Develop your understanding of the principles of accounting

Accounting is, quite simply, a language that provides information about the financial position and financial performance of an organisation.

On this four-week course from Sentinel|9, you’ll explore the fundamentals of financial and management accounting. You’ll focus on critical evaluation of accounting information contained in financial statements and the application of key cost and management accounting techniques in daily business decisions.

Explore the concepts and regulations of financial reporting

Companies publish their financial accounting information in the form of financial statements. There are many moving parts to financial statements, and every business manager should be able to analyse and understand them.

You’ll look at the basic concepts of accounting and their uses within financial statements, from profit and loss and EBITDA to depreciation journals and cash flow.

Learn techniques and models to help with cost and management accounting

Management accounting is concerned with the information given to people within the organisation to help them make better decisions. Thus, management accounting could be called internal accounting.

This course will guide you through the main techniques used in management accounting, such as operating efficiency and job costing, and how to apply them to your own accounting.

Discover more technical financial and cost analysis for future planning

Using real-world case studies, you’ll learn important formulas and analysis techniques to help you estimate future revenues, costs, and profits. This is a vital part of financial accounting as it helps you to plan and monitor operations.

You’ll finish by exploring the limitations of accounting, from intangibles to human capital and goodwill.

Syllabus

Week 1
Principles of accounting
- Course welcome
  Find out who you're learning with, what's happening in the course, how you'll be assessed, and take time to meet your fellow learners.
- Principles of accounting part 1
  Explore the fundamental principles of financial accounting.
- Principles of accounting part 2
  We continue to explore the fundamentals of financial and management accounting.
- End of Week 1 wrap up
  A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week
Week 2
Financial accounting
- Weekly welcome
  Find out what's happening this week.
- Financial accounting part 1
  In this week you will be exposed to the methods used in financial reporting and interpretation and to applying these principles to business practice.
- Financial accounting part 2
  Gain an understanding of the income statement, balance sheet and other forms of financial reporting.
- Financial accounting part 3
  Explore the different meanings of working capital in this activity.
- Financial accounting part 4
  Gain a better understanding of a company's cash flows and the cash flow statement.
- End of Week 2 wrap up
  A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week
Week 3
Management and cost accounting
- Weekly welcome
  Find out what's happening this week.
- Management and cost accounting part 1
  In this activity you will cover material and labour costing, and job process and batch costing.
- Management and cost accounting part 2
  In this activity you will cover activity-based costing (lean operation), standard costing and variances, and variances and recovery.
- End of Week 3 wrap up
  A review of what's been covered and looking forward to next week
Week 4
Cost-volume-profit analysis and limitations of accounting
- Weekly welcome
  We explore cost-profit-volume analysis and the limitations of accounting.
- Cost-volume-profit analysis
  Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis is a technique that examines changes in profits in response to changes in sales volumes, costs and prices.
- Limitations of accounting
  In Week 4 we explore the limits to accounting and planning for crises.
- End of course wrap up
  It's the end of the course. Look back at what you've covered and consider what to do next.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now
Join - $89

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Develop a high-level understanding of the accounting process and fundamental accounting principles that underpin the development of financial statements.
Design, research and interpret the concepts and role of working capital, sources of working capital, ratios and their uses.
Explain the concept of job costing, process costing, activity-based costing, JIT inventory system, EOQ model, and the concept and application of standard costing.
Apply techniques from cost and management accounting, in deciding upon alternative courses of action using CVP analysis, capital budgeting techniques, inventory management model.
Evaluate financial performance and financial position of a business using information contained in financial statements; balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement.
Interpret the working capital position and working capital management of a business.
Calculate different liquidity ratio, solvency ratio and operating efficiency ratio.
Calculate standard costing, calculate variances and interpret them.
Calculate and interpret EVA.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for students and business professionals interested in financial and management accounting. It may also be useful for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone looking for a career in business management.

Who developed the course?

Sentinel|9

Sentinel|9 is an education content provider. They provide university-level content independently to offer a different pace of learning for individuals and institutions. They have a dynamic content library and Learning Management System (LMS) which is suitable for online, blended and face-to-face delivery.

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

Unlimited access to this course
Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
Tests to validate your learning
Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Join - $89

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Learning on FutureLearn

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Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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