Online courses directory (51)

&quot;21 Steps To Building A Web Business&quot;&quot; is ALISON’S free online course covering the skills and techniques needed to create a successful online business. Chris Farrell, voted Number 1 Internet Marketing Service Provider, describes the process of developing an online business in a non-technical and step-by-step manner.<br /><br />The course is ideal for those who've always wanted to create an online business but lack the skills or knowledge to do so. <p> </p>

For any business or organization, the need to control and monitor cash transactions to ensure the efficient operation of the business is vital. In ALISON's free online accounting course, procedures and structures for establishing internal control such as control of cash receipts and cash disbursements, proper use of the bank checking account, preparation of the bank reconciliation, and protection of petty cash funds are all explored in detail. Examples of recommended documentation and the postings used in the ledgers are given. An overview of the five components for internal control is described and this provides a structure for developing the necessary procedures needed to ensure the safe handling of cash within an organization. You will also see how companies can protect both their assets and employees by following steps such as segregating employee duties, assigning specific duties to each employee, rotating employee job assignments, and using mechanical devices. <br /><br />ALISON's free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to better understand how to control and monitor daily cash transactions within an enterprise, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

Merchandising retailers and wholesalers use inventory costs to calculate the cost of goods sold as these are a major expense affecting net income and the balance sheet. In this free online accounting course learners are brought step-by-step through this process from the physical counting of goods, to the inclusion of costs such as transport or insurance, to the calculation on the value of the goods thereby connecting the cost of goods through to retained earnings and the balance sheet. The different methods of apportioning costs to a stock item, such as FIFO and LIFO, are discussed and topics such as net realization or gross margin are explained and explored. The importance of having accurate inventory figures and the serious consequences of using inaccurate inventory figures is also explained. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to better understand how to allocate inventory costs flow for the wholesale and retail sectors, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

In this course you will learn how to account for and manage receivables and payables. For the receivables you will learn how to calculate a bad debt provision amount based on a company’s history using both the aging schedule and the allowance method. The bad debt amount for the financial reports is then managed by posting that provision, and then processing the realized loss of revenue when it becomes overdue. On the payables side you will learn how to make provision for known liabilities, estimate liabilities such as warranty liabilities and how to plan for the contingent liabilities mostly resulting from legal issues. The course also looks at raising short term finance through the use of promissory notes – distinguishing between interest bearing notes and discounted notes with examples of calculations of the postings for each. You will also learn about accounting for notes that are dishonored. The final section explains the use of the accounts receivable turnover and the number of days’ sales in accounts receivables ratios and the relevance of the level of liquidity they represent. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to better understand, manage and account for the receivables and payables, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

In this free online accounting course you will be introduced to accounting and its use in making business decisions. You will learn how to identify and describe the three basic forms of business organizations, and also distinguish among the three types of activities performed by business organizations. The course then describes the content and purposes of the income statement, statement of retained earnings, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows. You will learn about the basic accounting equation and describe its relationship to the balance sheet. The course then shows you how to prepare an income statement, a statement of retained earnings, and a balance sheet, and also how to analyse and use the financial results—the equity ratio. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to get a thorough introduction to accounting principles, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

This course introduces the body of theory underlying accounting procedures. It puts the core practices and principles, covered in the previous courses, into a framework of theoretical concepts. This free online course will give learners an understanding of the theory behind the accounting process and will help learners make decisions in diverse accounting situations as is provides a logical framework for accounting practice. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to get an understanding of the theory behind the accounting practices that we use day today, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.

This free online course looks at the way in which the buying and selling of goods is accounted for in the merchandising sector as opposed to the manufacturing sector. As the inventory is the focus of such businesses, managing the accounts and finance related to purchasing, trade and chain discount, transport costs and invoice terms is critical as they are the major contributors to the gross profit. Students will also learn about the differences between perpetual and periodic inventory processes, both from a physical and accounting perspective. The learner will be walked through the process of calculating the cost of paying for goods as per the invoice terms, using borrowed monies, versus the cost of paying for them on the invoice due date. The learner will see how to calculate the cost of goods sold and see an example of a classified income statement used to calculate the net profit for this sector. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to better understand the management of stock and related cash flow for the wholesale and retail sectors, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

