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Overview

Accounting Fundamentals Course Overview

Understanding the basics of accounting is a crucial skill for almost all finance professionals as it gives us insight into profitability, operations, growth, and the underlying drivers of the business. The Accounting Fundamentals course covers the importance of the financial statements and various financial statement terms. We will record transactions and prepare an multi-year income statement, balance sheet, and cashflow statement.

Accounting Fundamentals Learning Objectives

Understand the role and importance of the financial statements.
Define various financial statement terms
Explore the format of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.
Record financial statement transactions.
Understand how transactions move through the financial statements.
Prepare simple financial statements.

Who Should Take This Free Accounting Course?

This course is designed for anyone who wants to review the fundamentals and building blocks of the accounting process. It will also be useful for professionals who work in finance and want to review the concepts required for financial modeling and valuation in CFI’s later courses.

Accounting Fundamentals

Led by Scott Powell

Get Started Enroll For Free

Level 2

Approx 5h to complete

100% online and self-paced

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What you'll learn

Lesson

Multimedia

Exams

Files

Introduction

Course Introduction

Downloadable Files

Importance of Accounting

Types of Organizations

Financial Statements

Interactive Exercise 1

The Accounting Equation

The Balance Sheet

Balancing the Balance Sheet

Downloadable File

Double Dipping Practice

Double Dipping Debrief

Recording Transactions Part 1

Recording Transactions Part 2

Adjustments and Balances

Recording Transactions Part 3

Downloadable Files

Constructing a Balance Sheet Walkthrough

Constructing a Balance Sheet Debrief

Interactive Exercise 2

Different Balance Sheet Layouts

The Cash Flow Statement

The Role of the Cashflow Statement

Profit vs. Cash

Downloadable Files

Direct vs. Indirect Method Part 1

Direct vs. Indirect Method Part 2

The Indirect Method

Changes in Working Capital

Downloadable Files

Cash Flow from Operations

Investing Activities

Cash Flow from Investing

Financing Activities

Cash Flow from Financing

Interactive Exercise 6

Downloadable Files

Construct a Cashflow Statement Walkthrough

Construct a Cashflow Statement Debrief

Course Summary

Summary

Qualified assessment

This Course is Part of the Following Programs

Why stop here? Expand your skills and show your expertise with the professional certifications, specializations, and CPE credits you’re already on your way to earning.

Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® Certification

Accounting Fundamentals is part of the Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® certification, which includes 42 courses.

Skills Learned Financial modeling and valuation, sensitivity analysis, strategy
Career Prep Investment banking and equity research, FP&A, corporate development

Learn More

Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)® Certification

Accounting Fundamentals is part of the Commercial Banking & Credit Analyst (CBCA)® certification, which includes 59 courses.

Skills Learned Financial Analysis, Credit Structuring, Risk Management
Career Prep Commercial Banking, Credit Analyst, Private Lending

Learn More

Financial Planning & Wealth Management (FPWM)™ Certification

Accounting Fundamentals is part of the Financial Planning & Wealth Management (FPWM)™ certification, which includes 28 courses.

Skills Learned Financial Learning, Business Development, Investment Management, Practice Management, Relationship Management
Career Prep Financial Planner, Investment Advisor, Portfolio Manager

Learn More

FinTech Industry Professional (FTIP)™

Skills Learned Financial Technology Fundamentals, Data Science and Machine Learning, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Career Prep Data Science and Machine Learning, Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Software Developer

Learn More

What our students say

Very useful and interesting
The course is incredibly well designed . I have now understood much better the relationship between the 3 main Financial statements. I recommend.

Fagueye GUEYE

Clear and concise
Enjoyed the lessons. Wish there could be more complex questions to further test our understanding.

Charles Lee

Very Good
Encourage all the students to go through this 5 hour course.

Papaiah Sastry Chundury

It was a very good course.

Aditi Gaikwad

Wonderful refreshment for the fundamental of accounting
Wonderful refreshment for the fundamental of accounting and really helpful for all accounting and finance users

Ehab Fawzy

your way of reading is very good

SACHIN SRIVASTAV

Its a great opportunity for me to learn more and finalize my FMVA certificate and others
Thank you and appreciate your support

Isam Barahmeh

Iam very happy to share that i have completed my first course accounting fundamentals and i would recommend to all the students that this platform will provide a beginner to advanced in accounting

Adeel Altaf

Great
Very good for someone who needs a refresher.

Thabo Liphoto

easy to follow and very informative
Enjoyed every second, revised some, learned some. Highly recommend!

