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Basics of Accounting for Assets

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of key accounting principles related to assets. It covers topics such as revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and various inventory methods including FIFO, LIFO, and average cost. The course is designed to help learners comprehend how these concepts impact financial statements and the importance of matching costs with sales.

This short course is part of the previous Master Track Certificate in Business Essentials. You may also be interested in a related short course from this program, "The Basics of Accounting for Assets: Long-Term Assets."

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What's inside

Syllabus

Lesson 0 - About the Course

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Explores inventory methods like FIFO, LIFO, and average cost, which are essential for accurate financial reporting and inventory management

Provides a comprehensive understanding of key accounting principles related to assets, which is fundamental for financial analysis and decision-making

Examines revenue recognition and bad debt expense, which are critical components of financial statement preparation and analysis

Designed to help learners comprehend how accounting concepts impact financial statements, which is crucial for understanding a company's financial health

Highlights the importance of matching costs with sales, a core principle in accrual accounting that ensures accurate profit measurement

Part of a Master Track Certificate in Business Essentials, suggesting a structured and comprehensive approach to learning business fundamentals

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Basics of Accounting for Assets with these activities:

Review Basic Accounting Principles

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Reinforce your understanding of fundamental accounting principles before starting the course. This will help you grasp the more complex concepts related to assets more easily.

Browse courses on Revenue Recognition

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Review notes from previous accounting courses.
Work through practice problems on revenue recognition and inventory valuation.
Familiarize yourself with the basic accounting equation.

Read 'Accounting for Dummies'

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Gain a foundational understanding of accounting principles. This book provides a simplified overview of key concepts covered in the course.

View Accounting For Dummies on Amazon

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Read the chapters related to revenue recognition and inventory methods.
Complete the practice questions at the end of each chapter.

Practice Inventory Valuation Problems

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Solidify your understanding of FIFO, LIFO, and average cost methods. Working through practice problems will improve your ability to apply these methods in different scenarios.

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Find practice problems online or in accounting textbooks.
Calculate inventory costs using FIFO, LIFO, and average cost for each problem.
Compare your answers to the solutions and identify areas for improvement.

Three other activities

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Create a Presentation on Revenue Recognition

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Deepen your understanding of revenue recognition by creating a presentation. Explaining the concepts to others will reinforce your own knowledge.

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Research different revenue recognition methods and standards.
Create a presentation outlining the key principles of revenue recognition.
Include examples of how revenue recognition is applied in different industries.
Present your findings to a friend or colleague.

Build a Spreadsheet to Compare Inventory Methods

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Apply your knowledge of inventory methods by creating a spreadsheet. This will help you visualize the impact of each method on financial statements.

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Create a spreadsheet with sample inventory data.
Implement FIFO, LIFO, and average cost calculations in the spreadsheet.
Analyze the impact of each method on cost of goods sold and net income.
Document your findings in a short report.

Read 'Intermediate Accounting'

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Expand your knowledge of accounting principles with a comprehensive textbook. This book provides a more in-depth look at the topics covered in the course.

View Intermediate Accounting, Volume 2 on Amazon

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Read the chapters related to revenue recognition and inventory methods.
Complete the practice questions at the end of each chapter.

Career center

Learners who complete Basics of Accounting for Assets will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Accountant

An accountant is responsible for preparing and examining financial records. This course directly aligns with the core tasks of an accountant, offering a fundamental understanding of key accounting principles related to assets. Specifically, the topics covered, such as revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory valuation methods, are crucial for accurately maintaining financial statements and ensuring compliance. The course's emphasis on matching costs with sales is essential for generating accurate financial reports, which accountants rely on to provide insights into a company's financial health. This course helps build a foundation for any aspiring accountant.

See salaries and explore the career path for Accountant

Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers record daily financial transactions for businesses. This course in accounting for assets is directly applicable to this role. Bookkeepers will need to understand the basics of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory valuation methods like FIFO, LIFO, and average cost. Furthermore, the emphasis on matching costs with sales is very relevant to the day to day bookkeeping. This course prepares one to start maintaining accurate financial records, a core aspect of being a bookkeeper.

See salaries and explore the career path for Bookkeeper

Controller

A controller manages a company's accounting and financial reporting. This course provides an understanding of key accounting principles, which are essential for a controller. A controller must understand how revenue is recognized and how bad debt is accounted for, as learned in this course. The course's explication of inventory methods like FIFO and LIFO are important for accurate financial reporting. The matching of costs with sales is a key focus of this course, and that concept is critical for a controller to build reliable financial statements. This course is directly relevant to the work of a controller.

See salaries and explore the career path for Controller

Cost Accountant

Cost accountants analyze a company’s costs of production, and this course will provide useful background to be successful in the role. Cost accountants must understand the basic accounting concepts related to assets, including revenue recognition and various inventory methods. Further, this course's emphasis on matching costs with sales will help a cost accountant understand how to perform their tasks. This course is particularly useful to anyone seeking a career as a cost accountant. An aspiring cost accountant should consider this course a good place to start.

See salaries and explore the career path for Cost Accountant

Financial Analyst

Financial analysts evaluate financial data to provide guidance to companies and investors. This course helps build a strong grasp of accounting principles for assets, which are vital for interpreting financial statements and making informed financial decisions. The course's coverage of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory valuation helps a financial analyst understand how different accounting methods impact a company's financial performance. The course helps those who wish to be a financial analyst understand the importance of matching costs with sales, enabling them to assess profitability and efficiency accurately. This understanding is crucial as the financial analyst works to evaluate the health and prospects of a company.