Tom Kelley is the highly respected general manager of IDEO, a firm that helps its clients create innovative products, services and environments. He is also the author of best-selling books on creativity. <br /><br />In ALISON's free online course about achieving personal success, Kelley starts by explaining how achieving personal success depends on implementing good, healthy mental habits. The course explains how you should treat life as an experiment, how you should be willing to fail and learn from your mistakes. Kelley advises that you should have confidence in what you know well, but realize that you have a lot more to learn and that you must keep yourself learning at all times. You will also learn about using your whole brain and how you should make the most of opportunities to use the right side of the brain. <br /><br />This course will appeal to all working professionals in businesses and organizations, and students who want to gain greater knowledge and understanding about achieving personal success.<br />

Financial reports are used to see how a business is performing and therefore they should accurately reflect how the business performed during the period under review. The matching principle or accruals basis of an accounting system records more accurately the true revenues earned and costs paid for the period in question. The cost of rent and capital purchases are spread over the life of the purchase rather than distorting the accounts in the period the purchase was made. Likewise wages owing or interest payable is spread pulled into the period where they were used rather than when they were paid. In this free online accounting course students will learn how to determine if an account needs adjustment entries due to the matching principle concept. They will be introduced to the two classes and four types of adjustments resulting from unearned revenue, prepaid expenses, accrued expenses and accrued revenue, along with typical examples of each type of adjustment. Depreciation is explored in more detail as the effect on the balance sheet can be significant. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to get a thorough introduction to accounting principles, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

Aggregate supply and demand are key concepts in macroeconomics as they help economists interpret events in the past to help predict the future. The aggregate supply curve model demonstrates the relationship between the overall price level of a country and the quantity of goods and services produced by the suppliers of that country, whereas the aggregate demand curve model demonstrates the quantity of goods and services produced domestically that consumers, businesses, the government and foreigners are willing to purchase during a particular period of time. This free online economics course first introduces the learner to the business cycle to show that the local economy is constantly expanding and contracting in response to changes in the global economy, technology and national and international politics. The course then introduces the concept of aggregate demand, how it shifts and how it is modelled. You will also learn about aggregate supply, and how changes in supply can be slower than changes in demand. This free online economics course will be of great interest to professionals in the areas of economics, finance, and business who would like to learn more about modelling aggregate supply and demand. It will also appeal to all learners interested in business, economics or political studies who would like to understand why the health of the economy is cyclical and why one event can have a significant effect on an economy.<br />

Building an effective online presence is critical for growing your business as it gives your company access to thousands or millions of local, national or international customers who are searching, interacting, sharing and shopping online. In this course you will learn why you must get your business up and running on the Web using e-commerce sites, review sites and social networks. You will also learn that having a Website which is easy to navigate, is informative, and has a good domain name, the right design template and memorable Web copy will help your business stand out from the competition. The course discusses why it is important to have a presence on the mobile Web and how to attract your target audience using tools like Google AdWords. This course will be of great interest to all business owners who are thinking of setting up a Website for their business but are uncertain of how to go about doing it. It will also be beneficial to any company or organisation that wants their existing Website to be more effective at attracting potential customers.<br />

Business Intelligence is a set of theories and methodologies that handle large amounts of data and information and assists managers with decision-making. Knowledge management is the process of capturing, storing, retrieving and distributing the knowledge of the individuals in a business for use by others in the business to improve the quality and/or efficiency of decision making across the firm. This free online course in Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Systems enables the learner to study information tools used to assist decision-makers and describe the process known as decision-making including the three steps involved. The course will be of interest to business professionals who would like to gain a basic knowledge and understanding of the benefits of business intelligence and knowledge management systems.<br />

Jeff Hawkins is the co-founder of Palm and Handspring and is the architect of many computing products such as the PalmPilot and the Treo smartphone. In this course he will take you on a journey through his career, how he became an entrepreneur and the importance of believing in your product. He teaches valuable lessons about the importance of experience, following your passions and how to keep a work/life balance. He discusses how to design successful products, the role of market research and the need to continuously test products. In terms of the company workplace, he talks about how a good business culture and a strong human resources policy are vital. You will also learn about the importance and inevitability of portable technology. This course will be of great interest to business professionals who will learn much from the experience, knowledge and wisdom Jeff Hawkins has gained over his career. It will also be of interest to business students setting out on their careers, in particular those who would like to become technology entrepreneurs.<br />

This is a continuation of our series of accounting courses that will greatly increase your knowledge and understanding of the theory of accounting and accounting practices. This free online accounting course explains the processes used to close your accounts at the end of an accounting period, from creating a worksheet that facilitates the generation of the Income Statement and Retained Earnings statement to the generation of the Balance sheet. You will also be shown how a Classified Balance sheet is broken down into current and long-term assets and liabilities. The important Current Ratio figure is calculated and explained in context. You will also learn a little about the history of accounting systems and the impact of computerization on the process. This free online accounting course will be of great interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to get a thorough introduction to accounting principles, and to any learner who is interested in accounting as a future career.<br />

This module explains the Safety Management Pack for construction contractors with 20 or less employees (SMP 20). SMP20 will help you to plan your work in a safe way and protect your employees and the people around you. By following the simple steps outlined in this module, you can develop your own safety statement and improve how you carry out your work. A detailed look at risk assessment is also provided. This module was developed by the Construction Safety Partnership to help you, and will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. Afterwards you will be given instructions how to purchase your copy of SMP20 from the Construction Safety Partnership.

