Former England striker Beattie parted company with League Two Stanley on Friday by mutual consent.
Coleman managed Stanley from 1999 to 2012 and won three promotions including their return to the Football League - sealed with their Conference title triumph in 2006.
"We hope this is going to be an exciting time for the players, staff and supporters," an excited Coleman told the club's official website.
"It's certainly an exciting time for me and Jimmy. We've never really stopped supporting the club since we left, we've seen a lot of games and we can't wait to work with this group of players.
"It's no secret that I've wanted to manage in the Football League again and when a job comes up at a club as close to your heart as Accrington then that ticks two boxes."
"I feel 'passion' is something we have missed on and off the pitch for quite a while," he said.
"Arguably in our quest to become more 'professional' (perhaps out of a misplaced sense of inferiority because of our non-league roots) we have lost that indefinable essence to what Stanley is all about."
