Managerial Accounting: Cost Behaviors, Systems, and Analysis (Coursera)

Managerial Accounting: Cost Behaviors, Systems, and Analysis (Coursera)

In this course, you will learn how to use accounting to facilitate and align decisions made by owners, managers, and employees. You will learn how accountants create, organize, interpret, and communicate information that improves internal processes, and allows organizations to identify and leverage opportunities to create value within the supply chain and with customers.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
• Understand what managerial accounting is and why it is important.
• Describe fundamental concepts of managerial accounting.
• Apply the financial perspective of accounting for costs.
• Identify problems associated with relying on financial accounting information for internal decision making.
• Organize cost information according to the decision-making needs of the organization.
• Apply activity-based costing (ABC) and recognize the influence of setting and decision characteristics on the relevance of ABC systems.
• Address common "what-if" questions using cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis.
• Apply CVP analysis in a variety of scenarios.
Course 1 of 7 in the Value Chain Management Specialization.

Syllabus

Week 1
Course Overview and Introduction to Managerial Accounting
In this module, you will become familiar with the course, your instructor, your classmates, and our learning environment. Then, you will be introduced to Managerial Accounting and Costing Concepts.

Week 2
Costing Systems I - Elements and Design
Organizations can organize cost information however best suits their decisions. In this module, we introduce the role of costing systems, identify some example systems and settings in which they are most useful, and explore how accounting for overhead costs influences the value of cost information.

Week 3
Costing Systems II - Activity-Based Costing
Activity-based costing systems adopt a more refined view of the organization, and can increase the accuracy of cost information. In this module, we introduce the fundamentals of activity-based costing systems, identify related advantages and disadvantages, and demonstrate how such systems are implemented using an in-depth example.

Week 4
Cost-Volume-Profit (CVP) Analysis
Cost-volume-profit (CVP) analysis is the tool that managers can use to better understand the answers to "what-if" questions in order to make better decisions for their companies. In this module you will explore the power of CVP analysis

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Business English: Finance and Economics (Coursera) Coursera
Arizona State University

Business English: Finance and Economics (Coursera)

Do you work in finance or interact with finance professionals? Is it necessary to speak, write or understand English in your career? Follow the authentic characters in this course as they work through common business situations in finance and economics. Learn from your successes and failure, and think critically about your own communication options.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Introduction to Finance: The Role of Financial Markets (Coursera) Coursera
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Introduction to Finance: The Role of Financial Markets (Coursera)

In Introduction to Finance: The Role of Financial Markets, you will be introduced to the basic concepts and skills needed for financial managers to make informed decisions. With an overview of the structure and dynamics of financial markets and commonly used financial instruments, you will get crucial skills to make capital investment decisions.

Nov 4th 2026
4 Weeks
Accounting for Decision Making (Coursera) Coursera
University of Michigan

Accounting for Decision Making (Coursera)

Through this course, you will start by addressing the two “big questions” of accounting: “What do I have?” and “How did I do over time?” You will see how the two key financial statements – the balance sheet and the income statement - are designed to answer these questions and then move on to consider how individual transactions aggregate to make up these financial statements.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

Private Equity and Venture Capital (Coursera)

The course deals with the analysis of the private equity and venture capital business. Over the course, students will be provided with a deep understanding of the mechanism underpinning the creation and/or development of a firm and the financial support it can get from the financial system through venture capital investment. The course tries to discover how special financial intermediaries (called private equity investors) finance through equity companies belonging to different stages of their life-cycle, starting from the very beginning (startup and early stage) to a more mature phase (i.e. expansion, mature age, etc.) or also staying into crises and decline.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Behavioral Finance (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

Behavioral Finance (Coursera)

We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices.

Nov 9th 2026
3 Weeks
Financial Analysis for Startups (Coursera) Coursera
Yonsei University

Financial Analysis for Startups (Coursera)

In the previous two courses, you have learned how to value startups using the discounted cash flow method and multiple methods. However, you have not learned how to estimate cash flows or earnings of startups. In this course, you are going to learn the concepts and usage of financial ratios. Using financial ratios such as profitability, liquidity, leverage, efficiency, and growth, you can tell financial health of a startup.

Nov 2nd 2026
4 Weeks
Corporate Finance Essentials (Coursera) Coursera
IESE Business School

Corporate Finance Essentials (Coursera)

Corporate Finance Essentials will enable you to understand key financial issues related to companies, investors, and the interaction between them in the capital markets. By the end of this course you should be able to understand most of what you read in the financial press and use the essential financial vocabulary of companies and finance professionals.

Nov 2nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Financial Regulation in Emerging Markets and the Rise of Fintech Companies (Coursera) Coursera
University of Cape Town

Financial Regulation in Emerging Markets and the Rise of Fintech Companies (Coursera)

This course gives an overview of the changing regulatory environment since the 1997 Asian and 2008 global financial crisis. Following these two major crises, governments around the globe enacted a set of far-reaching new financial regulations that are aimed towards safeguarding financial stability. However, banks find it increasingly difficult to be profitable in this new regulatory environment.

Nov 9th 2026
4 Weeks
Finance for Everyone: Markets (Coursera) Coursera
McMaster University

Finance for Everyone: Markets (Coursera)

Markets begins with one of the most common and important elements of the financial system – interest rates. You will learn why interest rates have always been a key barometer in determining the value of everything. You will explore the changing influence of interest rates; the impact of interest rates on consumption, investment and economic growth; and the bizarre realities of negative interest rates. Markets explains how interest rates change the value of all financial instruments, highlighting the role of the bond and stock markets that have toppled empires

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks
Introduction to Financial Accounting (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Financial Accounting (Coursera)

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.

Nov 16th 2026
4 Weeks