8 Accounting courses for upskilling: Learn how to evaluate the performance of any business

Accounting is essential for any business. All organisations employ individuals with accounting skills to track different forms of finances. As such skills are always high in demand, you can opt for online Accounting courses available to upskill yourself and grab the attention of recruiters looking for new talent.

What is Financial Accounting

Accounting is the process of summarising, analysing and reporting financial transactions to agencies, regulators and tax-collection entities. It is important for any business activity because it provides data, records, reports, analysis, and accurate information about assets, debts, liabilities and profits. Without accountants, there would be no decision-making, cost planning, and performance measurement for any business.

Best Accounting courses you can do online:

Comprehensive Financial Accounting Course: Financial Accounting Part 1 & Part 2 — by LinkedIn Learning

This comprehensive, self-contained training course, introduced by Jim Stice and Earl Kay Stice, will enable you to use financial data to drive strategic decision-making. Using reports from companies like Walmart and Microsoft, the course illustrates the difference between net income and cash flow. Here you will learn all about basic topics like assets and liabilities, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements and journal entries. This is an MBA-level course layered with case studies and insights to help you bridge the gap between Accounting theory and real-world application.

Accounting & Financial Statement Analysis: Complete Training — by Udemy

This course will teach you why Accounting is one of the most important skills to have if you want to work in the finance sector. It covers everything you need to know through high-quality production and a knowledgeable instructor. Here you will learn the fundamental concepts of Accounting, the basic principles for revenues and expenses, how to construct a financial statement from the basic information provided and how to create cash flow statements. This course will enable you to analyse a company’s performance based on the figures in its annual report. After finishing the course, you will be prepared to pursue a variety of careers, including those as a financial analyst, accountant, financial controller and investment banker.

Accounting in Only ONE Hour! Learn all 3 Financials | Cash Flow | Balance Sheet | Income Statement — by Skillshare

This course is for you if you want to learn the fundamentals of Accounting quickly! It covers essential topics like the accounting equation, T-Accounts, how to create a simple balance sheet and income statement, how to calculate topline revenue, and key terms and basic equations. The course requires no prior knowledge; all you need is a strong interest in numbers and a desire to learn more about them. What’s more, the course is interactive, which means that the course instructor will go over problems with you.

Introduction to Finance and Accounting Specialization — by Coursera

This course will teach you the fundamentals of Finance and Accounting. This specialisation introduces corporate finance and accounting, focusing on their application to a wide range of real-world situations such as personal finance, corporate decision-making, financial intermediation, and how accounting standards and managerial incentives influence the financial reporting process. You will learn about discounting and compounding arbitrary cash flow streams, the differences between NPV and internal rate of return, cash flow classification, and how companies account for investments in debt and equity securities.

MicroMasters Program in Accounting by Indiana University — by edX

Accountants play a critical role in monitoring an organisation’s financial growth and must manage a diverse set of responsibilities on a regular basis. All these critical areas are covered in this comprehensive series of courses. Here you will learn the techniques for analysing performance and comprehending the impact of income taxes. Apart from that, the course also describes the development and use of key internal information like product costs, cost allocations, customer profitability, budgets, and plans to execute and control strategy by firms.

Financial Accounting Fundamentals — by Harvard Business School

This extensive course is designed for those who want to learn basic Accounting principles and concepts. The instructor will provide you with in-depth knowledge of business potential and performance. You will also learn how Wall Street analysts, managers and business owners use accounting to make the best decisions. Apart from describing how to prepare and evaluate financial forecasts to make strategic decisions, the course will teach you all about IFRS and GAAP standards. After its completion, you will be able to evaluate the financial health of a company by analysing its financial statement.

Accounting Foundations — by LinkedIn Learning

This course introduces the four basic types of Accounting—book-keeping, financial, managerial, and tax accounting. It also explores the relationships between Accounting, decision-making, business performance and financial health. No specialised knowledge is needed to do this course. Here you will review three primary financial statements from real companies, taught by knowledgeable accounting professors Jim and Kay Stice. These realistic examples will help you understand the concepts and solidify your accounting skills.

Engaging Accounting Course: Introduction to Finance, Accounting, Modelling, and Valuation — by Udemy

Taught by award-winning MBA professor, venture capitalist and author Chris Haroun, this is Udemy’s bestselling Accounting course where one can learn Finance and Accounting the easy way. Without any prior knowledge in these fields, you will be able to analyse and understand an income statement, a balance sheet and a cash flow statement by the end of the course. Here you will learn how to understand and apply the best practices to create financial models. By the end of the course, you will come to know how to value companies using different valuation methodologies.