The Best Online Accounting Courses of 2023
- Best for Fundamentals: LinkedIn Learning
- Best for Discounts: Udemy
- Best for Small Businesses: Coursera
- Best for Certification: FutureLearn
A course in bookkeeping certainly can help if pursuing a career in the field, but it’s also worthwhile simply for taking care of the books for your small business or yourself.
Online courses vary in terms of the time commitment required and level of detail covered, but all of them should help you get started and improve your skills managing taxes, budgets, and personal finances.
We researched more than 30 different online courses and selected the best bookkeeping classes based on content, price, third-party ratings, and user experience to help you learn the ins and outs of the profession.
Best for Fundamentals: LinkedIn Learning
We picked the LinkedIn Learning “Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping” course for the best for fundamentals, based upon the short length of the class. From accounting professors from a top university, students can get an overview of bookkeeping basics in about one and a half hours.
Pros
- Great for beginners
- Accessible on mobile, tablet, and desktop
- Option to take more courses and earn continuing professional education (CPE) credits
Cons
- Need to sign up for a LinkedIn account
LinkedIn Learning is a branch of LinkedIn that the professional network site added in 2016. Today, it offers more than 18,000 different online courses in seven languages, with the topics taught by professionals in their respective fields.
LinkedIn Learning’s “Accounting Foundations: Bookkeeping” is our pick for the fundamentals because it packs a lot of expert advice in an approximately one-and-a-half-hour foundational bookkeeping course. You’ll get a quick overview of how bookkeeping works and access to quizzes. Plus, you’ll learn to create balance sheets and income statements, define journal entries, and get an understanding of how financial statements work, to mention a few topics. This class is taught by Kay Stice and Jim Stice, both accounting professors at Brigham Young University (BYU). This course is the first in a six course path called “Become a Bookkeeper”. After completing it, you can take the subsequent courses to learn more.
You can register for the class directly on LinkedIn Learning for a one-time cost of $34.99 or sign up for a monthly LinkedIn Learning membership starting at $39.99 a month, with a one-month free trial. Or, if you prefer, you can get an annual LinkedIn Learning membership to lower the cost to $26.99 a month. For any questions about the course and LinkedIn Learning’s policies, contact LinkedIn Learning customer service or consult the help center.
Best for Discounts: Udemy
We picked Udemy’s “Basics of Bookkeeping” as best for discounts because it offers a detailed class taught by an experienced instructor at a list price of $89.99. However, discounts frequently are advertised and can save students 70% or more off the full price.
Pros
- Experienced instructor
- Mobile app available
- Affordable
- Certificate of completion provided
Cons
- The course is focused more on basic and foundational concepts for beginners
Udemy is a worldwide marketplace for online learning helping to connect all kinds of students with experts in their fields of interest. The company has about 185,000 courses taught by appromximately 64 ,000 instructors. Over 49 million people have taken a Udemy course.
The platform’s “Bookkeeping Basics #1” is taught by Ron Trucks, an experienced small business coach and college instructor with more than 25 years of experience in the field. The course includes 50 videos and is divided into 11 sections. There is around four and a half hours of video in total. Students can learn the basic foundations of bookkeeping from concepts and tools used, tracking expenses, reading financial reports, and more.
This course has had over 19,000 students with more frequently joining and is designed for customers of all backgrounds, whether you are a student, an entrepreneur, or if you want to understand more about bookkeeping. You easily can buy the course online and get started right away.
The program’s list price of $89.99 frequently is discounted substantially, though the amount of those discounts varies from time to time. Udemy has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the course.
Best for Small Businesses: Coursera
Offered by the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, this Coursera class is taught by top-ranked faculty and is tailored specifically to help small businesses understand their finances.
Pros
- Taught by a top educational institution
- Financial aid available
- Seven-day free trial
Cons
- While the class is free if completed within the seven-day free trial period, Coursera charges a $59 monthly fee beyond the trial period.
Coursera is an education platform founded in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, both computer science professors at Stanford, with all courses taught by experienced professionals from top universities or companies. Close to 110 million people have signed up for courses on the site and about 120,000 students have enrolled in this specific bookkeeping course, offered by the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Our pick as best for small businesses, the “Financial Accounting Fundamentals” class is tailored to help entrepreneurs and small business owners better understand how to keep track of their finances, from bookkeeping to preparing financial statements. This is a 14-hour video course that includes quizzes for each section to check your knowledge. You can complete everything on your own time and you don’t need prior experience in accounting. The class is taught by Luann J. Lynch, a professor of business administration at Darden with an MBA from Duke University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina.
You can get academic and technical support through the Coursera support team or the Coursera community.
Best for Certification: FutureLearn
You’ll gain skills in bookkeeping and accounting which will help if you are new to business finance or if you have some prior knowledge that you wish to build on. It will also be useful if you are currently studying accounting or a related subject and wish to gain a practical viewpoint to ensure a sound understanding of concepts, theory, and application.
Pros
- Building on a rich heritage of more than 50 years of training accountants and financial professionals
- Train for AAT, CIMA, ACCA and ICAEW qualifications
Cons
- While the class is free if completed within the seven-day free trial period, Coursera charges a $39 monthly fee beyond the trial period.
Kaplan UK is a leading international provider of educational and career services. Building on a rich heritage of more than 50 years of training accountants and financial professionals, Kaplan UK serves more than 48,000 students a year, both based in the UK and from overseas, who train for AAT, CIMA, ACCA and ICAEW qualifications.
What Are Basic Bookkeeping Skills?
The basic skills needed to be an effective bookkeeper include having knowledge of math, being tech-savvy (as most tasks are computerized nowadays), and paying close attention to details, as you will be surrounded by numbers and financial reports all day long. Generally, employers are looking for someone who can keep their financial records in order, document all of their key transactions, manage invoices, and have strong data entry skills.
What Does a Bookkeeping Class Include?
A bookkeeping class gives you a great overview of the primary functions and concepts of bookkeeping, such as financial statements and journal entries, as well as how to record expenses, profits, revenues, losses, and much more. Some also cover how to use popular bookkeeping software and may even offer bookkeeping certifications upon course completion. The level of detail and length of the course will depend on whether the classes are designed for someone looking to launch a career or help keep track of their small business finances.
Do I Need a Bookkeeping Certification?
While most companies do not require someone to have a certification to be a bookkeeper, it does help if you want to launch a career in the accounting industry and would like to be considered for high-income opportunities. Getting your bookkeeping certification with one of the two main nationally recognized certifying bodies, either the National Association of Certified Bookkeepers or the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers, is one way to demonstrate your expertise and qualifications.
What Are the Expected Costs of Bookkeeping Classes?
The cost of enrolling in a bookkeeping class depends on your course type. The classes listed here start off as low as $0 if you enroll in an online learning platform with a free trial or free course materials. Alternatively, if you enroll in a class with a traditional education institution, such as a college or university, the cost will jump to nearly $1,000.
How We Chose the Best Online Bookkeeping Classes
We know how important it is to find reliable online classes, so we researched more than 30 different sites offering online bookkeeping classes, from educational institutions to online learning platforms. We considered the reputations of the institutions offering the courses as well as those of the instructors. We also examined the types and costs of class materials, the availability of in-person support, and the success rates of students.
Ultimately, we selected the best six classes, choosing only classes that were upfront about the cost of the class, shared how long the class will take to complete, provided student testimonials, and are led by experienced instructors who are professionals in the field.