Teaching

This course provides students with an introduction to cost accounting and its role in management accounting. Upon completion of this module students will be able to explain the nature of costs, record costs, apply different techniques of cost compilation and evaluate cost control procedures. Students will learn how to solve cost accounting tasks in business practice and how cost behavior affects the provision of information for performance evaluation and managerial decision making.

Example topics

All bachelor theses at the chair will also include small-scale data collection and/or analysis. Knowledge of conventional word processing programs such as Excel is sufficient for this.

This course will be held alternating with the chair of Prof. Wüstemann und introduces the most relevant IFRS standards and their informational impact on capital markets. After an analysis of the institutional background of the international harmonization process in financial reporting, we will focus on key accounting issues. We will illustrate the effects using current accounting practices of multinational entities, go into major research findings and apply the knowledge to case studies from accounting practice. We will conclude the lecture by an assessment of the importance of accounting for corporate governance and controlling (inside perspective) and for capital-market-oriented financial statement analysis (outside perspective).

The course will familiarize participants with the terminology and basic concepts of managerial accounting. The topics range from the analysis of cost information for decision-making to performance measurement, financial planning, and budgeting. This knowledge will be applied through exercise sessions as well as group projects within case study sessions accompanying the lecture. This lecture will be held in English.

This lecture will be held by our adjunct lecturer Dr. Holger Rubel. This course will teach how sustainability goals can be integrated into strategy development and how this integration creates firm value. Topics include the role of regulation, materiality assessment, sustainability targets, the development of specific measures and flagship initiatives, and the interaction with corporate organization and governance. The course also offers an introduction to the link between sustainability strategies and sustainability reporting. Many business cases from different industries will illustrate the real-world impact of the lecture content.

This lecture will be held by our adjunct lecturer Dr. Holger Rubel. The success of a company’s sustainability strategy critically depends on its ability to monitor and evaluate sustainability performance. This course introduces the most important management tools to measure and assess sustainability performance, with a particular focus on decarbonization, waste and circular economy management, and life cycle assessment. Many business cases from different industries will illustrate the real-world impact of the lecture content, including cases study exercises and hands-on usage of leading management tools.

This lecture will be held by our adjunct lecturer Dr. Wilhelm Schmundt (Managing Director at BCG). The course aims at exploring Private Equity (PE) as an alternative asset class and will equip the participants with a sound understanding of its characteristics and mechanics. There will be a specific emphasis on teaching the LBO mechanics, core due diligence techniques and value creation strategies. The course will be complemented by several practical exercises, in class discussions, guest lectures from PE professionals, as well as a group case study.

This year’s seminar (spring semester 2025) focuses on questions pertaining to “Financial and Non-Financial Information on Capital Markets”. An introduction to the seminar’s overarching theme, the comprehensive list of topics as well as detailed instructions will be available for download here from mid-November onwards. For the seminar writing phase students can freely choose between two separate eight-week periods. The fast close period spans from January 3, 2025 to February 28, 2025. The final close period starts on February 17, 2025 and ends on April 14, 2025. We accept applications for the fast close until December 18, 2024 and for the final close until February 6, 2025. Please apply here. The seminar presentations (for both write-up periods) will take place on April 29, 2025.

Please note that you must have completed one of the following courses as a prerequisite: ACC 510 or ACC 520 or ACC 530 or ACC 540 or ACC 560 or ACC/TAX 570. Please provide evidence of this on your application.

We supervise master theses in the core areas of financial accounting, managerial accounting, bank accounting and regulation. Specific topics may include around financial and non-financial reporting under IFRS, local GAAP or US GAAP, financial and non-financial performance, corporate governance, (ESG-linked) executive compensation, or bank stress tests. Please do not hesitate to indicate topics you would like to work on in your application, which should be submitted at least 6 weeks before the intended start date. See below for more information.