15 Best Accounting Courses on Coursera

A Coursera accounting course will be useful whether you want to switch careers or understand a concept better. Accounting is not as mind-boggling as most people think. It is fun using accounting principles once you learn the basics. 

However, you do end up banging your head against a wall if you make errors. Often they are notoriously hard to find. The best accounting courses on Coursera I found will help you have a thorough knowledge of accounting so that you won’t make an error in the first place.

Best Coursera Accounting Courses in 2024

You won’t struggle even if you make mistakes if you know how to detect them. Highly knowledgeable accountants know precisely where to look when something does not tally. Moreover, many subcategories in accounting exist: Financial, cost, and management are the most common.  

Some people may only need to understand the basics, while others want to master accounting to add it as a skill to their resume. So, the following accounting courses on Coursera will work for you whether you are learning accounting for the former reason or the latter.

Brian J Bushee’s course has four modules. This is the best financial accounting course for learning the fundamentals. The first module teaches you terms such as debit, credit, asset, liability, equity, and debt. You cannot move forward without understanding these first. 

You have to know how to enter a transaction according to accounting principles before you can crack more challenging problems. You learn accrual accounting and how to treat revenues and expenses in the second module. Learning about Journal entries will make you wish you were never born, but hang in there. 

You will also know how to prepare an Income Statement and Balance Sheet. The third module deals with cash flow statements; a tricky concept for amateurs. The final module is fun as you learn Ratio Analysis. You can impress others with your prowess in financial accounting once you complete the course.

The University of Virginia offers this course, and it is one of the best financial accounting courses online. You learn why financial statements are prepared, the accounting standards/principles, and what is a Balance Sheet. Then the instructor dives into journal entries – recording of transactions and the Income Statement.

Finally, you learn about cash flows and how to prepare a Balance Sheet based on journal entries and Income Statement. The final module teaches you how the cycle begins again. You will also know how to analyze the financial statements you prepared and glean information from them about the company and its health. 

This is the best accounting course for you if you want a firm grasp of accounting principles. The instructor dives straight into the Balance Sheet after teaching you why accounting is important. Don’t panic, some teachers like to get B/S  out of the way first before delving into the journal entries. 

They just don’t want to overwhelm you with journal entries at the beginning and make you run for the hills. The second and third modules deal with the Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement. The final module deals with accrual accounting. That is, how a transaction can take place without cash changing hands and how to record it.

This program, designed by Illinois, is a 5-course series. You have plenty of high-quality content to learn from, and you will enjoy how in each course a different instructor teaches you in their style. You will learn how the journal entries, the ledger, and the Income Statement are used to prepare the Balance Sheet. 

You will also understand how information gleaned from financial statements affects and aids in decision-making. This program is among the dependable accounting courses for beginners, especially those interested in an MBA. As a testament to that, the final course has the Capstone Project in which you will apply what you have learned so far.

The University of California, Irvine doesn’t disappoint you. Its program consists of 3 courses, and each one clearly explains what is intended to be taught. You learn all about the Golden rules of accounting that help you record journal entries and the major financial statements to be prepared.

You also learn about the ethical considerations that must be considered when preparing those statements. Ethics is not something that all online accounting courses teach you, but in my opinion, it is necessary to grasp the consequences of unethical accounting practices. The second course deals with recording journal entries and posting them to the ledger. 

In the final course, you apply what you learned in the previous courses to prepare the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. What stands out about this course is it teaches you to adjust accounting entries; this is a truly exceptional course for beginners.

West Virginia University’s course has 5 modules that help you learn how to detect and investigate fraud and all you need to know about internal control. The first module teaches you about accidental fraudsters and how much their actions cost the company. You learn how to deal with predator fraudsters in the second module besides prevention methods.

The third module discusses big data and data analysis. You also learn about the tools used for fraud detection. The next module is my favorite, as you will learn about money laundering. Seriously, this is the coolest free accounting course online. I always wanted to know how Reddington laundered money in The Blacklist. 