Ivana Ivanc

A very educative course

Judith ENEMALI

WAS SUPER EXCITED
THIS COURSE WAS VERY HELPFUL

Mukandayisenga Josiane

The course covers the some of the very basic concepts of accounting in very practical way and easy to understand language. The three major financial statements are dealt and explained in a very lucid and interactive manner. Thank you CFI for designing such course

VISHAL KUMAR

Amazing course to learn
I would recommend 100% to any one willing to consolidate their knoledge in accounting to take this course.

Alejandro Ruiz Bustamante

Just upskilled in accounting fundamentals
Try CFI amazing learning experience

Paul Asumbo

Fantastic
Thanks for this opportunity!

Jahad Jafarov

Fantastic
My learning experience with CFI courses, especially fundamentals of Accounting was really an enjoyable one! course aspects all covered in a concise and clear way! Congs. to the team, especially to the lecturer Scott

ROGER KARANGWA

Perfect
I studied these in school but never really understood them but after this course I understood them so well that I can explain them to someone else. Wow I am amazed this is free!

Jenin AbuHijleh

informative and engaging
Definitely worth the time

Samandar Tulkinov

Teaching is brief but impacting
Teaching is brief but impacting

Gbenga Adeolu Oluwafemi

Strongly recommended
I learn lot of new things from this videos

Kashif Munawar

Great
Fun learning with such a great instructor

Sai Shankar

Learning the fundamentals of accounting
Completely liked this course and was a great learning experience

Gaurav Pawar

An extremely key course in accounting, well articulated, presented and delivered in the simplest form possible.

Lydia Kiarie

It was quite explanatory

Lawal Idris

Very well
I have decided, I will complete all the finance certification form CFI only.

Apoorv Verma

Very easy to follow up and the duration of the course within the manageable timeframe
Really interesting and comprehensive course for those who were just introduced to accounting. Take a coure, get your certificate and boost your CV along with your career

Abdulaziz Mukhtorov

Solid learning platform, and I look forward to any future updates that may further enrich the course with additional industry insights or interactive elements. Keep up the good work.

Ankita Sinha

Great platform
Great platform, easy to follow, loved interactive exercises and ability to go back and recheck.

Irina Gornovskaya

Well paced course
I needed a quick refresher in accounting. This course was helpful to cover some basics that I needed to brush up on.

Nihal Thaggarse

Great
Easy, Simple and informative! Great course to refresh basic accounting fundamentals or a first step to career shift.

Omar Kahil

I found it excellent to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of accounting. Keep the materials, exercises, and way of delivery of the instructor in this high level.

Endalkachew Asmamaw

having an amazing experience in learning with cfi
I'm much content in learning with cfi

Akhilesh Kottakondawar

fantastic
Easy to follow, informative and relevant.

Justin Raducci

Awesome
I have never ever thought that I could study accounting course online , but CFI platform is awesome, making it real as though it's a physical class. Great Instructors, Great content and awesome video lectures.

Ajadi Ademayowa

Great course to learn the financial statements and their connection
I can only recommend, clear instructions, helpful materials and greatly set models to learn and expand the skills in FP&A

Svitlana Popova

Keep it Up
Instruction way of teaching also good

Shaik Maheen Abubucker

The content is designed amazingly.

Parmender Singh

Business Partner
I really appreciate the way how to learn accounting with CFI, even if it takes many times, you won't be desappointed, you always want to keep it on.

Julio RAFANOMEZANTSOA

Encouraging
They should try to enrol cos it really broaden the IQ

Michael Ajayi HND,AAT,Aca(in view)

Take it without a shadow of doubt
You will be a master in accounting in no time!

Kamolika Goswami

excellent course
highly recommended as a start on accounting fundamentals

Fayez Alanazi

Excellent background on financial statements
I strongly advise you to take it

حمزة الذنيبات

Great refresher
If you're starting a finance career this is a great course to refresh your memory and brush up on your fundamental accounting skills.

Leonardo Lerch

Every Commerce Student must attend the course.

Himanshu Mishra

Very good
Overall the experience other than at times when the video player wasnt working right but could be because im on a larger screen

Matthew Robinson

Informative
I love everything about CFI, their teaching material is easy to understand and invaluable.

Mosebo Matsoso

It teaches in detail about the Income-, Cashflow statement and the Balance sheet.. really good with many of exercises for practicing alone..

