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Accounting Operations & Automation Specialization

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Coursera

Accounting Operations & Automation Specialization

Automate Accounting Operations with AI & Analytics. Learn accounting automation, financial analysis, and compliance using Excel, QuickBooks, and AI.

Hurix Digital

Instructor: Hurix Digital

Included with Coursera Plus

Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Get in-depth knowledge of a subject
Intermediate level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Build complete accounting workflows from bookkeeping through financial analysis using QuickBooks, Excel, and AI automation tools

  • Design and implement automated processes that reduce manual work by 50-90% while ensuring compliance and audit readiness

  • Transform raw financial data into strategic insights using advanced analysis techniques and visualization tools

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Taught in English
Recently updated!

January 2026

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Specialization - 13 course series

What you'll learn

  • Understanding five audit evidence types builds the foundation for accurate financial statement assertions.

  • Standardized document naming turns audit prep into a smooth, repeatable process.

  • Digital control ensures transparent audit trails, boosting compliance and credibility.

  • Managing evidence year-round is more efficient than last-minute document collection.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Document Control
Category: Auditing
Category: Financial Auditing
Category: Organizational Skills
Category: File Management
Category: External Auditing
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Document Management
Category: Quality Control
Category: Audit Working Papers

What you'll learn

  • The accounting equation (Assets = Liabilities + Equity) serves as the fundamental framework governing all financial transactions and equilibrium.

  • Double-entry bookkeeping provides systematic accuracy by requiring equal and opposite entries for every transaction, ensuring complete records.

  • Proper account classification within financial statements enables transparent communication of business performance to stakeholders for decisions.

  • Financial statement integrity depends on consistent application of accounting principles and systematic verification of all account balances.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Financial Reporting
Category: General Ledger
Category: Ledgers (Accounting)
Category: Income Statement
Category: Financial Statements
Category: Balance Sheet
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Bookkeeping
Category: Record Keeping

What you'll learn

  • Double-entry bookkeeping keeps accounts balanced and prevents systematic errors in financial records.

  • Knowing normal account balances helps detect posting errors and maintain ledger accuracy.

  • Month-end adjustments ensure accurate accrual accounting and reflect true financial position.

  • Verifying total debits equal credits provides an error check to prevent fraud and miscalculations.

Skills you'll gain

Category: QuickBooks (Accounting Software)
Category: Month End Closing
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Accrual Accounting
Category: Accounting Software
Category: Accounting
Category: General Accounting
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Bookkeeping
Category: General Ledger
Category: Accruals
Category: Ledgers (Accounting)

What you'll learn

  • Data transformation is the foundation of reliable financial analysis - properly formatted and cleansed data ensures accurate reporting and decisions.

  • Advanced spreadsheet functions (SUMIFS, VLOOKUP, error handling) are essential tools for professional accounting work that scale across systems.

  • Pivot tables and variance analysis transform raw transactional data into strategic insights that drive business decisions and budget optimization.

  • Systematic approaches to data analysis create repeatable workflows that improve efficiency and reduce errors in routine accounting tasks.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Microsoft Excel
Category: Pivot Tables And Charts
Category: Data Analysis
Category: Financial Data
Category: Business Reporting
Category: Variance Analysis
Category: Descriptive Analytics
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Data Manipulation
Category: Financial Reporting
Category: Budget Management
Category: Data Cleansing
Category: Excel Formulas
Category: Data-Driven Decision-Making
Category: Data Transformation
Category: Spreadsheet Software
Category: Trend Analysis

What you'll learn

  • Trial balance analysis ensures accuracy of financial records before statement preparation, forming the foundation for reliable reporting.

  • Detecting unusual balances and tracing discrepancies to sources prevents misstatements and upholds financial information credibility.

  • Budget variance analysis converts financial deviations into insights by identifying trends, assessing impact, and uncovering root causes.

  • Effective variance communication translates findings into clear business insights with quantified impact and actionable recommendations.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Variance Analysis
Category: Business Strategy
Category: Budgeting
Category: Financial Statements
Category: Financial Auditing
Category: Auditing
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Investigation
Category: Analysis
Category: Business Analysis
Category: Financial Acumen
Category: Verification And Validation
Category: Accounting
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Business Communication
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Financial Data

What you'll learn

  • AI automation requires human oversight and validation to ensure accuracy standards meet business requirements.

  • Effective anomaly detection analysis involves systematic comparison against historical patterns to distinguish irregularities from false positives.

  • ROI evaluation for automation systems must quantify both direct cost savings and indirect operational benefits to justify technology investments.

  • Successful AI implementation in accounting balances technological efficiency with professional judgment and quality control.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Fraud detection
Category: Transaction Processing
Category: Process Analysis
Category: Operational Analysis
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Business Workflow Analysis
Category: Accounting Software
Category: Artificial Intelligence
Category: Financial Auditing
Category: Data-Driven Decision-Making

What you'll learn

  • Understanding the five account types helps correctly classify and record all business transactions.

  • The accounting equation forms the base of accounting and must always stay balanced for every transaction.

  • Double-entry bookkeeping ensures accuracy by using a checks-and-balances system to detect errors.

  • Trial balances help verify correct ledger postings before preparing financial statements.

