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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Financial Accounting by University of Pennsylvania

4.7
stars
8,037 ratings

About the Course

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....

Top reviews

MM

Feb 3, 2016

I took Brian Bushee's course and found him to be one of the BEST INSTRUCTORS I'VE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If you've had trouble with accounting courses in the past, HE IS THE INSTRUCTOR FOR YOU!!!

EY

Sep 19, 2019

The course is very easy to understand, and most importantly it is fun to learn accounting! I find this course covers basic yet comprehensive contents compared to other basic accounting online courses.

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76 - 100 of 1,884 Reviews for Introduction to Financial Accounting

By Ahmad R D

•

Mar 9, 2016

I found this course as addictive of studying with all its facility materials

I pray and hope a better life for Professor, Brian J Bushee. and wish he could cooperate thousands of knowledge seeker those who(m) are unable to pay for studying in university in Financial Accounting course as students from Afghanistan, or Africa, Middle east and other countries who(m) are eligible to improve their knowledge in Financial Accounting term.

once again I appreciate President (Chancellor), Professors and all members of Wharton University of Pennsylvania that they really facilitate this course for all people around the world and specially for me where I will find my prospective job by studying most of lessons.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Ahmad Reshad Darwishy

By Danielle F

•

Feb 15, 2016

Excellent introduction! Professor Bushee is clear, organized, and best of all goofy. A high-quality course right down to the formatting of the slide and video presentations. Plus, it covered exactly what I was looking for – starting with basic journal entries on the general ledger (including adjusting and closing entries) and then building into the foundations of some key financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement) and ratio analysis thereof. And the price is right! Free to audit (including graded assignments) and only $95 for the certificate (which not everyone will need, but it's still a huge bargain considering the cost of university per unit). A+!

By swati s

•

Jun 11, 2019

When I started with the course, It took me some time to adjust to the style the course was delivered. I thought it might get boring, especially since I am completely from a non-finance background. But as I made progress with the course, I must say, Professor Brian has really done a great job, explaining the details of the concepts. I really liked the detailed case study analysis. It was lot of information, a very fast tracked course, but since we can always revisit the videos, they can give one a very good start. Thanks to the virtual class room, they are an acquired taste, towards the end of the course I got used to them, and missed their interesting questions. Thank you Prof. Brian.

By Evan Y

•

May 5, 2023

Absolutely, if not one of the best Intro to Financial Accounting courses that I have taken. Professor Brian Bushee is able to explain accounting in an easy, fun, and understandable way. He gives a lot of practices and also shows real life examples!!!!

I, was able to understand Financial Accounting better in 4 weeks than I did in a semester at University. The one thing I would say that is quite challenging is the explanation towards Cash Flows and the fact that in quizzes there can be multiple answers for one question (it gets really annoying when you thought you answered it correctly, only to find out that you forget to check an additional box, as such you get 0 points).

By shivram s

•

Aug 27, 2020

Prof. Brian J Bushee has created an excellent course that is very interesting, entertaining not to mention you learn a lot within a few weeks of your time.

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn or brush up their understanding of the fundamental principles of financial accounting.

Thanks for your self deprecating humor- it put us at ease. I felt as if I am sitting in your class, listening to your course live. I can't wait for your follow up course to attend.

In addition to being a great teacher with the mastery of the subject, Prof. Brian Bushee can be a full-time creator of a highly successful animation show packed with a great sense of humor.

Go Blue.

Shivram

By Inanna W

•

Apr 28, 2022

Excellent course that will surely recommend to everyone new to the area. Never expected that accounting course could be so exciting and interesting to study. Professor Bushee is so humorous (with all his virtual students) and energetic. The learning materials are so well organized and the pace of the videos are great. All the exams are challenging and targeted to the key knowledge presented in the classes. I took this one only because I enrolled in another Wharton series courses (BA) in which the Accounting Analytics requires students should have some basic knowledge of accounting, and now I cannot wait to start another journey led by Professor Bushee there!

By Christian M

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Nov 26, 2023

Professor Bushee does a fantastic job explaining the fundamentals of financial accounting in this course. He distills quite a lot of information in an accessible format with a lot of real world examples and time within the lectures dedicated to practicing the concepts. This is the 3rd course I've taken through Coursera but the first one where I truly felt like I understood the step-by-step approach and felt like I was truly grasping everything one bite at a time. I think that the "digital students" are a great idea that help the lectures actually simulate a classroom and help bring up and answer potential questions that students might have while learning.