Malak Fallaha

Course Experience
Instructor explains materials so well. It is so easy to understand

Kai Shing Ma

i'm so happy to attend this course with you

Frawla Youssef Ahmed

Accounting Basics
it was a great experienced because this was my first time to joining CFI online Plateform courses but it was great materials and in a very transparent way explaining!! Thanks CFI!

Haroon Khan Khan

BEST ONLINE PLATFORM TO LEARN ABOUT ACCOUNTING & FINANCE

Fashan Feroze

Accounting Fundamentals
It was a nice experience.

Hilton Boateng Karikari

Best course
Easy explanations and good examples

Anna Voitiuk

Easy way to understand accounting concepts

Bushra Sattar

A good course to recap on basic accounting.

Takunda W Mutizhe

Basics of Accounting
I have gained base knowledge of accounting from these videos.

Sai Ananth

Awesome
Don't be shy to take your time with learning.

Fundile Justice Sokhela

Learning Accounting
Learning Accounting for my first time, and it is easy to understand and concise. I am ordering a homework book though so I have more repition practice.

Michael Wheeler

Excellent
Everything is perfect about this course from course content to teaching. I believe that offering intermediate and advanced-level courses in Accounting fundamentals would be an excellent choice for learners.

Muhammad Ayub

A real personal challenge and a magnificent explanation.

José Eduardo Nava Rodríguez

It's very important for accounting students.

Md Hasibul Hasan

Fantastic Accounting
I have hated accounting since my secondary school, but this course has shown me the bright side of accounting and its usefulness. I am happy participated in this, it will definitely help me in my financial analyst journey.

Agbaegbu Tochukwu

People should try it to build foundation in accounting.

Sohan Barailee

Practical learning experience and concise
Would recommend to everyone.

Jonathan Caleb Akuaku

Engaging
I loved how engaging and passionate the professor was when teaching the material related to the course, and the course is designed in a way that makes it easier to follow along, since it provides exercises and walks you through them.

Antonio Pala

Although it was time consuming, but it worth the time. I’m so happy I took the course.

Aishat Tewogbade

Exercises make this course very unique
I am super happy to have found this course. Each section had many practice worksheets in excel with variety of examples. Usually accounting is boring in a classroom, but I thoroughly enjoyed this entire course because of the examples and practice worksheets. I always had a big fear when it came to journal entries, but in this course I was able to build I/S, B/S and Cash Flow statements so easily. This means a lot for a person who is trying to refresh the subject after nearly 18 years gap from studies and 8 years of career break. Thank you CFI!

Lalit Naga Lalasa Bhattiprolu

i learned too much about accounting
accounting isn`t eaasy, but when you esforce yourself, everything goes well

Vanilson Paulo

it was nice and I will have more from this
it was very good just share the course video

Wali Rahman Safi

Best course for accounting fundamentals
I am not from accounting background yet this course was so articulate and precise and simple to learn. The accounting concepts are accurately taught and i am thankful for this course.

Yogesh Mokashe

I have improve my accounting acknowleges with praticals excercices and inovatives excels templates.

Fabrice ZAME MEKONDANE

Great Course
The delivery was great in terms of the video quality, the exercises and solutions made available, and also the incorporation of Excel shortcuts. The course covers a lot about accounting in a very succinct way.

Faatimah Olanrewaju Adediran

Everything was great thank you
Everything was great thank you

MUNTASIR ALI

Too good
please try this course at least once

Bhavik Rathod

Amazing
Great course that explains accounting in vivid details.

Irvin tanubrata

It was a wonderful experience. Nice learning approach, really enagaging...

ifeaka sunny

Very good
It’s actually understandable very easily.

Divyajitsinh Solanki

Amazing experience with CFI
It was great to getting a knowledgeable instructor from CFI, and CFI gave me new prospective of learning.

Shah Rukh Khan

Great experience
Love how interactive these assignments were.

Christopher Ibanez

Keep Learning
Even old programs May learn New Setting

Javier Nava

very good
we can get lots of knowledge through this really osm

CHINTA RAVI VARMA

i loved the course and the instructor. It was soo worth it . The instructor explained it so well kudos . Thank you scott

priya balani

Kudos to CFI
I extremely enjoy the entire process, thank you Accounting Fundamental instructor and thank you CFI

Segun Okikiola Sangokoya

Excellent course exceeded my expectation
Take a course, its very friendly a platform, the instructor with professional scope very clear his explication on the videos. You won't regret it.

Shubert Antony Hernandez Aguilar

Excellent
This is a amazing course from CFI and Instructor clearly explain accounting concept.

