Financial Accounting Principles

Financial accounting is the backbone of any well-run business. Be it a Fortune 500 company, a start-up, or a nonprofit, having a solid understanding of financial accounting is essential for business success. This course teaches students the fundamentals of financial accounting. Starting with the basics of recording transactions as journal entries and posting them to T-accounts, students learn how to prepare a balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. They are also introduced to more complex transactions such as the purchase of intangible assets or equity investments, and the merger/acquisition of another company. Equipped with an understanding of the building blocks of financial statements, students learn how to analyze them and calculate and interpret critical ratios. Throughout the course both United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) are considered. This course is delivered through the HBS Online Core platform and the Harvard Canvas platform. It features the educational material developed by Harvard Business School (HBS) and HBS Online for use by students seeking to become proficient in financial accounting principles and practices. In addition to the fully online pre-recorded portion, the course features eight live review sessions led by teaching fellows on Zoom, allowing students to apply and deepen their understanding of the basic accounting concepts. The review sessions, homework assignments, and additional elements in the course are delivered through Canvas. Students who have previously enrolled in HBS Online's Financial Accounting, MGMT E-10 (or MGMT S-10), HBS Online's CORe, or the HBS Online section of MGMT E-1000 (or MGMT S-1000), and were still enrolled after the 100 percent refund deadline are not eligible to enroll in this section of MGMT E-1000. They will be dropped from the course. Students may not count this course toward the HBS Online noncredit CORe or the HBS Online Financial Accounting Certificate. Students may not take both MGMT E-1000 and the Harvard Summer School course ECON S-1900 for degree or certificate credit.