Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/financial-accounting-advanced

Introduction

**Course Review: Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics on Coursera** In the world of finance, understanding the nuances of financial accounting is crucial for professionals aiming to excel in their careers. For this reason, the "Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics" course on Coursera offers a comprehensive exploration of advanced concepts that can significantly enhance your accounting acumen. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge and skills in this essential field, this course might just be what you need. ### Course Overview "Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics" is designed for individuals who already have a foundational understanding of financial accounting and are eager to explore more intricate aspects of the discipline. The course begins with an exploration of accounting for long-term assets, which are critical for many public companies, before moving into areas such as liabilities, shareholders' equity, and the crucial cash flows statement. ### Course Syllabus Breakdown 1. **Course Orientation** - The course kicks off with an orientation module where you will familiarize yourself with the platform, your instructors, and fellow classmates. This module is essential for gaining the technical skills necessary to navigate the course’s materials seamlessly. 2. **Module 1: Long-Term Assets** - This module dives into assets that extend beyond the one-year mark, which are of significant importance on a balance sheet. Here, you'll learn about the lifecycle of fixed assets, their valuation, and how they serve as a tool for managerial decision-making. 3. **Module 2: Liabilities** - Understanding liabilities is crucial as they are often a primary source of financing for many companies. This module covers various forms of liabilities, exploring how they are created, valued, and their implications for a firm's liquidity. This is particularly helpful for those looking to understand how a company’s financial obligations can impact overall financial health. 4. **Module 3: Shareholders' Equity** - This section focuses on the contributions from shareholders and the information encapsulated within the shareholders’ equity section of a balance sheet. Knowledge about shareholder investments, share repurchase activities, and retained earnings is critical for interpreting a firm's financial strategy and performance. 5. **Module 4: Cash Flows Statement** - Lastly, you will delve into one of the most vital financial statements: the cash flows statement. This module will teach you how to analyze cash movements within a firm over a specific period, revealing insights about liquidity, operational success, and the quality of earnings. This knowledge is essential for both investors and financial analysts assessing a firm's economic stability. ### Learning Outcomes Upon successfully completing this course, learners will possess a robust understanding of advanced financial accounting concepts. You will be adept in evaluating how long-term assets, liabilities, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows interact and reflect a company’s financial position. ### Recommendation I highly recommend the "Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics" course on Coursera for professionals in finance, accounting students, and anyone keen on gaining a deeper insight into financial documents and their implications. The modules are well-structured and informative, and the instructors provide valuable insights that enrich learning. Moreover, the flexibility of a Coursera course allows you the freedom to learn at your own pace, making it an excellent option for busy professionals looking to bolster their expertise without compromising their work commitments. Whether you're seeking to advance your current career or simply want to broaden your financial knowledge, this course presents a valuable opportunity to refine your accounting skills and enhance your professional credentials. Enroll today and take a significant step towards mastering advanced financial accounting topics!

Syllabus

Course Orientation

You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.

Long-term assets, assets that can be converted into cash in a time period of more than one year, constitute a large portion of a balance sheet for a lot of public companies. Understanding accounting for long-term assets will help you uncover how these accounts change over time, their valuation, and their usefulness in managerial decision making.

One of the major sources of financing for many firms is liabilities. Firms routinely finance their operations through various liabilities including accounts payables, bank loans, and bonds. Accounting for liabilities will help you understand how liabilities are created, how they are valued, how they inform about a firm’s liquidity position.

One of the major sources of financing for many firms is contributions from shareholders. The shareholders’ equity section of a balance sheet shows details of investments of shareholders. Accounting for shareholders’ equity will help you understand the amount of shareholder investment, the number of shares issued in return by the firm for shareholders, the amount of earnings earned by the firm but not distributed to shareholders, and information about the amount of shares repurchased by the firm from the stock market.

One of the major financial statements is cash flows statement. This statement describes in detail how cash changes for a firm over a certain period. Cash flows statement provides valuable information about liquidity position of a firm, cash consequences of managerial operating and investing decisions, as well as earnings quality of a firm.