.