So, you can say I am a little biased when advocating for this course. In the final module, you learn what whistleblowing is, why it is important, and how difficult it is. You can audit the course but you won’t get a certificate. You need to subscribe to Coursera plans for that.

Management accounting is my favorite subcategory next to Cost accounting. Why, you ask? Because the statements you prepare make it possible to make managerial decisions. Management and Cost accounting overlap sometimes, as some decisions are made based on how much it will cost the company.

This course focuses on decisions managers should make based on cost-benefit analysis. Therefore, it is a certified management accountant course you should consider if you want an edge over your competitors. Lynch teaches you the cost-volume-profit analysis, my favorite concept, in this course. You will learn how to calculate break-even points here.

You also learn about cost allocation and cost and benefit analysis. You weigh the benefit of pursuing a project or purchasing an asset against the cost the company incurs and determine whether it is worth it. Awesome, right? However, a certificate won’t be issued if you only audit the course.

This course, designed by the University of Michigan, is for intermediate learners. However, it teaches you the purpose of the primary financial statements – the Income statement and the B/S. You learn about the accounting cycle and can practice preparing the financial statements using the course’s exercises.

The instructor also teaches everything you need to know about revenues, inventories (stock), and cost of goods sold. You also learn about fixed/long-lived assets and the notorious intangible fixed asset – goodwill. Trust me, you will be on a bender when learning the three methods used to treat goodwill.

Now that you know about the assets, you will learn about liabilities and equity/owner’s capital. Then, the instructor delves into Cash Flow Statements. It is one of the online free accounting courses that teaches you this concept in depth. You are in for a surprise, not a good one, if you thought accounting was hard thus far. 

Cash flow statements are challenging to comprehend when you first learn about them. You may wish you never set foot in this field at the beginning. However, you will feel bliss when you master these statements. Finally, you will learn about ratio analysis and how the information gained affects business decisions.

This 4-course series will help you learn in detail the bookkeeping basics, assets and liabilities, and financial statement analysis. This program is a gem among the accounting courses. You gain knowledge about accounting principles, bookkeeping practices, and the double-entry system. The second course is entirely devoted to assets and depreciation. 

Depreciation is another topic that will have you scratching your head because you may not know which depreciation method to adopt to calculate depreciation. That is why knowledge of accounting principles is important. It comes in handy at these times. The third course is about liabilities and equity capital. 

You will also know about the accounting equation. The final course deals with Bank Reconciliation Statement (BRS) – this causes even the mightiest to fall on their knees and cry. However, it merely requires patience and logical thinking. You will also know the purpose of financial statements and how decisions are made based on them.

You need a basic understanding of accounting concepts before you can take this course. The first course in the 5-part series will teach you how to look for key information in the financial statements. A brief overview of the Cash Flow Statement is provided. You also learn ratio and profit analysis.

The second-course details how to treat long-lived assets and inventories. You learn the proper method to record the asset acquisition and the expenses incurred after acquisition. The disposal of assets is also discussed in detail. The third course is about current and contingent liabilities and long-term debts and the cost associated with them (interest).

You will also learn lease and pension accounting. This really is one of the best accounting courses on Coursera, isn’t it? You study equity and share-based compensation in the fourth course. Finally, you condense all you have learned and apply it to complete the 3-week long Capstone Project.

This course is best for those searching for succinct free accounting courses on Coursera. Just because it is short doesn’t mean it has low-quality content. On the contrary, it has valuable lessons that help you brush up on your accounting skills if you already know the concepts or gain in-depth knowledge if you are a newbie.

You learn about accounting terminology. What are debtors, creditors, investors, and T-account? You will know if you pay close attention to the first module. You learn about assets and their valuation in the second module. The third module is about liabilities, retained earnings, and equity capital.

The final part is about the accounting cycle. It begins with journal entries, which are posted to ledgers. This, in turn, helps prepare the Trial Balance at the end of the financial year. The final step is preparing the Income Statement and the B/S. You will have a blast learning if you choose this course.

