Introduction to Finance and Accounting Specialization

This specialization provides an introduction to corporate finance and accounting, emphasizing their application to a wide variety of real-world situations spanning personal finance, corporate decision-making, financial intermediation, and how accounting standards and managerial incentives affect the financial reporting process.

 

It begins with concepts and applications like time value of money, risk-return tradeoff, retirement savings, mortgage financing, auto leasing, asset valuation, and many others. The specialization uses Excel to make the experience more hands-on and help learners understand the concepts more directly. From valuing claims and making financing decisions, to elements of a basic financial model, the coursework provides a solid foundation to corporate finance.

 

The specialization then moves to financial accounting, enabling learners to read financial statements and to understand the language and grammar of accounting. The coursework introduces bookkeeping fundamentals, accrual accounting, cash flow analysis, among much else! Finally, using the foundational knowledge of accounting, the specialization teaches learners how to understand and analyze key information that companies provide in their statements, including types of assets and liabilities and longer-term investments and debts, and finally the difference between tax reporting and financial reporting.

Beginner

Our How to Finance course includes everything you need to wrap your head around the securities industry: 14 course units mapped to topics covered on the SIE exam Each unit includes a 30-minute video lecture from our expert faculty Real-world, relatable examples bring concepts to life Opportunity to test out of a unit Access to our Training Center Free access to our Study Essentials course Downloadable supplements Final course assessment demonstrates an understanding of the securities industry

Lesson 1: Introduction & Stocks
Lesson 2: Bonds
Lesson 3: Types of Bonds
Lesson 4: Investment Company Securities
Lesson 5: Other Packaged Products
Lesson 6: Options
Lesson 7: Suitability
Lesson 8: Issuing Securities
Lesson 9: The Secondary Market & Equity Trading
Lesson 10: Economics & Monetary Policy
Lesson 11: Account Types
Lesson 12: Retirement Plans
Lesson 13: FINRA Registration
Lesson 14: Business Conduct Rules