Online Government Accounting Courses

As part of its' mission to provide professional development opportunities to governmental organizations, the Governmental and Nonprofit Assistance Center provides the following online government accounting courses. 

Introduction to Governmental Accounting

This course is designed to introduce governmental accounting practices to “non-accountants”. Those with previous accounting experience should consider starting with the Intermediate Governmental Accounting course. The self-paced course has five main sections:

  1. Accounting and financial statement elements
  2. Effects of transactions
  3. Debits and credits
  4. Recording information and funds
  5. Budgets and the CAFR

The online course is self-paced and allows students the flexibility to take the course based on their schedule. Each section has a recorded PowerPoint slide presentation. You can print the slides in advance for reference and making notes while taking the class. You can come and go from the presentation at any time. After working through the slides for a section, you should take that section’s quiz. Quizzes can be taken as many times as the student would like, however a 100% must be earned on all quizzes in order to receive credit for the class. After completing all five sections, the student will take a course exam.

There is a course exam to test your knowledge after you completed the course. There is a two-hour time limit and you only have one attempt. Once you start the exam, the two-hour period begins and does not stop if you leave the exam. You will be able to view your results. 

Intermediate Governmental Accounting

Participants will be provided with a working knowledge of the special financial reporting model used by state and local governments under GASB's Statement No. 34.  It is based on the new Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting (GAAFR) publication and is focused on the fund financial statements.  Participants will be given a copy of the GAAFR Study Guide. The class is recommended for mid-level finance officers, accountants, treasurers, auditors and other persons with a basic knowledge of accounting. 

The online course is self-paced and allows students the flexibility to take the course based on their schedule. Each section has a recorded PowerPoint slide presentation. You can print the slides in advance for reference and making notes while taking the class. You can come and go from the presentation at any time. After working through the slides for a section, you should take that section’s quiz. Quizzes can be taken as many times as the student would like, however a 100% must be earned on all quizzes in order to receive credit for the class. After completing all five sections, the student will take a course exam.

There is a course exam to test your knowledge after you completed the course. There is a two-hour time limit and you only have one attempt. Once you start the exam, the two-hour period begins and does not stop if you leave the exam. You will be able to view your results. 

Internal Controls

In this course, the five elements of internal control listed below are covered. You will also learn what to do if you suspect fraud in the workplace.  

  1. Control environment
  2. Risk assessment
  3. Control activities
  4. Information and communication
  5. Monitoring

The online course is self-paced and allows students the flexibility to take the course based on their schedule. Each section has a recorded PowerPoint slide presentation. You can print the slides in advance for reference and making notes while taking the class. You can come and go from the presentation at any time. After working through the slides for a section, you should take that section’s quiz. Quizzes can be taken as many times as the student would like, however a 100% must be earned on all quizzes in order to receive credit for the class. After completing all five sections, the student will take a course exam.

There is a course exam to test your knowledge after you completed the course. There is a two-hour time limit and you only have one attempt. Once you start the exam, the two-hour period begins and does not stop if you leave the exam. You will be able to view your results.