Join a financial accounting course you can study flexibly, 100% online.

Learn the specialist accountancy skills needed for the world of finance.

In this Masters-level online short course, you’ll build the accounting knowledge that finance managers and analysts need to make finance and investment decisions.

With guidance from financial accountancy experts, you’ll:

  • learn how to prepare financial statements and use them in financial analysis
  • investigate firm valuation, risk, and capital budgeting
  • develop deep financial analysis skills
  • explore what financial information is for and how it’s controlled by governments, stock exchanges, and other institutions.

Who can join this online financial accounting course?

The course is ideal for managers and analysts who regularly use financial statements to evaluate financial performance and make financial decisions.

Build credits towards a Masters degree

This course is part of our online:

You can use the credits you earn on this short course towards this MSc qualification.

What you’ll study

You’ll cover the following modules in this course.

Introduction

  • Goals of corporations
  • Careers in finance
  • Financial markets and institutions
  • Financial crisis

Understanding accountancy

  • Importance of financial accounts
  • Audit report and audit process
  • Book value and market value

Financial statements

  • Key financial statements
  • Accounting income and cash flow
  • Personal and corporate tax
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Greenwashing

Corporate performance

  • Financial ratio measurement and interpretation
  • Performance measures

The time value of money

  • Compound interest and the impact of compounding
  • Present and future value computation
  • Impact of inflation
  • Real interest rates

Understanding value

  • Bond valuation and bond characteristics
  • Stock valuation
  • Net present value and investment decisions
  • Project analysis

Understanding risk

  • Risk and return
  • Measuring risk
  • Diversification
  • Asset and portfolio risk
  • Market risk and firm-specific risk

Capital budgeting

  • Measuring market risk
  • The capital asset pricing model (CAPM)
  • Capital budgeting and project risk

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to...

  • Interpret the information contained in balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flow.
  • Explain the goals and governance of the corporation.
  • Evaluate measures of corporate performance.
  • Prepare and interpret financial statements.
  • Use financial statements to aid financial analysis, projections, financial risk analysis, and primary analysis of financial ratios budgeting.
  • Calculate the value of financial instruments such as stocks and bonds, and analyse the factors impacting their value.
  • Assess the risk and return characteristics of projects from a financial perspective.
  • Apply risk assessment tools to the capital budgeting process.

Choose the University of Aberdeen for online financial accounting courses

Top 4

Top 4 for Accounting and Finance

We ranked 4th in the UK for Accounting and Finance in the Guardian University Guide 2025.

We’re EQUIS accredited

Join a Business School that’s EFMD EQUIS accredited, placing it among a select group of globally recognised institutions.

Earn as you learn

We fit around full-time work, so you can earn qualifications while you keep earning a salary.

How you’ll study

Online learning

This distance-learning financial accounting course is delivered flexibly, 100% online.

You can learn anywhere, with no need for a study visa, and manage your hours to suit you.

Your teaching

This course is taught at Masters level.

Teaching is delivered through MyAberdeen, our online Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It holds all the materials, tools and support you’ll need in your studies. Take a look around MyAberdeen.

Course materials are carefully planned and structured. You can access your learning materials on computer, smartphone and laptop, 24 hours a day. You’ll find a range of resources at your fingertips, including:

  • live online webinars
  • reading materials
  • discussion boards with colleagues and tutors
  • the online resources of our award-winning Sir Duncan Rice Library.

Live online webinars

Across the course, you’ll have eight live webinar sessions with academic staff. These live online webinars support the main learning material and are central to your learning. Your participation in them will count towards your final grades.

Ahead of each live webinar, you’ll be asked to study the online materials provided, post questions to your tutor online, undertake multiple-choice quizzes and other tasks. You may also be asked to work in small groups to prepare for some of the live sessions.

Your tutors

You’ll learn from experienced academics and researchers from the University of Aberdeen Business School.

This course is assessed online via:

  • an analytical project (worth 60% of your final course grade), and
  • a reflective essay (worth 40% of your final course grade).

Live online webinars

This course features eight online webinars. Each webinar is live and scheduled to last for around one hour.

Webinar dates and times will be organised flexibly at the start of the course. Your course coordinator will consider everyone’s circumstances and time zones before setting up live webinar times.

Study hours

The course totals approximately 150 hours of teaching, private study, and assessment time. That’s around 10 – 15 hours per week.

This is an indicative guide to the time required for a typical student at this level to achieve the learning outcomes.

You can largely set your own study hours each week to cover the materials. MyAberdeen is available 24/7, so you can log in and study when it suits you.

Activities at fixed times

You’ll have live online webinars at fixed times, plus assessments with deadlines. But otherwise, you can access and work through your courses at your convenience.

Our first-class support structure will ensure that you aren’t alone in your studies. You’ll have contact with your coordinator via email, MyAberdeen and Microsoft Teams. You can use social media and discussion boards to chat with your fellow students too.

We provide a wide range of services to support you in your studies and beyond:

Wherever you are in the world, you’ll feel part of our very special Aberdeen learning community.

Your course coordinator

Dr Chathurani Rathnayake

Chathurani is a Lecturer in Accountancy in our Business School. She teaches a variety of courses related to accounting.

Chathurani’s research interests include the cultural-political economy of accounting, organisational controls and governance in the third world, accounting for the circular economy, and accounting and accountability in Buddhism.

