Accounting: Making Sound Decisions

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.

Course Overview & Week 1: Introduction to Accounting - The Balance Sheet
Welcome! Before you start today's videos, please have a look at the syllabus. In this first session, I'll give you an overview of what accounting is all about and why it's important to have a basic proficiency in this "language." In addition, I'll introduce one of the most important financial reports - the balance sheet - and a practical real-world case so you can put theory into practice. Objectives: To gain insight into the essence of accounting and become familiar with the balance sheet and its purpose.

Week 2: The Income Statement
Now that you are familiar with the balance sheet, in week two we'll learn how to account for a variety of transactions. In addition, I'll introduce you to another key financial report: the income statement. Course objectives: To be able to recognize a broader range of transactions on the balance sheet and to become familiar with the income statement.

Week 3: The Cash Flow Statement
Now that you have a good grasp of the balance sheet and income statement, I'll help you master how to recognize the transactions we went over in week two. I'll also introduce a third financial report - the cash flow statement - and discuss liquidity. Course objectives: To understand the difference between liquidity and profitability, become familiar with T-accounts and gain insight into the purpose of the cash flow report.

Week 4: Accrual Accounting
By using accrual accounting we can measure performance when a financial transaction takes place, even if no cash has actually changed hands. In this final session, we'll discuss the difference between accrual and cash accounting and also read and interpret a real enterprise's financial statements. Course objectives: By the end of the session, you will be able to handle numerous transactions for the purposes of financial reporting, and understand the advantages of accrual accounting.