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Financial Statements Unlocked: How to Understand Corporate Finance and Financial Management

Learn how to make better, more informed business decisions with in-depth understanding of financial accounting information.

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    5 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
  • Included in an ExpertTrack

    Course 1 of 5
  • Get full ExpertTrack access

    $39/monthFind out more

Every company maintains financial records that help you to understand how well it’s doing. How can you make sense of this information and use it to the strategic advantage of your business?

On this course, you’ll have the chance to find out everything you need to know about reading and making sense of financial statements.

You’ll have the opportunity to explore a range of financial statements – focusing on income statements, statements of financial position and cash flow statements. You’ll look at their qualitative characteristics and learn about the relevance and reliability of financial statements.

You’ll also get to know who else in the business uses this accounting information by investigating the different branches of accounting.

Learn how to prepare cash flow statements

This course will introduce you to the importance of the cash flow statement – one of the three key financial statements that report the cash generated and spent during a specific period of time.

You’ll look at how these statements break down into three sections: operating, investment and financing activities.

Discover the statement of financial position

A statement of financial position, or balance sheet, will reveal if a company is thriving – and if it’s worth investing in.

You’ll get to grips with the key terms of a balance sheet, learn the importance of balancing the books and carry out exercises to increase your knowledge of, and familiarity with, these statements.

What topics will you cover?

  • Introduction to accounting and its branches
  • Identifying different users of accounting information and their requirements
  • Overview of financial statements
  • Introduction to income statement
  • Introduction to statement of financial position
  • Introduction to cash flow statement

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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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...

  • Investigate the different branches of accounting
  • Explain the purpose of financial statements (income statement, statement of financial position and cash flow statement)
  • Interpret financial statements for decision-making purposes
  • Identify the main users of accounting information and their requirements
  • Explore items typically included in each of the financial statements and their meaning

Who is the course for?

This ExpertTrack is designed for anyone looking to build their financial data analysis and interested in using data for business decision making.

It will be of particular interest to people in senior management and leadership roles who lack an accounting background, especially if you wish to learn the skills to help you make better decisions and advance your career.

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

About this ExpertTrack

Unlock business potential with balanced scorecards, balance sheets, ratio analysis and other strategic financial analysis tools.

Start learning today - free 7-day trial

After your free trial you can:

  • Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
  • Have complete control over your subscription; you can cancel any time
  • Work at your own pace and set your own deadlines at every stage
  • Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
  • Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
  • Earn digital course certificates and a final award that you can share online, with potential employers, and your professional network
  • Keep access to the content of courses you complete even after your subscription ends

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • 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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