8 Colleges and Universities Offering Free Accounting Courses Online

Learn accounting with these free online courses. See the full list of free online accounting and financial reporting courses and find the course that is right for you. 

Information on Free Online Accounting Courses

Although many of these courses contain the same course materials as credit-bearing college classes, free online students cannot earn college credit by completing them. Access to the courses is free, but students may need to purchase textbooks or acquire other reading material to gain full benefit from the course. Special software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or mp3 players, may be required in order to utilize course materials.

Indiana University

• Accounting and the Business Environment

This course covers all aspects of financial record keeping for businesses with topics including liabilities, financial statements and budgeting. Students can download videos of classroom lectures; each lesson lasts 30 minutes to about one hour. No textbook is required, and no additional materials are available.

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

• Accounting 101: The Fundamentals
• Creating a Profit and Loss Statement
• Preparing a Balance Sheet
• Preparing a Cash Budget

Accounting 101: The Fundamentals is a course offered by Kutztown University's SmallBizU that uses audio and video slides to teach small business owners how to keep very basic financial records. Creating a Profit and Loss Statement is an audio and video lesson offered by Kutztown's Small Business Development Center, which includes worksheets and examines calculations, single-step format and multi-step format. Also offered by the Small Business Development Center, Preparing a Balance Sheet uses audio, video and worksheets to investigate liabilities, owner's equity and balance sheets. Preparing a Cash Budget teaches online users to create a budget using the cash method or accrual method, examine money coming in and going out and maintain cash reserve requirements. A glossary and worksheets are available for this course.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting Course
• Financial Accounting
• Financial and Managerial Accounting

Students can download PDFs of lecture notes and obtain exam questions and solutions in these three accounting courses. Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting is an undergraduate course that teaches students to read, understand and create financial statements. A textbook is recommended along with supplemental readings, and students can access problem sets and solutions. In the Financial Accounting course, students learn to analyze financial information and develop reports. The graduate-level course materials include problem sets and solutions along with recitations. Online learners of Financial and Managerial Accounting, another graduate course, study how to prepare cash flow statements, recognize accrual accounting and identify revenue. Students must purchase a textbook, but the supplemental reading of a corporate financial report is provided for free online.

New Jersey Institute of Technology

• Acct 615

In this course, students learn the basics of accounting and how managers use these principles to reduce costs and maximize profits and efficiency. The 17 video lectures cover topics including cash flow statements, internal decision making and transfer pricing. A textbook is required.

The Open University

• Introduction to the Context of Accounting
• Influences on Accounting Regulation Course
• Investment Risk

The Open University offers written lessons in its online courses, many with activities for students to further explore the topics. No textbooks or additional readings are required. Students in the advanced-level Introduction to the Context of Accounting look at the basics of accounting. Influences on Accounting Regulation examines financial reporting from its origins to its present-day function. In Investment Risk, students learn to define financial risk, calculate risk factors and consider investors aversion to risk.

Portland State University

• Financial Accounting and Reporting I

In this course, students examine the interrelationship between balance sheets and cash flow statements, as well as understand applied accounting procedures and practices. Students can access PowerPoint lessons and view homework solutions. Quizzes and discussion questions are available, and several student projects are also posted.

University of Alaska - Anchorage

• Accounting 201: Principles of Financial Accounting

Principles of Financial Accounting provides students with an introduction to principles and practices used in accounting, with emphasis on summarizing accounting data and speaking the accounting language. The course includes access to homework assignments, practice exams, PowerPoint slides, learning games and other course materials. A textbook is required.

University of Michigan

• Corporate Finance for Healthcare Administrators

As the third in a series of courses for health care managers, this graduate-level corporate finance course focuses on investments, financing and strategic financial planning. Students can download videos of lectures and lecture notes, as well as worksheets. A textbook is necessary, and students will need to obtain recommended journal readings from a library or find them online.