View Chathurani’s profile

Where this will take you

Towards a Masters

You’ll earn 15 credits at Masters level (SCQF Level 11) with this course. You can use these credits towards our:

Online MSc Finance

Earn your Masters flexibly, online.

Gain a deeper knowledge of core financial theory.

Develop your skills in corporate finance, portfolio analysis, asset valuation, derivatives and risk management.

View MSc Finance

Careers

You’ll leave this course with enhanced skills and expertise in making and using financial statements to evaluate firm performance.

You’ll also understand the sources of firm value and risk.

In-demand skills for careers in finance

These in-demand skills are valuable for careers in the finance sector, particularly for:

  • corporate managers or analysts using financial statements to infer firm performance and evaluate firm value
  • finance managers involved in the analysis of investment projects, acquisition targets, etc, and
  • third-party analysts using financial statements to comment on firm performance.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Your employer or professional institute may recognise this course for CPD hours. Talk to your employer or institute to find out more.

Free career support

Access our free careers service while you study.

  • 1:1 appointments
  • CV checks
  • Interview prep
  • Job opportunities

See how our careers service can help you.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements

We welcome students from all over the world.

This course has no formal entry requirements. You do not need to provide proof of your qualifications.

But you do need to check the entry guidance above to understand the level of teaching delivered, to decide if this course is right for you.

If you do not have qualifications from the UK, check the equivalent teaching level for your country.

Visa requirements

You do not need a student visa to study online with us.

English language requirements

Teaching is delivered in English.

You do not have to provide proof of your English language skills to join this course. But we want to make sure that you can use English well enough to study successfully.

Recommended level of English

This course uses our Postgraduate Higher level of English language proficiency.

These are our Postgraduate Higher requirements, and these are minimum scores.

IELTS Academic, IELTS UKVI Academic, and IELTS Online (not IELTS Indicator or IELTS General Training)

  • 6.5 overall
  • 5.5 for listening and speaking
  • 6.0 for reading and writing

TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition

  • 90 overall
  • 17 for listening
  • 21 for reading
  • 20 for speaking
  • 21 for writing
  • TOEFL DI code is 0818

Cambridge English: B2 First, C1 Advanced, or C2 Proficiency

  • 176 overall
  • 162 for listening and speaking
  • 169 for reading and writing

LanguageCert Academic/LanguageCert Academic SELT

  • 70 overall
  • 60 for listening and speaking
  • 65 for reading and writing

LanguageCert International ESOL B2 Communicator (Written and Spoken) – Online / In-centre

  • Overall High Pass
  • 33 for listening, reading and speaking
  • 38 for writing

Oxford ELLT Digital – English Language Level Test Online

  • 7.0 overall
  • 5.0 for listening and speaking
  • 6.0 for reading and writing

PTE Academic (online test not accepted)

  • 62 overall
  • 59 for listening, reading, speaking and writing

Duolingo tests taken from 1 July 2024 onward

  • 120 overall
  • 95 for listening and speaking
  • 105 for reading and writing

University of Aberdeen English Pre-sessional Programme (PSE)

  • Pass
  • Valid for one year. Refresher can be offered if out of date

Pre-sessional academic English preparation programmes undertaken at other UK universities

  • Pass at an equivalent of 6.5 (C1)
  • B2 in all four skills
  • Certification must be within one year prior to the start of your course

For more information about language qualifications see our English Language Requirements page.

When you study with us, you can expect a first-class support structure so that you’re never alone in your studies.

But learning online does mean you have to motivate yourself and manage your own time.

Your most important commitment will be time – the time to work through, reflect on and understand your teaching materials.

Before you start a course that involves a high degree of independent study, we recommend looking at the time you will be able to devote to your studies each week:

  • Be realistic
  • Create a weekly schedule as a guide

If you have any questions about studying online, get in touch with our friendly team. We’re here to help.

You will need access to:

A computer (PC, laptop or Mac) operating on either:

  • Windows 10 or later
  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later.

Most teaching materials are smartphone- and tablet-friendly. But we recommend a proper laptop or desktop for completing assignments comfortably.

Reliable internet access

We recommend:

  • a wired connection
  • a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps so you can take part fully in live sessions.

Speakers or headphones

  • We recommend a headset with built-in microphone and earphones if you’re likely to study in an environment with background noise.
  • A webcam is optional, but you may like to use one for some interactive sessions.

Software

We’ll give you access to Office365 applications. This means you can use online versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and install these programs on up to five personal devices.

If your course requires specialist software, we’ll provide you with access to this and a licence that lasts throughout your studies.

See our detailed IT requirements for more information.

Fee payment

Your course fee needs to be paid in full before you start your course.

We accept payment via Visa Debit, Visa Credit and Mastercard.

Ways to save

You may be able to get help funding this course via:

  • discounts – if any discounts are available for this course, they’ll appear in the section below
  • employer sponsorship – we accept full and partial fee payments from sponsors.

Find out more about funding options.

Student card

All our students are entitled to a University of Aberdeen student card. This gives you access to a range of student discounts around the city and online.

Learning resources

Access to all the books and resources you need are included in your tuition fee. They’ll be made available to you online and you do not have to buy your own copies.

Printing

You may wish to set aside a small budget for printing, depending on how you like to work.

This course has no formal entry requirements. You decide if it’s suitable for you.

The course is delivered at Masters level. At this level, you’d usually have at least:

  • a 2:2 UK undergraduate degree (or equivalent), or
  • relevant experience that supports this level of study.

Apply for this course

Start date
22 September 2025
Cost
£1,555
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