AgraQuest is a company which developed a groundbreaking bio-pesticide that changed the way food is cultivated using pesticides and was a revolution in growing safer food for consumers. In this free online course Pam Marrone, founder of AgraQuest, discusses about how she guided AgraQuest to be today’s leader in bio-pesticides. With her savvy business sense, we learn how Pam pioneered a huge turnaround in marketing the AgraQuest product to capture a niche in the pesticide market. We learn the key factors which brought about the formation of AgraQuest and what changes were made in the pesticide market to convince farmers that they needed to make the change to bio-pesticides manufactured by AgraQuest. It also highlights the stumbling blocks encountered by Pam and her team when bringing AgraQuest products to the market and the lessons they learned from this process. This free course will be of interest to entrepreneurs and business professionals who would like to learn how a company can grow and become successful by creating a need for their product or service, and by developing a marketing plan that convinces consumers to make the change to their product or service. <br />

Steve Blank is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in high technology companies and management. He is also a Consulting Professor at Stanford in the Graduate School of Engineering. In this free online course he goes through a checklist of questions and answers that will be helpful to any new business leader. He offers insights and case studies from industry and new technology companies. He focuses on important areas for business start-ups including market opportunity, market regulations and distribution, competitors and complimentors, and technology breakthroughs. You will learn why sometimes being the first and only company in a particular market can actually be a disadvantage. He discusses the difference between vertical markets and horizontal markets, and you will also learn why market and technical risks are of great importance for an entrepreneurial venture. This course will be of interest to business people, entrepreneurs and anyone who would like to hear key insights and knowledge gained by a very successful entrepreneur with years of experience in business start-ups and management.<br />

Guy Kawasaki is best known as “chief evangelist” of Apple. In this free online course he gives important lessons about entrepreneurship. He explains why he thinks that the most successful companies will be those that aim to create a positive change in society. He explains how to make meaning in your company so that you can make a difference. You will learn about mantras, getting going, defining a business model and creating a niche for your company. He also recommends that you hire “infected” people, people who love the product or service. You will also learn about lowering barriers to adoption, approaching sales and how to become a “mensch”. He discusses how to find evangelists and soul mates and what is the career path to becoming an entrepreneur or venture capitalist. This course will be of great interest to all business professionals or budding entrepreneurs who are interested in starting up a business and would like to hear advice and guidance from someone who has already done it successfully but who has also been very close to extraordinary achievement in the area of the growth of high technology businesses.<br />

Janice Fraser is CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Path, an experience design consultancy firm based in San Francisco, California and Austin, Texas. Janice is an experienced entrepreneur and in this free online course she talks in detail about how important the culture of a business is for the success of that business. She emphasises that a productive culture is one where managers create meaning for their employees. By promoting a business culture that employees can buy into they will become more motivated and work more passionately to make the business a success. Janice believes that alignment is the key factor underlying everything we do. In a business alignment means that employees are doing fulfilling work which they excel at. This course will be of great interest to all business professionals and managers who would like to gain advice and guidance about creating a successful business culture which has meaning for all employees.<br />

Jerry Kaplan is widely known in the computer industry as a serial entrepreneur, executive, technical innovator and author. In this free online course he explains what the best qualities of serial entrepreneurs are and the five biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make. He discusses the five critical skills that entrepreneurs need: leadership, communication, decision-making, being a team player and the ability to telescope. He explains the vital importance of sales skills and recruiting people to sell for you. This course will show you how the timing of an idea is very important and why it is very difficult to call. Kaplan shares his advice on the types of risks that companies face when they start off and how the trick is to get the risk out as soon as possible. He discusses the best time to start a business, why he admires and respects business leaders such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and how to establish culture and values in a company early on. He also talks about how roles change within a company when there is a transition away from R&amp;D. This course will be of great interest to business professionals, entrepreneurs, business students and anyone with a general interest in gaining a better knowledge and understanding of the critical skills needed by entrepreneurs to create successful businesses.<br />