Top 5 Online Accounting Courses
1. Financial Edge
Financial Edge is the firm trusted by the world’s top 4 Investment Banks (as rated by the FT) to train their new analysts. Founded by ex-bankers and a team of experienced instructors, they deliver technical training programs in-house and online through their range of Wall Street - recognized certified courses.
2. Accounting Foundations – LinkedIn Learning
Level: Beginner
Duration: Two hours – series of three-minute videos
Price: Included with LinkedIn Premium subscription, free one-month trial or $39.99 one-off payment
The course was created by Jim and Kay Stice. They are both very well-respected professors who teach accounting at BYU Marriott School of Management.
Modules include:
- What is accounting
- Balance sheets
- Income statement and cash flow
- Managerial accounting
- Income taxes
This course is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and provides 3.6 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits.
3. Financial Accounting Fundamentals – University of Virginia via Coursera
Level: Beginner
Duration: Approximately 14 hours
Price: Free to enroll but various charges for certificate and course material
The Financial Accounting Fundamentals course is taught by a professor from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia.
It has enrolled over 99,000 students, with 85% giving the course a five-star rating.
Reviews state that the course has a good mix of video lessons, case studies and practical exercises.
All deadlines are flexible, so it fits into your schedule.
The topics covered are:
- Financial accounting
- Balance sheet
- Recording transactions
- Income statements
- Cash flow
- Financial statement preparation
- Annual reports
- Analysis of financial statements
This course is part of the Entrepreneurship: Growing your Business Specialization program. While it does offer accounting fundamentals, it is aimed at small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Visit Financial Accounting Fundamentals – University of Virginia via Coursera
4. Introduction to Management Accounting – edX
Level: Beginner
Duration: Six weeks
Price: Free
This course is run by ACCA members and is designed to prepare you for your ACCA Management Information exam.
The course covers:
- Spreadsheets
- Recording costs
- Cost classification and measuring
- Source documents and coding
- Nature and purpose of cost and management accounting
The primary purpose of the course is to prepare students for ACCA exams. However, it has also been recommended to those:
- Starting a career in accounting
- Studying business or finance
- About to launch a start-up
The course is self-paced but recommended study time is around five to six hours per week.
5. Accounting: Principles of Financial Accounting – University of Navarra via Coursera
Level: Beginner
Duration: 12 hours – fully flexible learning
Price: Free enrolment but added fees for study material and certificate
This course is taught by an associate professor from the IESE Business School, University of Navarra.
The topics covered are:
- Introduction to accounting
- Income statement
- Cash flow statements
- Accrual accounting
Past students have commented that this course is easy to follow and offers lots of practical examples. Nearly 86% gave it a five-star rating.
Principles of Financial Accounting is part of two other programs:
- Foundations of Management specialization
- Think like a CFO specialization
As both programs are specializations, they come with a hands-on capstone project to demonstrate your understanding.
For those considering a career in accounting, the CFO specialization will give a deeper understanding of finances.
Visit Accounting: Principles of Financial Accounting – University of Navarra via Coursera
To tackle the very common investment banking interview question "Tell me about yourself" effectively, you must describe yourself in terms of the skills and competencies your prospective employer is looking for in candidates, and illustrate how and when you have demonstrated these skills and competencies during education or previous work experience.
Preparing for this Question
Before your interviews, consider the core skills and key competencies that all investment bankers need to possess. For example, investment bankers need to be:
- Hard workers - An Analyst will work approximately 100 hours a week.
- Strong team players - Deal teams consits of analysts, associates, vice presidents and managing directors.
- Analytical - Analysts will need to consult large companies on complicated business strategy.
- Quantitative - Analysts need to build financial models and review financial statements.
During (or after) your interview, your interviewer will almost certainly complete a sheet about your specific abilities, competencies and skill set. Make sure you "tick all the boxes" for your interviewer, in your interview.
Also, make sure that you are very clear about your CV. You should be able to talk about any experiences listed, and be able to answer any question that your interviewer may have about dates, activities, or anything else.
Answering the Question
When introducing yourself at the start of this question, be yourself. Your interviewer wants to find out about your personality (and if you will be a personality "fit" within the company) as much as your skills, competencies and experiences.
Qualify your skill-set by using pertinent examples from your educational, life and work experiences. For example:
Hard worker - "I have completed a academically challenging course in Economics and Finance at the University of Manchester, where I also worked part-time for an insurance company and captained the university debating team. During Christmas and summer vacations I completed internships at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers respectively".
Team player - "Whilst at university I captained the debating team, was treasurer for the finance society and was top goal scorer for the University of Manchester football team".
Analytical - "During my work experience at Lehman Brothers I took part in a consultation project".
Quantitative - "As treasurer for the university finance society I helped arrange a financial process discussion group".
When walking your interviewer through your CV just give basic details of the job and then more detailed descriptions of the skills and competencies used and developed. If your interviewer is interested in a particular period of work or other experience from your CV they will ask you to tell them more. When the interviewer asks you follow on questions like this, give more detailed responses and explain what you enjoyed most.
To conclude your answer, explain that you think with all your skills and competencies you think you would make a great hire for the firm.
- For more investment banking interview questions, see - Investment Banking Interview Questions.
