Understanding Financial Statements: Company Performance (Coursera)

Understanding Financial Statements: Company Performance (Coursera)

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of financial statements with an emphasis on the income statement. Building on the foundation formed in the first course, you will learn about the third of our three measurement questions and how the income statement helps to answer this final measurement question. Returning to the real business people introduced in the first course, this second course describes the basic content of income statement in a simple yet relevant context.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

The course ends by summarizing many of the lessons learned in both courses to leave you with a lasting impression about what financial statements are and how accounting can work for you. We all know that accounting is “the language of business”; let’s make learning this language engaging, and perhaps even fun!
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
• Describe the purpose of an income statement.
• Define the basic components of an income statement.
• Recognize and understand the meaning of several items typically presented on an income statement.
• Explain the broader purpose of financial statements and the role of accounting in producing the financial statements.
• Read and, to some extent, interpret real-world income statements.
Course 2 of 5 in the Fundamentals of Accounting Specialization

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Course Orientation
You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.
How Did You Perform? Introducing the Income Statement
This module introduces you to the primary components of the income statement by focusing on the concepts of revenue and cost of goods sold.

WEEK 2
Finishing Out the Income Statement and Managing Cash
This module discusses examples of other income and expenses included in a typical income statement and introduces you to the statement of cash flows.

WEEK 3
Final Elements of Financial Statements
This module highlights common notes to the financial statements and provides insights from an expert.

WEEK 4
Wrapping Up Financial Statements and What Lies Ahead
This module revisits what the first two courses of the Fundamentals of Accounting Specialization have covered and examines how ratio analyses can help you evaluate a company.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Auditing I: Conceptual Foundations of Auditing (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Auditing I: Conceptual Foundations of Auditing (Coursera)

This course provides an intensive conceptual and applied introduction to auditing in society. It focuses on concepts and applications related to financial-statement auditors’ professional responsibilities as well as major facets of the audit process including risk assessment and audit reporting. In the U.S. financial-statement audits and related services generally are provided by Certified Public Accountants (CPAs).

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Accounting for Decision Making (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Accounting for Decision Making (Coursera)

Through this course, you will start by addressing the two “big questions” of accounting: “What do I have?” and “How did I do over time?” You will see how the two key financial statements – the balance sheet and the income statement - are designed to answer these questions and then move on to consider how individual transactions aggregate to make up these financial statements.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
How to finance your venture ? (Coursera) Coursera
École Polytechnique

How to finance your venture ? (Coursera)

The course aims at providing knowledge and experience to entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs generally start with a mission, a new idea that they want to bring to the world. If the idea is original, it is probably not expected by the market, which has to be educated. This is a very costly experience. Entrepreneurs need to gather capital at the start of the journey.

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Understanding Financial Statements: Company Position (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Understanding Financial Statements: Company Position (Coursera)

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of financial statements with an emphasis on the balance sheet. However, to understand accounting driven financial statements, it is important to recognize that accounting is less about counting and more about measuring. “What is it that is being measured?” Well, as the course unfolds, you will learn about the three measurement questions and how the balance sheet helps to answer the first two of these questions.

Nov 9th 2026
4 Weeks
Financing and Profiting from Innovation for Corporate Entrepreneurs (Coursera) Coursera
University of Maryland, College Park

Financing and Profiting from Innovation for Corporate Entrepreneurs (Coursera)

This course is for aspiring or active corporate entrepreneurs who wants to understand how to secure and manage funding for their corporate venture. We will demystify key accounting and financing concepts to give corporate entrepreneurs a guide to developing the business case for their ideas, and securing funding to translate ideas into reality.

Nov 9th 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Financial Accounting (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Financial Accounting (Coursera)

Master the technical skills needed to analyze financial statements and disclosures for use in financial analysis, and learn how accounting standards and managerial incentives affect the financial reporting process. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to read the three most common financial statements: the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. Then you can apply these skills to a real-world business challenge as part of the Wharton Business Foundations Specialization.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks
Financial Accounting Fundamentals (Coursera) Coursera
University of Virginia

Financial Accounting Fundamentals (Coursera)

This course will teach you the tools you'll need to understand the fundamentals of financial accounting. Concise videos, the financial records of a small business, and "your turn" activities guide you through the three most commonly used financial statements: the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, and the Statement of Cash Flows. Beyond recording transactions, you'll learn how to prepare these financial statements, and read and analyze them to draw basic conclusions about a company's financial health.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Finanzas para directivos (Coursera) Coursera
IESE Business School

Finanzas para directivos (Coursera)

La clave para comprender las finanzas de una empresa está en conocer la historia que se esconde detrás de los números. Este curso te ofrecerá precisamente esta perspectiva de las finanzas, para que puedas aplicar un conocimiento más holístico de las cifras a la hora de tomar decisiones—tanto a largo como a corto plazo—sobre la dirección que la empresa debe tomar respecto a activos y pasivos corrientes, gestión del capital circulante y muchos otros conceptos contables.

Nov 9th 2026
4 Weeks
Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Financial Accounting: Advanced Topics (Coursera)

In this course, you will explore advanced topics in financial accounting. You will start your journey with accounting for assets with more than one-year life. You will learn in detail how firms account for fixed assets. You will then move to financing of assets and discuss accounting for liabilities. The course will continue with an in-depth exploration of shareholders’ equity. Finally, you will critically evaluate preparation, components, and analysis of cash flows statement.

Nov 9th 2026
4 Weeks
Management and financial accounting: Know your numbers 1 (Coursera) Coursera
Macquarie University

Management and financial accounting: Know your numbers 1 (Coursera)

Financial literacy is a fundamental capability for any business leader, whether you are running your own small business/start-up or working at a large organisation. This course will provide you with a sound foundational understanding of financial and management accounting, and how to use accounting to facilitate and align decisions made by owners, managers and employees.

Nov 16th 2026
5-12 Weeks