The Business Certificate Series is for non-business students interested in learning about the language of business to help them in a career after graduation. Developed by Westminster’s Center for Financial Wellness and the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business, this series includes online courses in accounting, finance, investment, valuation, real estate, and tax.

This series is self-paced, asynchronous, non-credit bearing, and doesn’t require you to apply or register. Each course is engaging, application-based, and will give you a fundamental understanding of the subject without you having to become a financial professional or earn a higher-education degree. Students will learn through a series of short, self-paced videos and earn a certificate of completion from Westminster’s respected business school.

For some students, the courses provide excellent preparation for a more rigorous education in business. For others, they serve as refreshers to aid in remembering previously learned business methods, metrics, or structures.

Courses

Introduction to Accounting

The Introduction to accounting course won’t prepare you to be an accountant or bookkeeper but does help you understand enough about accounting to talk with professionals in accounting, financing, and banking. The course focuses on understanding and appreciating owning, managing, and operating a business unit based on the four basic financial statements: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and statement of stakeholder equity.

The faculty for this course include Professors Jennifer Harrison and Richard Haskell, with contributions by accounting and finance students.

Introduction to Finance

The Introduction to Finance course won’t prepare you to be a banker, investment analyst, or other financial professional but does help you understand business and finance enough to talk with professionals in accounting, financing, or banking. In this course, you will learn about models, metrics, and ratios, and how bankers, investors, and managers use them in the finance and business worlds.

The faculty for this course include Professor Richard Haskell, with contributions by accounting and finance students.

Introduction to Investments

The Introduction to Investments course won’t prepare you to be an investment advisor, banker, or analyst but does help you understand enough about investments, markets, and strategies to talk with professionals in these fields. The course focuses on understanding languages, structures, markets, and other concepts used in the investment industry and business world, and what they mean to investors, managers, and other stakeholders.

The faculty for this course includes Professor Richard Haskell, with contributions by accounting and finance students.