See salaries and explore the career path for Financial Analyst

Auditor

An auditor ensures the accuracy and reliability of financial records. The course on the basics of accounting for assets provides a critical foundation for anyone entering the auditing field. The course's coverage of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods equips an auditor with the knowledge to assess the fairness of an organization's accounting practices. Furthermore, understanding how costs are matched with sales is essential for an auditor to verify the accuracy of financial statements. An aspiring auditor should consider this course a good place to start.

See salaries and explore the career path for Auditor

Financial Manager

Financial managers oversee the financial health of an organization. This course can be useful for anyone seeking to become a financial manager. The course's topics in revenue recognition and the various inventory methods helps build a foundation for financial reporting. Understanding how costs are matched with sales is essential for managers to assess profitability and make strategic decisions. This course may be useful to someone in the financial management field.

See salaries and explore the career path for Financial Manager

Business Owner

Business owners need to understand the financial aspects of their business, and this course can aid in that goal. The course provides an overview of essential accounting principles, which will help a business owner understand how their business is doing. The course will help them understand revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods. The course's discussions on the matching of costs with sales can help ensure profitability and accurate financial reports. This course may be a good choice for any business owner.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Owner

Budget Analyst

Budget analysts assist organizations in preparing and managing their budgets. The course may be useful, as it provides a solid overview of essential accounting principles related to assets, including revenue recognition and inventory methods. These skills are all vital to understanding the financial implications of operational decisions. This course may help those aspiring to become budget analysts by giving them a view of how costs should be matched with sales, improving the creation and analysis of budgets. This course may be particularly helpful for those who need to work with financial statements.

See salaries and explore the career path for Budget Analyst

Tax Preparer

Tax preparers help individuals and businesses prepare their tax returns, and they must work with accounting principles. This course provides a solid introduction to accounting, particularly concerning assets. The course's overview of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methodologies may be useful to a tax preparer. The focus on matching costs with sales can help tax preparers understand how to report a company's financial statements. This accounting course may be useful in the world of taxation.

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Business Consultant

Business consultants advise organizations on improving their operations, and having knowledge of accounting is advantageous. This course is a helpful foundation to begin understanding revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods. A grasp of these fundamentals is helpful to a business consultant who might be working with a client's finances. By developing an understanding of how costs match sales, this course can help a business consultant identify areas of strength and weakness within an organization. This course may be useful to anyone pursuing a consulting career.

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Compliance Officer

Compliance officers ensure that a company follows all applicable regulations, including accounting standards. This course is a useful foundation for someone looking to become a compliance officer in the financial sector. An understanding of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods helps a compliance officer identify whether a company is following accounting best practices. Additionally the matching of costs with sales that is discussed in this course may help a compliance officer evaluate the overall health of a company. This course may be useful for anyone working in financial compliance.

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Credit Analyst

Credit analysts assess the creditworthiness of individuals or businesses. This course offers some background for a career as a credit analyst. The course provides a basic understanding of accounting principles for assets, which helps a credit analyst to evaluate financial statements. The concepts of revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods, as learned in the course, are all critical in the financial evaluation process. The focus on matching costs with sales can help an individual assess a company's financial sustainability. This course may be useful to those who want to become a credit analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Credit Analyst

Investment Banking Analyst

Investment banking analysts often need to analyze the financial statements of companies, and this kind of course may be a useful background. This course provides useful context for those who will be working with financial accounting. The course’s concepts such as revenue recognition, bad debt expense, and inventory methods may help build a foundation for an investment banking analyst because it will provide insight into financial data. The course's emphasis on matching costs with sales is important for an analyst to understand. This course may be a useful foundation for those who want to become an investment banking analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Investment Banking Analyst

Procurement Specialist

Procurement specialists manage purchasing and are responsible for finding the best value for an organization. The course provides a good background for a procurement specialist looking to understand how their actions affect finances. The course's discussion of revenue recognition and inventory methods can help a procurement specialist understand how inventory purchases can be managed. This course may be useful for procurement specialists who want to increase their understanding of how costs match sales. This course may be useful to anyone who wants a career as a procurement specialist.

See salaries and explore the career path for Procurement Specialist

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Basics of Accounting for Assets.

Intermediate Accounting, Volume 2

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Comprehensive resource for intermediate accounting topics. It provides in-depth coverage of revenue recognition, inventory valuation, and other asset-related accounting principles. It is commonly used as a textbook in accounting programs and valuable reference for accounting professionals. This book adds more depth to the course and useful reference tool.

Intermediate Accounting, Volume 2

Paperback

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Intermediate Accounting, Volume 2

Kindle Edition

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Accounting For Dummies

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Provides a clear and accessible introduction to accounting principles. It covers the basics of financial statements, revenue recognition, and inventory management in a straightforward manner. It is particularly useful for those with little to no prior accounting knowledge, providing a solid foundation for understanding the course material. While not a substitute for a formal textbook, it serves as an excellent supplementary resource.

Accounting For Dummies

Paperback

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Accounting For Dummies

Kindle Edition

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Effort

50 minutes

Level

Introductory

Via

Coursera

Institution

IE Business School

Instructor

Bruce Busta

Session

January 13, 2025 - January 27, 2025

Language

English

Good to know

Explores inventory methods like FIFO, LIFO, and average cost, which are essential for accurate financial reporting and inventory management

Provides a comprehensive understanding of key accounting principles related to assets, which is fundamental for financial analysis and decision-making

Examines revenue recognition and bad debt expense, which are critical components of financial statement preparation and analysis

Designed to help learners comprehend how accounting concepts impact financial statements, which is crucial for understanding a company's financial health

Highlights the importance of matching costs with sales, a core principle in accrual accounting that ensures accurate profit measurement

Part of a Master Track Certificate in Business Essentials, suggesting a structured and comprehensive approach to learning business fundamentals

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