Mohammad Sahil Siddiqui

Good Best Better
It is very good platform for learning different types of Courses in this Institute.. Nothing to say anything it is very great Institute for beginner. Thank You.

KUNDAN A. THAKARE 📈

please provide the test explanation

Noor Almajed

I learnt so much more about accounting as a finance major
As a finance student from mainland China, my undergraduate school does not offer too many accounting courses and if any, they are not that practical and complex. Thanks for CFI providing me such a great chance to deepen my understanding of 3 financial statements.

Wenjing Xu

i would recommend every student to take courses on CFI rather than on any other platform.

Safeer Shahid

Fantastic
With a few hours of concentration you will learn, which took me 3 years to cover. Highly recommend this course who is interested to know the ins and out of financial statements and anyone who is pursuing an accounting profession.

Yousuf Ali

such a great learning platform
I love taking CFI courses because of the amount of knowledge the instructors pass on to you. They manage to take complex terms and calculations, and simplify them to nicely. I love this platform. Keep it up!

Nomthi Mabawula

Sound teaching on Accounting Fundamentals
Want to get the basic understanding on how to get started with Accounting fundamentals? Then you've come to the right place! This course is the best sound teaching one could ever get on Accounting fundamentals! Thank you CFI.

Oluwafunmilayo Olaoluwa

Amazing experience in this course
it's really important to take this course thus, to easily understand all the remaining finance courses.

Yousef Ghonaim

This has really empowered me to be grounded in Accounting and have given me the basis
learning with the CFI was sweet

Patrick Fassay

The best Institute and place for any student
This is the best place for any student to learn and understand, and to increase their knowledge in any desired course of their interest. This will also help students to better their skills. Thank you.

Nathaniel Gomenu

The course was really informative and helped me to understand accounting in a better way

Devipriya Murali

it was overwhelming experience to know basis
you will learn a lot from thid

Muhammad Bilal Rasheed

it was overwhelming experience to know basis
you will learn a lot from thid

Muhammad Bilal Rasheed

Javier Arellano Flores

Frequently asked questions

What are the requirements to take the courses?

All of our certification programs are open to students and professionals in various industries and levels of experience. Our curriculum is designed to teach what you need to know from basic fundamentals to advanced practical case studies. To take the courses and complete the exercises, students will only need access to a PC and/or Mac, Microsoft Suite (2016 or newer), and a stable internet connection. Click here to view the Technical Requirements

Can I download the Excel files and financial modeling templates for the course?

Absolutely! All the files and templates needed in a course are available for download. Just look for a module that shows Downloadable Files within the course dashboard. See here for a visual guide on how to do this.

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You will have yearly access to the courses as long as you maintain an active subscription. All the courses are self-paced as well so you can take your time in learning without worrying about any deadlines. Click here to compare our available enrollment options.

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Yes, CFI is accredited by the Better Business Bureau® (BBB) to maintain training standards, the CPA Institutions in Canada, and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) in the USA. Most of our courses qualify for verified CPE credits for CPA charter holders. Please refer to this page to view all available CPE credits.

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All our online courses are priced in USD. As this is a recurring payment, we accept all major credit and debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

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Students must complete all the video lessons, quizzes, and final assessments in each course. You can retake the assessments as many times as necessary until you reach an 80% passing grade. For more information on how to earn a course certificate, click HERE.

How are the exams conducted?

Students are required to complete an online assessment (Multiple choice questions, Fill-in-the-Blanks, and Excel Questions) at the end of each course. You can take the exams on your own schedule and will need to earn at least 80% to pass the course and earn your certificate of course completion. Please note that course exams can be repeated as many times as you need. Students are also required to complete the FMVA® final exam to earn their certification. How to Take a Qualified Assessment

Can I email the instructor if I have questions?

While the courses are designed mainly for self-study, we are happy to provide email assistance for general or technical support inquiries. The Full Immersion bundles include a premium email support function that allows you to communicate directly with in-house experts regarding course content. This is one of the key features that sets the Full Immersion bundle apart and makes it a worthwhile upgrade over the more affordable self-study bundle. You can compare more features in our bundles here.

Will these courses help me advance my career?

Based on hundreds of reviews from thousands of students we know how CFI courses have helped so many people advance their finance careers. Our courses are designed to be extremely practical and simulate the experience of being trained as a professional financial analyst…the ultimate way to advance your career. For real-world examples and to help delve even deeper into the course concepts, please look into our free career resources library.