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MITx: Financial Accounting

4.2 stars
35 ratings

How do investors, creditors, and other users analyze financial statements to assess corporate performance? Learn financial accounting, how to read financial statements, and how to gather inputs to valuation models.

Financial Accounting
12 weeks
10–14 hours per week
Instructor-paced
Instructor-led on a course schedule
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

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Starts Apr 3
Ends Jun 24

About this course

Skip About this course

Accounting is the language of business. It is difficult to understand business without knowing some accounting. Knowing accounting will help learners better understand and contribute to their own companies and better understand business around them. This course also helps students use the financial statements to gather inputs to valuation models and for corporate finance decisions.

Financial Accounting is part of the MicroMasters® Program in Finance. It provides a rigorous introduction to the principles of financial accounting. We focus on the preparation and analysis of financial statements, and on why financial statements take the form they do. We cover the basic structure of financial reports and the process of recording transactions. We will also learn how investors, creditors, and other users analyze financial statements to assess corporate performance. The course focuses on using the financial statements to gather inputs to valuation models and for corporate finance decisions.

This course offers general managers, financial analysts, financial advisors, quantitative researchers, asset managers, risk managers, quantitative developers working in financial services, professionals servicing the financial industry the tools to succeed. Undergraduate and graduate students looking to enter business in general or finance in particular would also benefit greatly from this valuable course.

At a glance

  • Institution: MITx
  • Subject: Economics & Finance
  • Level: Advanced
  • Prerequisites:
    • Probability and Statistics (undergraduate)
    • Calculus (undergraduate)
    • Linear algebra (undergraduate)
  • Associated programs:
  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated skills:Financial Services, Business Performance Management, Finance, Accounting, Corporate Finance, Planning, Chartered Financial Analyst, Financial Statements, Valuation Models, Financial Analysis, Financial Accounting

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • Understand accounting terms
  • Understand how financial statements are constructed
  • Ability to read financial statements
  • Gather inputs to valuation models and for corporate finance decisions

The course is organized as four parts:

A. Introduction; Assets

Week 1: Accrual Accounting,

Week 2: Revenue Recognition; Receivables

Week 3: Inventory; Property, Plant, and Equipment

Week 4: Intangible Assets; Income vs. Cash Flows

Module 5: Acquisitions; Finance Investments

B. Financial Statement Analysis (FSA)

Week 6.1: Introductory FSA

C. Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

Week 6.2: Income Taxes

Week 7: Long-Term Debt; Leases

Week 8: Stockholders’ Equity and Earnings per Share

Week 9: Accounting for Banks

E. Review; Accounting for Valuation

Week 10: Tesla case

We base this course on many years of courses we and our MIT colleagues have taught in previous years to MIT graduate students.

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

This course is part of Finance MicroMasters Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
6 graduate-level courses
Instructor-led
Assignments and exams have specific due dates
1 year 4 months
10 - 14 hours per week

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