Financial Accounting: Foundations

In this course, you will learn the 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 receivable and inventories. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Understand the main financial statements and the financial information • Write a financial transaction in financial accounting language and understand how this impacts the main financial statements • Understand how accrual accounting and fundamental accounting concepts work • Understand revenue recognition principles and how they impact the main financial statements • Account for accounts receivable 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 go to onlinemba.illinois.edu.

• Course Orientation
• 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.
• Module 1: Introduction to Financial Accounting
• 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.
• Module 2: Recording Transactions and Financial Statement Preparation
• 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 the main financial statements from these coded financial transactions. This bottom-up approach will help you appreciate the impact of various financial transactions on the main financial statements.
• Module 3: Fundamental Accounting Concepts and Revenue Recognition
• Fundamental accounting concepts and revenue recognition principles are at the heart of coding financial transactions in accounting language as well as the 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 nature of information you can learn from financial statements.
• Module 4: Short-Term Assets
• One of the major components of a balance sheet is short-term assets, which are assets that can be converted into cash within a year. Accounts receivables and inventories constitute a major part of short-term assets. Understanding accounting for these accounts will help you uncover how these accounts change over time, their valuation, and their usefulness in managerial decision-making.