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Accounting & Finance

Short Profile of the Focus Area

Companies and financial service providers today are confronted with mounting competition in product and financial markets, as well as increasing regulatory challenges. Under these circumstances, the position of business managers or chief financial officers is becoming increasingly important, as demonstrated by the many cases in which former CFOs have been appointed to the position of chief executive officer (CEO). Examples include Joe Kaeser (CEO of Siemens AG) and Werner Baumann (CEO of Bayer AG).

By concentrating on "Accounting & Finance", you will get to know the financial aspects of business administration comprehensively. This includes aspects of

  • external accounting (how to interpret and structure balance sheets and income statements);
  • controlling (how to structure performance indicators for corporate management);
  • financial management (how to measure and manage risks and perform valuations);
  • taxation (how to implement corporate tax rules).

Qualification Objective

Students concentrating on "Accounting & Finance" learn about companies in a comprehensive way from the perspectives of finance and accounting. They acquire tools and techniques for interpreting and shaping the financial impact of business decisions. They also acquire knowledge about the various areas of the financial market, its participants and its products, as well as how to evaluate and use them in a corporate context.

The programme’s combination of academic and practical perspectives is rounded by regular case studies with companies and presentations by experts from large German corporations and financial service providers (such as Commerzbank, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, Lufthansa and Volkswagen), international companies (such as Google and CSL Behring), service providers (such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting, KPMG, E&Y and PWC), as well as innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (such as Roth Industries, Viessmann, Invia Travel and Stihl). 

Career Perspectives

As a graduate with a focus on "Accounting & Finance", you will be prepared to take on commercial functions in companies or work as a consultant. The specific fields of work that graduates with this concentration have entered include corporate (financial) controlling, finance/banking and accounting, as well as auditing, tax advice and (strategic) management consulting.