Introduction to the Course

The Hook Financial information is always in the news. In fact, we hear about companies’ performance, profitability and liquidity. I guess you have many questions that are still with no answer…

I want to start up a company: how can I tell whether I will generate a profit? If there will be enough financial resources or I will have to raise some? I would like to become a Chief Financial Officer and I wonder how I can make strategic financial decisions How can we distinguish across different firms’ performance and compare them?

The Aim:

This aim of this course is letting you gain familiarity with the complexities of managing corporations: how can we translate companies’ operations/transactions into numbers, and how to use them to interpret how companies are doing.

What we will do:

We’ll understand the mechanics of accounting through the double-entry bookkeeping system, the journal entries and the ledger; and finally we’ll get some exposure to real financial statements;

How we will do it:

We will use a mix of videos, quizzes and discussion forums to test your progress, so that you build on your peers’ understanding of the topic

The Audience:

The course is designed and targets learners who have already been exposed to an introductory course to financial accounting and (1) feel in need to refresh fundamental and basic concepts surrounding the accounting process, and (2) will soon undertake an intermediate or advanced financial accounting course dealing with business groups, M&A and consolidation.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, the learners will be able to: – Interpret companies’ transactions (e.g. financing, sale, acquisition of goods/services) through accounting numbers; – Apply proficiently the double-entry bookkeeping system to record/verify transactions and accounting; – Discern between cash-based accounting and accrual-based income; – Assess the financial structure of the company and its implications in terms of profitability; – Appreciate the difference between book value of equity and market value of equity;