By Alessio P

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Jan 21, 2018

Very complete and in depth course for a beginner. Lots of info and material for future reference. Very clear lectures. I had started the same kind of course on another platform were the way the subject was taught was completely different, I found it hard and for other reasons decided to enroll in this one, which in comparison is way more linear and logic in the way it introduces the topics.

Only one suggestion to make the course a bit easier to understand, would be to use a bit of flow charts to better visualize some concepts. But that's only because some people may be more comfortable memorizing images.

Great work, terrific value for money!

By Christopher P

•

Apr 6, 2020

Excellent course. I found it quite challenging and learned a huge amount. The course was well structured and extremely well prepared for this online learning format. The instructor did an outstanding job of presenting the material systematically and patiently, with lots (tons!) of examples. He definitely understands the persistence required to understand the subject and teaches the course the same way one must learn a language, a comparison he made from the beginning. The virtual students were fun and loved the quirky humour and forehead-slapping puns. Professor Buschee, I take my hat off to you, sir!

By Olesya A

•

Apr 21, 2018

This course will introduce you to accounting in the efficient and smooth way. Most importantly, the professor really knows how to teach it! We all know that accounting is boring and many of us are struggling to get even the basics. However, if you stay tuned throughout the course you will see that the professor is doing exceptional work while introducing Cash Flow Statement (which is the most challenging part of financial accounting to many newbeies). I highly recommend the course to those who just started studying Accounting OR who wants to review the basics before landing a new job or internship.

By Phan Q K N

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Apr 8, 2022

It is an amazing course. Initially, the title "Financial Accounting" sounded extremely boring to me but I could not expect that the journey was turning more and more fantastic after several videos. I really love how Professor Brian developed his content with virtual interactions from animation to represent a physical classroom instead of talking and answering questions himself. And of course, the course succeeded in delivering basic skills to read and prepare financial statement such as Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flow. Many thanks to Professor Brian J Bushee again :)

By Diane Z

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Jul 10, 2020

I am a rising high school junior who just completed this course during the summer. I am highly interested in business, so this course was relatively fun for me. Professor Bushee's lessons were easy to understand, straightforward, and very get-to-the-point, which I enjoyed. Personally, this course was a bit of a challenge. Since it is a college-level course, some of the topics were harder for me to understand and get a hold of. But overall, I think that as long as one tries to understand the lectures and memorizes the important equations, the course is great. I greatly enjoyed this course!

By Leonardo P

•

Oct 2, 2016

By means of this course, I got to understand the most fundamentals concepts of financial accounting. Professor Brian is very good at explaining this concepts, with a very entertaining way of teaching. I needed to go back to classes to take and retake the tests, so it shows that you must comprehend the concepts in order to pass the Tests. I would recommend this course to anyone that wants to learn about accouting. For my case, which is related to process to becoming an investment banker, this course was a great foundation, and the stepping stone into the other courses offered by coursera.

By REALINO P

•

Jun 10, 2020

Thank you so much for this course, Prof. Brian. It's so interactive while the questions asked and points made by your virtual students were relatable and yes, I was having fun while learning, At first, I told myself that I don't need to learn accounting stuff but this course changed my mind. I'm now confident to look, read and analyze financial reports of my current company or even those of my dream companies.

Thank you again. Cheers to more students and professionals alike who will find this course useful, interactive and relatable!

Real Prado, Mechanical Engineer

Philippines

By Amy S

•

Feb 17, 2019

Fantastic overview, covered all desired topics going into the course. The material itself was engaging and interesting, it should be said, however, that the instructor has a perplexing way of going about this. There is a running gag of having virtual students be angry and/or bored with the presented material. As someone genuinely interested in the topic, this came off rather crass and de-motivating rather than humorous. That said, the material itself was incredibly engaging and perfectly paced. Professor Bushee is an incredible teacher, perhaps not so incredible a comedian.