Skills you'll gain

Category: QuickBooks (Accounting Software)
Category: Bookkeeping
Category: Accounting Software
Category: General Accounting
Category: Accounting
Category: Ledgers (Accounting)
Category: General Ledger
Category: Verification And Validation
Category: Balancing (Ledger/Billing)
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Accounting Systems
Category: Transaction Processing
Category: Accounting Records

What you'll learn

  • Understanding cash float and minimum operating cash requirements is fundamental to preventing liquidity crises and maintaining business continuity.

  • Systematic cash flow forecasting using structured models enables proactive identification of potential shortfalls before they threaten operations.

  • Regular application of financial assumptions to forecasting models provides actionable insights that support strategic decision-making.

  • The ability to predict and highlight deficit periods transforms reactive cash management into proactive financial stewardship.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Financial Modeling
Category: Accounting and Finance Software
Category: Cash Flows
Category: Cash Flow Forecasting
Category: Cash Management
Category: Working Capital
Category: Financial Forecasting
Category: QuickBooks (Accounting Software)

What you'll learn

  • Legal compliance in invoicing requires systematic inclusion of specific mandatory data fields that protect both seller and buyer interests.

  • Spreadsheet automation through formulas eliminates calculation errors and significantly reduces invoice processing time.

  • Proper invoice templates with automated tax calculations create consistent, professional documentation that accelerates payment cycles.

  • Understanding the relationship between invoice compliance and business cash flow enables better financial management and audit readines.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Invoicing
Category: Excel Formulas
Category: Spreadsheet Software
Category: Microsoft Excel
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Payment Processing and Collection
Category: Law, Regulation, and Compliance
Category: Regulatory Requirements
Category: Tax Compliance
Category: Billing & Invoicing
Category: Sales Tax
Category: Automation
Category: Billing

What you'll learn

  • Visual process mapping is essential for exposing hidden inefficiencies and bottlenecks that impact organizational productivity.

  • Small, strategic process changes can deliver disproportionately large time savings and cost reductions across operations.

  • Quantitative measurement of process improvements provides credible evidence for scaling successful changes organization-wide.

  • Continuous process optimization mindset transforms routine work into opportunities for strategic value creation.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Process Improvement
Category: Performance Measurement
Category: Business Process
Category: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Category: Operational Efficiency
Category: Process Improvement and Optimization
Category: Business Process Improvement
Category: Process Analysis
Category: Process Flow Diagrams
Category: Business Workflow Analysis
Category: Process Optimization
Category: Business Process Modeling
Category: Workflow Management
Category: Process Mapping

What you'll learn

  • Maintaining complete audit trails through proper source document attachment is fundamental to financial accuracy and regulatory compliance.

  • Systematic reconciliation between subsidiary and control accounts prevents cumulative errors and ensures reliable financial reporting.

  • Diagnostic investigation using audit logs transforms error detection from reactive troubleshooting into proactive quality assurance.

  • Standardized workflows for documentation and reconciliation create sustainable processes that scale with business growth.

Skills you'll gain

Category: QuickBooks (Accounting Software)
Category: Reconciliation
Category: Record Keeping
Category: Billing & Invoicing
Category: General Ledger
Category: Accounts Receivable
Category: Accounting Software
Category: Ledgers (Accounting)
Category: Accounts Payable
Category: Workflow Management
Category: Audit Working Papers
Category: Document Management
Category: Accounting Systems
Category: Auditing
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Accounts Payable and Receivable
Category: Data Integrity
Category: Standard Accounting Practices
Category: Bookkeeping
Category: Transaction Processing

What you'll learn

  • Understanding data hierarchy is fundamental to all financial analysis – raw transactions form the building blocks of all financial reports and summar

  • Proper data structuring at the beginning of any analysis saves hours of rework and prevents costly errors in financial reporting.

  • Excel's import functionality is a powerful transformation tool that, when mastered, enables accountants to handle diverse data sources with confidenc

  • Professional table formatting in spreadsheets isn't just aesthetic – it enables critical functionalities like sorting, filtering, and automated calcu

Skills you'll gain

Category: Data Import/Export
Category: Microsoft Excel
Category: Data Transformation
Category: Trend Analysis
Category: Data Processing
Category: Business Reporting
Category: Financial Data
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Financial Reporting
Category: Accounting Records
Category: Performance Analysis

What you'll learn

  • Documentation verification relies on systematic cross-checking of source records to confirm transaction validity and compliance.

  • Meaningful audit improvement comes from addressing root causes, not symptoms, to deliver sustainable corrective actions.

  • Process improvement must balance compliance needs with operational efficiency to generate long-term organizational value.

  • Clear action plans with timelines and ownership turn audit findings into measurable and lasting business improvements.

Skills you'll gain

Category: Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
Category: Internal Auditing
Category: Financial Auditing
Category: Compliance Auditing
Category: Document Management
Category: Auditing
Category: Verification And Validation
Category: Financial Analysis
Category: Financial Controls
Category: Financial Statement Analysis
Category: Process Improvement
Category: Internal Controls
Category: Audit Working Papers

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Instructor

Hurix Digital
Coursera
212 Courses 9,852 learners

Offered by

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