Economics & FinanceDiscover Coursera Plus
Economics & Finance · Year 1 · Foundations
S2 Accounting and finance basics
Read and build financial statements, master the time value of money and the valuation of stocks and bonds, and manage personal finances.
208hours of coursework
21weeks at 10 h
5steps
18new courses
5universities
Target skills
- Accounting cycle: journal, ledger, balance sheet and income statement
- Accrual accounting and financial statement analysis
- Time value of money, loans and compound interest
- Valuing stocks and bonds
- Derivatives and optimisation
- Budgeting, saving, credit and personal investing
Semester project
A full analysis of a listed company’s annual accounts: ten ratios, their three-year trend and a reasoned recommendation.
Courses this semester
- 1University of PennsylvaniaBeginnerMicrosoft Excel
Stated prerequisites: Basic high school-level mathematics
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Fundamentals of Finance Beginner 12 h 4.0 (1,151) Introduction to Corporate Finance — 9 h 4.6 (6,478) Introduction to Financial Accounting — 15 h 4.7 (8,571) More Introduction to Financial Accounting — 20 h 4.8 (562) - 2University of California, IrvineBeginnerMicrosoft Excel
Stated prerequisites: No prior experience required
Show the 3 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) What is Financial Accounting? Beginner 9 h 4.7 (558) Recording in Journals & Posting in Ledgers — 11 h 4.8 (189) Completing the Accounting Cycle Beginner 10 h 4.6 (156) - 3University of MichiganBeginnerMicrosoft Excel
Stated prerequisites: Algebra exposure, comfort with numbers
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Introduction to Time Value of Money (TVM) Beginner 13 h 4.8 (972) Advanced Concepts in Time Value of Money (TVM) Intermediate 14 h 4.8 (101) Stocks and Bonds Beginner 10 h 4.6 (425) Advanced Understanding of Stocks and Bonds Intermediate 13 h 4.6 (65) - 4Johns Hopkins UniversityIntermediateData Analysis Software
Stated prerequisites: Some familiarity with precalculus, specifically exponential and logarithm functions
Show the 4 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Calculus through Data & Modeling: Precalculus Review Beginner 8 h 4.8 (124) Calculus through Data & Modeling: Limits & Derivatives Beginner 10 h 4.7 (212) Calculus through Data & Modeling: Differentiation Rules Intermediate 8 h 4.8 (124) Calculus through Data & Modeling: Applying Differentiation Intermediate 7 h 4.7 (63) - 5University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignBeginner
Stated prerequisites: No prior experience required
Show the 3 courses
Course Level Length Rating (reviews) Financial Planning for Young Adults Beginner 20 h 4.6 (1,427) Investing and Building Wealth Beginner 13 h — Money and Happiness Beginner 6 h —
Reading
Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: Financial AccountingOpenStaxThe accounting cycle and financial statements, with exercises.Free (OpenStax)
Principles of FinanceOpenStaxTime value of money, stocks, bonds, risk and corporate finance.Free (OpenStax)
Precalculus 2eOpenStaxFunctions, exponentials and logarithms, essential for compound interest.Free, CC BY 4.0
Things to watch
- Start with Introduction to Finance and Accounting (Wharton): it gives the vocabulary for the other courses.
- Wharton’s Fundamentals of Finance course is rated 4.0: supplement it with Principles of Finance (OpenStax).
With Coursera Plus
This semester takes 208 hours, about 5 months at 10 hours a week. A Coursera Plus subscription gives access to most of its courses during that time.