Learning path

Finance and economics

Fundamentals of Accounting

Fundamentals of Accounting brings together two self-paced online courses that give you a solid understanding of how accounting works and how its information is used in practice.

The first course, Financial Accounting, looks at accounting from the perspective of external stakeholders such as investors, creditors, and owners. You will get to know the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement, and learn to evaluate a company’s financial position with key financial ratios.

The second course, Management Accounting, focuses on the information that management needs inside the company. You will explore cost concepts, strategic management, budgeting, ad hoc calculations, pricing, and investment appraisal.

You can complete the whole learning path or choose only the course that best meets your needs.

Learning Path

Fundamentals of Accounting

Price (+ VAT)

250€

Workload

Up to 27 Hours

Format

Self-paced online

Language

English

Fundamentals of Accounting Path
2 Courses

You must complete 2 required courses.

Part I: Financial Accounting

Welcome to the first part of the learning path! Here you will look at a company through the eyes of investors, creditors, and owners, and learn how to read and evaluate its financial statements.

You must complete 1 of the required courses.

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Financial Accounting
format:
Self-paced online
Required
A company’s financial statements reveal a great deal about its financial position, as long as you know how to read them. In the Financial Accounting online course, you will learn to interpret the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement, and to assess a company’s profitability, capital structure, liquidity, and efficiency using key financial ratios. The course progresses through nine modules with concrete examples. The course is the first part (Part I) of the Fundamentals of Accounting learning path, and you can continue to Part II, Management Accounting, afterward. You can also complete it on its own, and no prior knowledge of finance is required.
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Part II: Management Accounting

Welcome to the second part of the learning path! Here the focus shifts inside the company, as you explore how accounting information helps management plan, steer, and make better decisions.

You must complete 1 of the required courses.

Avatar of Management Accounting
Management Accounting
format:
Self-paced online
Required
Good decisions require knowing what operations really cost and what they generate. In the Management Accounting online course, you will learn how accounting supports management: cost accounting, budgeting, strategy implementation, and the management of profit centers, as well as ad hoc calculations, pricing, and estimating the profitability of investments. The course progresses through nine modules with concrete examples. The course is the second part (Part II) of the Fundamentals of Accounting learning path and is a natural continuation of Part I. You can also complete it on its own, and no prior knowledge of finance is required.
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For Whom?

The learning path is designed for professionals who work with financial information but do not have a background in finance, such as managers, specialists, entrepreneurs, and board members. It is also a good fit for anyone who wants to refresh or deepen their existing knowledge of accounting. No prior studies in finance or accounting are required.

Learning Outcomes

After completing the courses, you will be able to:

  • Distinguish between financial and management accounting, and understand the objective and contents of the financial statements
  • Interpret the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement, and the connections between them
  • Calculate and interpret key ratios for profitability, capital structure, liquidity, and efficiency
  • Assess whether a company’s financial position is good, moderate, or weak, and justify your assessment
  • Explain key cost concepts and how costs are assigned to products and services
  • Describe how accounting supports strategy implementation and how budgeting supports management
  • Use cost-volume-profit analysis and break-even analysis to support decisions
  • Evaluate the profitability of investments using NPV, IRR, and the payback period

Instructors

  • Avatar of Teemu Malmi, D.Sc. (Econ.), Professor of Accounting, Aalto University School of Business

    Teemu Malmi, D.Sc. (Econ.), Professor of Accounting, Aalto University School of Business

    Teemu Malmi is a Professor of Accounting and Head of the Department of Accounting at Aalto University School of Business.

    Professor Malmi specializes in management systems, strategy implementation, and cost and profitability accounting. He ...