Introduction to Financial Accounting

Develop your pre-existing accounting skills

Financial accounting is key in understanding whether companies are profitable or not. It can also aid in decision-making and help predict if a company could face distress or bankruptcy.

On this four-week course, you’ll learn the foundations of accounting and discover how the decisions and operations of an organisation are translated into numbers.

This course features a range of conceptual and practical activities and is most suitable if you have some knowledge of financial accounting and need to refresh your understanding. You’ll explore the different purposes of accounting information, the financial reporting process, and learn how to read financial statements.

Explore the role of accrual accounting

You’ll learn how accounting information can help measure company performance and help firms make important decisions.

Delving into the role of accruals, you’ll explore more advanced processes such as tracking revenues that have been earned but not yet received, accounting for expenses that are yet to be paid, and recording end of year transactions.

Learn how to record transactions with double-entry bookkeeping

You’ll hone your accounting skills as you learn how to record transactions with double-entry bookkeeping.

You’ll also learn how to record assets and liabilities before exploring accounting adjustments and trial balance.

Understand financial reporting and statements

Finally, you’ll investigate the information role of financial statements. Within this, you’ll look at financial reporting and closing the books at the end of the year.

Learning from the experts at the University of Padova, you’ll finish the course with the knowledge and skills to develop in your accounting career or prepare yourself for more advanced study.

This course is designed for those who already have some knowledge of financial accounting and would like to refresh your understanding.

It will suit those looking to take an intermediate or advanced financial accounting course in the future or who are junior professionals who want to familiarise themselves with recent changes in International Financial Reporting Standards.

It will also be helpful if you are launching your own business and need basic accounting knowledge.

A number of PDFs are available throughout the course for learners to download and use.

This course is designed for those who already have some knowledge of financial accounting and would like to refresh your understanding.

It will suit those looking to take an intermediate or advanced financial accounting course in the future or who are junior professionals who want to familiarise themselves with recent changes in International Financial Reporting Standards.

It will also be helpful if you are launching your own business and need basic accounting knowledge.

• Interpret companies’ transactions (e.g. financing, sale, acquisition of goods/services) through accounting numbers
• Appreciate the difference between book value of equity and market value of equity
• Assess the financial structure of a company and its implications on profitability
• Apply the double-entry bookkeeping system to record/verify transactions
• Discern between cash-based accounting and accrual-based income