By Megan A

•

Sep 20, 2019

Learning accounting was once described to me as "something as fun as chewing cardboard." This was not the case with Prof. Bushee's class. I came in never having taken an accounting class before and he made the topics approachable and understandable. The virtual students are silly at first (and continue to be so throughout the class), but I chuckled at them many times and their questions were often the exact questions I was thinking. I enjoyed Prof. Bushee's sense of humor and use of "dad jokes" to keep the material light and kept me engaged. Thanks so much!

By Maurinho

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Mar 20, 2018

Very interesting fun and thorough course. Apart from the very high amount of notions offered, which is what one would expect from a course, they were broken down incredibly well. The Professor explains it so well that makes you able to pick up even most complex things at first sight. The only negative point of this course is that during the exams wherever you make a mistake then it does not tell you why, not even a hint. Anyway you can work it through by using the tools and notions you´ve justlearned which is also a positive thing of the course as well.

By Alessandro D P

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Aug 27, 2017

Awesome course. I had no previous knowledge of any of these topics but at the end of the course I was confident with the Accounting Language. Thanks to Prof Brian Bushee that seems to have understood perfectly the true meaning of fun in learning. I really appreciated the presence of virtual students that helped to clarify some doubts that I raised in my head during the lessons. It was not just theory, but with the Relic Spotter case you had also the chance to put in practise what you were learning. Absolutely recommended.

By Matthew B J

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Apr 26, 2018

Professor Bushee put together an excellent course that allowed me to grasp basic accounting principles despite having no formal financial education on the subject whatsoever. He has virtual students who ask well-timed, relevant questions and it's just campy enough to keep you engaged in spite of the dry subject matter. Professor Bushee is a clearly gifted instructor with a passion for his work. I never thought I'd say I enjoyed an accounting class, but it was a solid experience throughout and I'm happy that I took it.

By jchelen T

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Nov 4, 2020

My daughter is currently at UPenn (College) not Wharton and I would like her to take the course from Professor Bushee if possible in person. He is a very good teacher and I loved the virtual students, accents, and their idiosyncrasies. Also enjoyed Professor's jokes and self-deprecating humor. I Would like to tell Brian that " NO, not everyone can teach financial accounting (and make it enjoyable)." So he has a rare gift and hopefully he stays at Wharton (or whichever Business school he chooses) to teach a long time.

By Kianti S

•

Jul 1, 2020

Professor Brian J Bushee really went the extra mile explaining each of the concepts little by little. The best thing about his lessons was he takes you to the process of Financial Accounting from the start to finish, with some humor along the way. He was also kind enough to give real-life examples and his own experiences that really helped me to understand the hard to grasp concepts. The cartoon students were also a good touch in my opinion because they helped clarify some tricky questions that I also had in mind.

By Lim J Y

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Jun 12, 2020

One of the most engaging professors ever. As someone with minimal background in accounting, if any, this course was extremely accessible and not at the expense of substance. Pedagogically, Prof Brian has really refined methods. He can make the dullest topics such a joy to learn.

Personally, I enrolled to get a better grasp of the terminology in fundamental analysis to improve my investment strategy; this course has certainly helped me along that path. I highly recommend this course to anybody with similar goals.

By André V

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Oct 26, 2020

Great course! I loved the virtual student's incorporation and especially loved the number of exercises Prof Brian gave! it is really helpful to have a lot of exercises when you are not in close proximity to the teacher, that way you review a lot of different scenarios and at the same time assimilate knowledge! really keen to do the next one with him! just feel sad that it's almost ending his teachings. Also made the impossible possible: turning accounting into something interesting. Thank you so much :)

By John R T

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Jul 5, 2017

I really enjoyed this course. The course was exceptionally well organized and a lot of fun to take. I thought the instructor was outstanding. Even had a spot of dry humor, which is always welcome. I would recommend the course to anyone who wanted to get a strong, broad-brushed introduction to financial accounting as well as a basic introduction to accounting. It is not an easy course in the sense that the instructor sets a hard pace and puts forth a great deal of information. It will make you think.

By Ryan B

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Jul 10, 2017

Great class. Prof. Bushee's lectures were very clear and informative. As a young professional working in the Investment Management industry with no formal prior training in Financial Accounting, this was a fantastic way to learn the basics. The animated students were a nice touch - they often asked questions which I myself wanted to ask. It felt like a real lecture, except the comments/questions from the animated students were (usually) productive and helpful. Highly recommend taking this course!