You learn computerized accounting using TallyPrime in this 3-course series. The first-course deals with bookkeeping basics and business transactions. The second course is about account payables and receivables. You learn how to prepare budgets using TallyPrime and generate reports.

The final course focuses on taxation concepts, such as GST and TDS. You also learn how to manage business data. You also learn to deal with imports and exports and international transactions. You have plenty of real-life scenarios to practice applying the concepts you learned using TallyPrime.

This 3-course program aids you in gaining in-depth knowledge of cost accounting, and you will love every minute of learning. Cost accounting is the least non-complex subcategory in accounting. It was my favorite when I pursued my Bachelor’s in Commerce. However, it was a fun experience because of my professor. He was an excellent teacher.

You have a great instructor for this course, too. This course is the best accounting course on Coursera if you want to learn cost accounting. You will learn about product costing, which system is appropriate for your company, and how to allocate overhead costs to various products. The second course is for learning about profit and loss calculation.

The last course deals with decision-making. You learn which costs to consider and which ones to ignore when making business decisions. The instructor also teaches you how a change in products sold or produced creates a change in costs.

You need to be an intermediate-level learner to comprehend the concepts taught in this course. The first in the 3-course program designed by the University of Illinois teaches you how accounting and analytics are linked. You need an analytical mindset to deal with accounting. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time. You also learn the FACT framework for big data analysis.

You frame a question, assemble the required data, calculate the necessary information, and tell others the result. This course is among the best online courses for accounting. It even teaches you how to use Excel and Tableau to analyze big data. You learn how to use Python in Data Analytics in the second course.

The last course is for learning about machine learning algorithms and models. You also learn how to evaluate and optimize machine learning models. So, this course is for you if the programmer in you wants to go nuts applying it in accounting and data analysis.

This 5-module course is a good choice for a crash course in accounting. You will learn the difference between financial and management accounting. Deborah also teaches you how to prepare the B/S, Income and Cash Flow Statement. You will become familiar with cost classification and allocation.

More importantly, you study long-term decision-making using several techniques, especially the NPV method used in investment appraisal. The short-term decisions are made based on cost-volume-profit analysis. You will know more about variable and fixed costs and the contribution margin.

Enrollment Options

With Coursera Plus, you can get access to almost all the above mentioned Coursera accounting courses. You don’t have to buy courses individually.

Best part is you’ll also get access to more than 7,000 Coursera courses with the Coursera Plus subscription. You can also get unlimited certificates.

If you just want to try one accounting course on Coursera, then you can simply purchase that single course. You’ll get complete access to the course you buy.

But I would recommend you Coursera Plus instead of taking this option. And that is for a simple reason, Value for money. If you compare the cost of one course to Coursera Plus, you’ll definitely see the difference.

If you don’t want the certificates but if you just want to learn, you can choose the audit option. With this option, you can enroll in a course for free and get access to most of the course content like videos, articles, etc. to learn accounting from it.

You’ll see this audit option only in individual course page. It won’t be available directly in specialisation or professional certificate page.

Please note that for some courses you won’t see an audit option.

How I Selected These Coursera Accounting Courses

All the courses I chose have expert instructors who know how to teach you the basics without overwhelming you. The courses for intermediate-level learners do a stellar job of giving you an in-depth knowledge of accounting. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, all the courses are a great option. 

You only need to know your learning level and which subcategory/subdomain you want to specialize in. Moreover, every course I chose has high ratings, and it reflects the content quality of those courses. Some say learning accounting is akin to learning a foreign language. Maybe it is, but the above-mentioned courses will help you master it all the same.

Final Words

I know you feel dazed after going through the best accounting courses on Coursera I chose and what each course offers to teach you. However, don’t be disheartened. It only seems overwhelming because you are not familiar with the concepts yet. You will realize how fun it is to learn accounting once you start learning.