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#3 in AccountingUdemyAccountingPaid courseBeginner levelCertificate

Accounting in 60 Minutes - A Brief Introduction (Udemy.com)

Learn the very basics of accounting in just about an hour.

Created by: Vincent Turner

Last updated July 2021

Our take

Based on the ratings of 18,470 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in July 2021. No course pays to be reviewed.

Vincent Turner's short course covers the accounting equation, balance sheets, income statements, debits and credits, and why profit is not the same as cash. It runs 16 lectures across eight sections, about 101 minutes of video, with seven quizzes and a final practice test. He teaches at a whiteboard and keeps one running example going. It is aimed at business owners, managers and first-time accounting students, and it assumes nothing. The listing says about an hour, but plan on closer to two.

Reviewers mostly praise the clarity. One says he spoke clearly and slowly, others call the explanations simple and straightforward, and a reviewer with no accounting background says they walked away truly understanding it. Another, with ten years in accounting, used it to relearn the logic they had forgotten. The complaints are small. A few found parts confusing, one called the T account explanation tricky, one wanted more examples, another called the recording quality poor, and one wished the final test showed which answers were missed.

About 88 percent of the 18,470 ratings are four or five stars, so the praise is not a fluke. The last update was July 2021, which matters little for basics like the accounting equation, though it is dated. Next to the other Accounting courses on the page, which move into finance modeling, statement analysis and QuickBooks, this is the lightest and quickest way in. Treat it as a first step, then move on if you need more depth.

Best forBusiness owners, managers and first-time accounting students who want the core logic in under two hours.
Skip it ifYou need QuickBooks skills, financial modeling or real statement analysis; this stops at the basics.

Pros

  • Runs about 101 minutes in 16 short lectures, easy to rewatch
  • Whiteboard teaching with one running example that reviewers say makes the logic click
  • Seven quizzes and a final practice test help the ideas stick
  • No prerequisites, and a reviewer with zero accounting background says they followed it

Cons

  • A few reviewers found parts confusing, including the T account explanation, and one wanted more examples
  • The final test does not show which answers were missed, according to one reviewer
  • Last updated in 2021, and one reviewer calls the recording quality poor
Love the breakdown of the basics. I have zero accounting background and I walk away from this truly understanding. Thank you!
Elyse OGara, a student

Beginner level fits: no prerequisites, and one reviewer with zero background says they followed it.

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What you will learn

  • Understand the basic accounting equation
  • Know the difference between a debit and a credit
  • See how to prepare a balance sheet and income statement
  • Understand why profit does not equal cash

Course content

8 sections · 16 lectures · 1.7 hours of video 7 quizzes, 1 practice test

  1. 1The Accounting Equation 3 free previews3 lectures · 1 quiz · 11 min
  2. 2Everything Balances3 lectures · 1 quiz · 13 min
  3. 3The Balance Sheet1 lecture · 1 quiz · 6 min
  4. 4Let's Make Some Money!3 lectures · 1 quiz · 16 min
  5. 5Let's Put Together a Financial Statement1 lecture · 1 quiz
  6. 6Profit Does Not Equal Cash!3 lectures · 1 quiz · 13 min
  7. 7Conclusion1 lecture · 2 min
  8. 8Extras!1 lecture · 1 quiz

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • business owners
  • managers
  • business students
  • beginning accounting students

What you need before you start

  • No prerequisite knowledge is required!

How it compares

Against the other 200 rated Udemy courses in Accounting on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 69% of them
  • Reviews18,470#3 of 201 by number of reviews
  • Length1.7 hoursshorter than 89% of them
  • Last updatedJuly 2021earlier than 68% of them

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Course Description

    This is not your typical accounting course! 

    Professor Turner has taught thousands of students basic accounting.  He has developed shortcuts and analogies to make learning accounting easy.  If you want to understand this subject in a simple, fun way then this brief introductory course is for you. 

    This course will show you the very basics of accounting.  You can complete it in about an hour.  The course includes videos of the instructor at the whiteboard.  You will complete simple quizzes to reinforce what you have learned.  This course is intended for business owners, business students, managers or anyone who wants to understand basic accounting.  It presents the information in an understandable format.  Even if you have taken an accounting course you will find the material insightful. 

    The course introduces 

  • The Accounting Equation (One you can understand!)

  • Balance Sheets

  • Income Statements

  • Debits and Credits (And how to know which is which!)

  • Why Profit Does Not Equal Cash!

    If you have dreaded the thought of learning accounting, this is exactly the introduction you will welcome! 

    Why should take this course? 

    You are a business owner.  You want your business to succeed and you know that you need a better understanding of how the numbers are put together. 

    You are a manager.  You deal with accounting staff, bookkeepers, owners and subordinates.  You hear accounting terms daily but you want to know more about what accounting means. 

    You are a business student.  You dread taking your first accounting course.  Or maybe you are in an introductory class right now.  It all sounds so complicated.  You want to find a simple explanation of what you are trying to learn. 

    You are an accounting student.  You feel that you really did not get a firm grasp of the basics.  You would like to start from scratch in an easy to learn format. 


CPE (Continuing Professional Education)

Learning Objectives

  1. Apply the basic accounting formula

  2. Identify assets, liabilities and equity

  3. Describe how the income statement and balance sheet are connected

  4. Recognize why profit does not equal cash

  5. Interpret a balance sheet

  6. Predict when an account increases with a debit or increase with a credit

  7. Summarize the purpose of a trial balance

  8. Differentiate income statement accounts from balance sheet accounts

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Instructor Details

Vincent Turner

Vince has taught accounting, business and information technology classes for the last ten years. He holds an MSBA and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor. He has taught thousands of students and his goal is to always make complex subjects easy to understand.

Vince has always been involved in education. In addition to teaching he served as an elected community college trustee.

Please join him for a fun class!

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Reviews

4.6

18,470 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Frances Irene Dacpano on 8/26/2026

Prof. Turner has certainly made accounting easier to understand and more relatable. Looking forward to finishing the course before the hour ends!

By Hiral Joshi on 7/9/2026

Awesome course, very clear and simple instructions by instructor which really helped with the logic of Accounting. Although i worked for 10 years in accounting, i forgot basics and logic to everything, Thanks to this course!

By Elyse OGara on 7/6/2026

Love the breakdown of the basics. I have zero accounting background and I walk away from this truly understanding. Thank you!

By Mottadam Jaya Darshini on 7/5/2026

Perfect course for Beginners! Vincet Turner Sir explained the concepts with example and continued with same example to understand all the concepts

By Shawna Daugherty on 6/8/2026

A little tricky with the explanation of T's each on the right and left of a larger T...but conceptually sound

By Miles Hart on 5/17/2026

Took the final test 2x and only changed one answer between the two attempts and got the same score, would like to be able to see what I missed.

By Beatriz Santillana on 3/8/2026

Instructor teaching is simple to understand, not fast to understand, and I would not expect it, but simple enough for such a complex subject

By Chanelle Borden on 3/2/2026

Very good information presented in a way that is easy to understand. Thank you

By Bram van de Grift on 1/25/2026

Goede cursus waarbij de belangrijkste basics in jip- en janneke taal worden uitgelegd in een zeer behapbare tijd.

By Ashley Isaac on 1/14/2026

The instructor did a wonderful job of explaining the terms and breaking down accounting equation.

By Michael A. Williams on 11/21/2020

Simple to understand

By Cindy Dubs on 11/14/2020

It was very easy to follow the instructor

Showing 12 of 308 reviews

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Quality Score

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Overall Score : 92 / 100