What is managerial accounting?

Managerial accounting is interpreting financial information about a business to communicate to the managers in order for them to make decisions and improve performance. It's used for a company's finances and helps increase efficiency. Managerial accounting works for both short-term and long-term decisions to maximize profit.

Why learn about managerial accounting?

It's important to learn about managerial accounting in order to make better decisions for your company. It'll help increase your profits and show you where cuts or increases can be made. Learning about managerial accounting will show you how to better allocate resources and how to keep using the tools learned for other decisions that need to be made. It's also important to learn about this topic to give you a boost in your career helping you land a better job where you can use the skills learned to make better decisions and help the company perform better.

What are typical careers that use managerial accounting?

Typical careers that use managerial accounting include financial analysts and accounting managers. In these careers, you use skills learned like performance measurement and evaluation, budget allocation, and profit analysis to communicate with the upper-level managers about decisions needing to be made. Not only will you look at a company's financials, but you'll also be involved in the decision making and planning of the business. You will assist the management team in implementing strategies that will increase profits and lower costs.

How can taking online courses on Coursera help me learn managerial accounting?

By taking online courses on Coursera, you'll learn about managerial accounting, acquiring the skills and tools needed to succeed, using lectures, discussions, and assessments. These online courses will guide you through the content, and there will be experts ready to assist you as you progress through your studies. You'll be able to develop budgets, explore analysis, and monitor decisions to get you ready for the next step in your career.

What are the benefits of taking an online Managerial Accounting course?

Online Managerial Accounting courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your knowledge or learn new Managerial Accounting skills. Choose from a wide range of Managerial Accounting courses offered by top universities and industry leaders tailored to various skill levels.

What Managerial Accounting courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Managerial Accounting, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Best Managerial Accounting Courses & Certificates [2025]

Explore the Managerial Accounting Course Catalog

Status: Preview
University of Virginia
Managerial Accounting Fundamentals
Skills you'll gain: Management Accounting, Cost Accounting, Operating Cost, Cost Benefit Analysis, Cost Management, Budget Management, Financial Accounting, Financial Data, Financial Analysis, Decision Making, Resource Allocation
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
827 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Managerial Accounting: Cost Behaviors, Systems, and Analysis
Skills you'll gain: Management Accounting, Cost Accounting, Accounting Systems, Supply Chain, Accounting, Operating Cost, Financial Accounting, Cost Management, Cost Estimation, Analysis, Decision Making
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Managerial Accounting: Tools for Facilitating and Guiding Business Decisions
Skills you'll gain: Management Accounting, Performance Measurement, Cost Accounting, Variance Analysis, Budgeting, Accounting, Capital Budgeting, Financial Accounting, Organizational Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Financial Analysis, Return On Investment, Cash Flows, Decision Making
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
637 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Fundamentals of Accounting
Skills you'll gain: Management Accounting, Income Statement, Financial Statements, Performance Measurement, Balance Sheet, Organizational Strategy, Financial Statement Analysis, Capacity Management, Cost Accounting, Cost Control, Financial Accounting, Performance Metric, Cash Flows, Financial Reporting, Financial Analysis, Accounting, Budget Management, Business Metrics, Operational Analysis, Product Management
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
2K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to Finance and Accounting
Skills you'll gain: Financial Statements, Return On Investment, Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Reporting, Capital Budgeting, Financial Accounting, Financial Modeling, Working Capital, Balance Sheet, Accrual Accounting, Accounting, Cash Flows, Income Statement, Finance, Financial Analysis, Equities, Corporate Finance, Business Valuation, Bookkeeping, Financial Management
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
14K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Financial Management
Skills you'll gain: Mergers & Acquisitions, Working Capital, Revenue Recognition, Financial Statements, Credit Risk, Cash Management, Accrual Accounting, Financial Analysis, Investments, Corporate Finance, Business Valuation, Financial Statement Analysis, Cash Flows, Financial Accounting, Financial Management, Investment Management, Business Ethics, Finance, Portfolio Management, Risk Management
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
6.9K reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months

What brings you to Coursera today?

Start my career

Change my career

Grow in my current role

Explore topics outside of work

Status: Free Trial
University of California, Irvine
Introduction to Financial Accounting: The Accounting Cycle
Skills you'll gain: Ledgers (Accounting), Accounting Systems, Accounting, Month End Closing, Accounting Records, Bookkeeping, Financial Accounting, Financial Statements, General Accounting, General Ledger, Accrual Accounting, Standard Accounting Practices, Financial Reporting, Accruals, Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Revenue Recognition, Business Ethics, Ethical Standards And Conduct, Reconciliation
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
697 reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Accounting Data Analytics
Skills you'll gain: Machine Learning Algorithms, Data Visualization, Jupyter, Tableau Software, Matplotlib, Data Visualization Software, Unsupervised Learning, Pandas (Python Package), Scikit Learn (Machine Learning Library), Data Manipulation, Machine Learning, Excel Macros, Text Mining, Applied Machine Learning, Time Series Analysis and Forecasting, Data Processing, Analytics, SQL, Python Programming, Exploratory Data Analysis
Build toward a degree
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
566 reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Managerial Economics and Business Analysis
Skills you'll gain: Descriptive Statistics, Supply And Demand, Market Dynamics, Sampling (Statistics), Statistical Inference, Business Analytics, Bank Regulations, Financial Systems, Financial Policy, Banking, Probability Distribution, Statistical Analysis, Statistics, Regression Analysis, Microsoft Excel, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Statistical Methods, Probability & Statistics, Economics, Statistical Hypothesis Testing
Build toward a degree
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
4.2K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Colorado Boulder
Finance for Technical Managers
Skills you'll gain: Sustainability Reporting, Financial Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Cost Estimation, Environmental Social And Corporate Governance (ESG), Capital Budgeting, Budgeting, Cost Benefit Analysis, Project Risk Management, Risk Analysis, Risk Mitigation, Income Statement, Financial Modeling, Investment Management, Balance Sheet, Risk Management, Financial Reporting, Financial Forecasting, Accounting, Spreadsheet Software
Build toward a degree
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
328 reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free Trial
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
Cost Accounting
Skills you'll gain: Cost Accounting, Management Accounting, Income Statement, Operating Cost, Cost Management, Inventory Accounting, Profit and Loss (P&L) Management, Gross Profit, Strategic Decision-Making, Accounting, Product Planning, Resource Allocation, Product Assortment, Depreciation, Financial Accounting, Production Process, Financial Statements, Price Negotiation, Capacity Management, Decision Making
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
286 reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 1 - 3 Months
Status: Free Trial
University of Pennsylvania
Introduction to Financial Accounting
Skills you'll gain: Financial Statements, Financial Statement Analysis, Financial Reporting, Financial Accounting, Balance Sheet, Accrual Accounting, Financial Analysis, Accounting, Cash Flows, Income Statement, Bookkeeping, Revenue Recognition, Depreciation
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
8.4K reviews
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks