Top 10 Free Online Business Accounting and Taxation Courses

In the era of emerging entrepreneurs, managing the businesses of newly formed start-ups is a challenging task. To organize business accounting and find smart ways to pay taxes, finance professionals are the crying need of the hour. Having a skilled person with knowledge of business accounting and taxation in the organization is similar to having a gem. These accounting professionals are the very cornerstone of every organization. Free online business accounting and taxation courses are extremely popular among entrepreneurs, SME businessmen, accounting professionals, or those who are aspiring to be accounting professionals.

Entrepreneurship and small and medium businesses are gradually increasing. The number of business organizations is more than it was 5 years before. These organizations can relate to the pain of managing accounting and taxation. A company’s taxation process is different from individual income tax. So, businessmen or entrepreneurs who have knowledge of taxation systems and business accounting are in a better position to manage their own businesses.

But to manage business accounting and taxation properly, one should employ finance professionals. Tax accountants play a crucial role in determining the revenue of the business. In that need, finance professionals are in huge demand in the industry.

What is Business Accounting and Taxation?

Business accounting and taxation are about managing the accounting and taxation of businesses that are at the core of any organization. Business accounting and taxation are mainly connected to fundamental knowledge of accounting, business management, business industry, financial reporting, tax structure, the interrelationship between tax and business, the revenue of the business, and so on.

The nature of business is co-related to tax planning that affects the company’s managerial decisions.  There are various types of taxes. Income tax, sales tax, service tax, VAT, GST, Central Excise, state and federal taxes, property tax, and corporate tax are the forms of tax. Taxation covers the sections related to ways of paying income tax, tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax assessment, deduction, cross-border taxation, double taxation relief system, and researching tax documents.

In present times due to the increasing demand, many educational institutions are providing paid and free online business accounting and taxation courses. Where the paid courses give anyone a certificate after the completion of the courses, the free online business accounting and taxation courses can empower anyone with knowledge of taxation and accounting which is important for every citizen in this tax-paying administration system.

With free online business accounting and taxation courses, one can earn a superior place in the industry and help the organization grow astonishingly.

What is a BAT Course?

BAT is simply the short form for “Business Accounting and Taxation”. BAT courses equip learners with the best knowledge of business accounting and taxation, making them aware of the taxation system, business industry, and the impact of business organizations on the national and global economy.

BAT courses are usually extremely costly under normal traditional universities in offline mode. Even if the institutions are providing online courses, they are not completely free of cost. Certification courses are mostly paid. But sometimes knowledge is what we are seeking, not a certificate.

If someone is eager to only learn without certification and is looking for free online business accounting and taxation courses, this article is perfect for such enthusiasts. In this article, we are going to present relevant information about the best free online business accounting and taxation courses that can help you to brush up on or enhance your skill set.

Why is a Business Accounting and Taxation Course Important?

In the world of leading entrepreneurs and enterprises, the huge demand for account and taxation professionals can not be overlooked. One needs a business accountant to smoothly maintain their business. Professional accountants have better knowledge of the detailed structure of accounting in business organizations.

They have a better understanding of practical accounting and a unique way of implementing those core ideas into an organization. These polished practices improve the company’s performance on the financial scale. They have a great scope of using tools like accounting in excel, and software tally adequately. All these qualities one can acquire from free online business accounting and taxation courses as well as making themselves industry-ready.

The free online business accounting and taxation courses empower learners to enhance their employment opportunities and outshine their competitors. Entrepreneurs of start-ups can benefit from this certification course as they can perform tax planning of their own businesses on their own without relying on others. In that way, they can reduce their firm’s expenses. The course can extend an extra boost to the practitioners to increase their abilities of fringe benefits, corporate business, retirement business policies, and so on.

Career Opportunities in Business Accounting and Taxation

There are ample amounts of scopes after completing free online business accounting and taxation courses. One can easily opt for many career options. There is a high demand for tax accountants in the business industry. Not only in the business sector but also in the government sector, private associations, banking sector, business banking, and financial organizations.

One who knows business accounting and taxation has an advantage in securing a job by enhancing their skillsets. The career opportunities that are available to the learners who have taken up the BAT course are tax accountants, accounting managers, income tax officers, tax managers, finance managers, budget analysts, tax consultants, and auditors.

Free Online Business Accounting and Taxation Courses

As we mentioned before, in this article we are going to discuss only free online business accounting and taxation courses. There are a few educational platforms that offer free online business accounting and taxation courses. Few provide courses on “business accounting” and “taxation” separately.

1. Alison

Alison provides many free online business accounting and taxation courses. One can easily enroll in these courses and get fundamental knowledge about business accounting and the financial market along with the taxation process. Among many courses the remarkable ones are,

• “Introduction to Business Accounting” under Workforce Academy is a course that teaches the fundamentals of business accounting and other basic concepts related to the business and management industry.

• “Fundamentals of Financial Accounting” talks about the fundamentals of finance and market strategies and accounting that manages the businesses of the organizations.

• “Tax Accounting Systems and Administration” is a course about accounting and taxation. This course gives a detailed overview of tax systems, payrolls, balance sheets, and maintaining the business and administrative power of tax. This course has 2 modules covering 8 topics. The duration of the course is 3 hours. Module 1 contains the below-mentioned topics,

Module 1

• Tax Systems and Administration – Learning Outcomes
• Introduction to Tax Systems
• Advanced Income Tax
• Short Term Taxes
• Direct Taxes
• Basic and Management Accounting
• Tax Systems and Administration

Module 2

Module 2 is based on the assessment of the course. With proper and regulated assessment, the learners can track their learning growth and learn better.

If you want to develop advanced skills in finance management, must enroll in the high-ranked Business Accounting and Taxation Courses in India

2. Netaji Subhash Open University

Netaji Subhash Open University is a center for lifelong learning under the aegis of the school of vocational studies. Netaji Subhas Open University provides MOOC ( Massive Open Online Course). Under MOOC, NSOU provides a course on taxation via SWAYAM under UGC guidelines. The course comes with certification affiliated with the Government of India. But for a certificate, one needs to pay. The programs offer cyber seminars that help students to experience better exposure to the subject.

• Corporate Tax Planning

This course is completely free, online, and self-paced. The duration of the course is 15 weeks conducted in the English language, taught by a skilled mentor Dr. Anirban Ghosh, professor of commerce. The materials of the course are video and text-based. The course aims to educate any interested individuals on tax and tax systems. This course gives in-depth information about corporate tax, income tax, tax laws, financial acts, and ways to minimize tax liability. The course curriculum is divided into 8 chapters with 2 assignments followed by a final test.

3. Tezpur University

• Direct Tax – Laws and Practice

The course “Direct Tax – Laws and Practice” by Tezpur University via SWAYAM is another free course on taxation. This course gives a detailed overview of direct tax and tax laws and their practices, computation of tax, and tax laws. The course is completely free, online, and self-paced. The duration of the course is 15 weeks conducted in the English Language, taught by a skilled mentor, Dr. Subhrangshu Sarkar.

The curriculum of the course is divided into 14 chapters. Self-assessment tests, quizzes, assignments, and doubt resolution sessions with online discussion forums are perks of the course. The learners can access the study materials and classes anytime from anywhere. One has access to the video recording of the classes making it more convenient for students.

To make it more convenient, the course materials are not only available online, but also available in offline modes in downloadable and printable versions. The institution offers the course materials free of cost, but to avail of the certificate, one needs to pay to obtain the certificate after completion of the course.

This course gives detailed knowledge of taxation and revenues. One can develop a deeper conceptual, theoretical, and practical understanding of the taxation process, tax laws, tax returns, tax planning, tax management, and taxation system of India under the guidance of experienced professionals.

Also, check out the best Business Accounting and Taxation Courses in Delhi

4. Coursera

Coursera is an educational platform known for providing its courses for skill-ups. Coursera offers many separate free online business accounting and taxation courses on its platform.

• “Introduction to Finance and Accounting Specialization” under the University of Pennsylvania is a specialization program spanning around 3-6 months. The Specialization program includes 4 courses covering topics on accounting, accounts payable and receivable, financial analysis, budget management, and so on.

1. Fundamentals of Finance
2. Introduction to Corporate Finance
3. Introduction to Financial Accounting
4. More Introduction to Financial Accounting

• “Business Foundations Specialization” is spanning around 7 months. The specialization program includes 4 courses covering topics such as entrepreneurship, investment, investment management, finance, taxes, key concepts of business accounting, fundamentals of finance, corporate decision making, and financial intermediation.

1. Introduction to Marketing
2. Introduction to Financial Accounting
3. Managing Social and Human Capital
4. Introduction to Corporate Finance

• “Multistate Taxation” under the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign spans around 1-3 months (approximately 26 hours). This curriculum of the course covers topics on taxes, the historical progression of state and taxation, power of states to tax, properties, accounting, history of business accounting, understanding of common types of taxes, basic rules related to income tax, and limitations of state taxing.

• “Advanced Financial Reporting Accounting for Business Combinations and Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements” at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a self-paced course. The duration of the course is 8 weeks ( approximately 1-3 months). The curriculum of the course is divided into 8 modules covering topics on financial management, intercompany transactions, business combinations, asset acquisitions, and consolidated financial statements. The course provides self-assessments and quizzes to track personal learning growth.

All these courses have two options for enrollment. The free courses are without a certificate. The paid versions provide certification upon completion. The paid versions give unlimited access to materials whereas the free versions give limited access to students.

5. Edx

The educational platform, Edx provides many courses on business accounting as well such as,

• “Business Accounting Basics” under Purdue University is an instructor-paced business and management course on a fixed schedule. The duration of the course is 5 weeks. One needs to invest nearly 3-5 hours per week in learning. The curriculum of the course covers topics on accounting basics, and meaningful financial tools to understand business and market strategy. The course is available in the English language at a basic level. The course is completely free, but with limited access. Those who have basic mathematical concepts with algebra will be more benefitted.

• “Taxes and Decision Making” under Indiana University, Bloomington taught by the famous mentor, Greg Geisler is a course that is about 12 weeks in duration. The curriculum of the course focuses on various topics. It teaches the theories of types of taxes, conceptual, integrative, and legal aspects of income taxation, tax compliance, and financial tools. This course helps learners to apply income tax laws to taxpayers such as business leaders or entrepreneurs, improve business decision-making skills which is an integral part of any business, and reduce individual taxes and company taxes by implementing tax laws.

These courses are free courses with all study materials accessible to anyone. But for certification, the courses are paid.

6. Learn Accounting For Free

“Learn Accounting For Free” is a website and online financial academy solely made for free business accounting courses that helps any individual to achieve financial awareness and support their business dream. Learn Accounting For Free offers a business accounting course named “Introduction to Accounting: The Language of Business”.

The duration of the course is 75+ hours. The curriculum of the course is divided into 16 lessons covering various topics like accounting cycle, inventory, debt and equity financing, cost volume profit analysis that teaches costs of a business depending on the volume of production and sales, operational budgeting, business management, and financial statement analysis.

You may also be interested to learn Online Financial Modeling Courses

7. Oxford Home Study Centre

Oxford Home Study Centre offers many business accounting and taxation courses on its educational training platform. OHSC offers short courses, certificate courses, and diploma courses in accounting and finance. These courses help one to know about varieties of the accounting sector, and the role of an accountant. Anyone with an interest in free learning can enroll in these courses and get familiar with the fundamentals of business accounting and taxation systems.

8. Great Learning

Great Learning offers free enrollment for a few courses on business accounting and taxation. The notable ones are,

“Fundamentals of Taxation” is a completely free online course that is only 1 hour. The course curriculum has 10 sections. This course gives information about the fundamentals of taxation, government income tax acts, clauses of the acts, crucial terminologies about taxation, tax planning, avoidance, and evasion concepts. The course has free lifetime access. This free course comes with a certificate as well upon completion.

“Basic Accounting” is a free online course that is only 1.5 hours. The course consists of self-paced video lectures. This course gives information about the fundamentals of business accounting, budget planning, business management, accounting cycle, separate entry concept, dual entry concept, cash flow statement, balance sheet, financial reporting, and financial analysis. The course has free lifetime access. This free course offers a certificate upon completion.

9. Open Learn University

Open Learn University is a great platform to learn about business accounting and taxation.

“Fundamentals of Accounting” is a course that focuses on essential concepts of business accounting and bookkeeping. The duration of the course is 4 weeks. This course will progress gradually from fundamental concepts to advanced balance sheets through management accounting, numeracy, accounting equation, double-entry accounting, double-entry bookkeeping, ways to record transactions in ledger accounts, trial balance sheet, statement of financial position, and income statements.

“Companies and Financial Accounting” is a course that spans 6 hours. It gives information about the legal characteristics of limited companies, finance of those companies, shares capital, loan capital, stakeholders, partnerships, financial statements, the regulations and operations of companies, and their role in the society and business industry. The courses come with quizzes, growth trackers, a statement of participation, and access to the course materials.

Also Read: Business Accounting and Taxation Courses in Mumbai

10. City Commerce Academy

City Commerce Academy is an accounting school that provides a few courses on business accounting and taxation that can be helpful for enthusiastic learners. “Business Accounting” is a course that focuses on practical accounting work in the trading, manufacturing, and service industry.

The curriculum of the course covers the basic concepts of work structure in business accounting, accounting theories that teach the double entry system in practical accounting, and journal entries that help with practical project work. City Commerce Academy offers many short courses on GST, Income Tax, TDS, Payrolls, Tally, and Balance Sheet that covers many important concepts of taxation.

FAQ’s

Q1. Who can enroll in the BAT course?

Anyone interested to know the business accounting and taxation system can enroll in the BAT course. But people in the field of law and finance such as Financial advisors, Financial Planners, Financial Analysts, chartered accountants, and Corporate Lawyers who are honing their skills will be more benefitted. Entrepreneurs and Chief Executive Officers who can get business accounting and taxation awareness can go for the course as well to brush up on their skills before starting their jobs.

Q2. What is the average annual salary for a tax accountant after the BAT course?

The average annual salary of a tax accountant is 3.6 lakhs.

Q3. What are the benefits of free online business accounting and taxation courses?

There are many benefits of a free online course. In business accounting and taxation courses, one can look into the syllabus and have in-depth knowledge about business accounting and taxation without paying. One can enroll in many courses and decide if it’s worth going for a paid course.

Q4. What are the parameters that determine a good online course?

The good online courses have these below-mentioned common traits

1. Smart online platform with the use of multimedia and technology.
2. A clear and detailed curriculum of the course with a proper schedule.
3. Detailed learning materials with access to text and video lecture-based class materials in an e-learning digital platform.
4. Assignments, quizzes, daily assessments, forums to participate in discussion and feedback and assistance.
5. An experienced mentor has expertise in the particular field he’s teaching.
6. Providing practical guidance and industry-ready for the job industry.

Conclusion:

In the world of constant progression, business management is one of the most important tasks to keep one’s business on track and help it flourish more. Anyone knowing business accounting and taxation is superior for such a role. Free online business accounting and taxation courses are perfect for those who want to gain business accounting and taxation insight through the curriculum of such courses before entering the business industry or enrolling in a paid course.