Information about the specialization area Finance & Accounting

The specialization area "Finance & Accounting" is besides the specialization areas "Management" and "Economics" one of the three options of specialization in the Bachelor's program, which was introduced in the winter semester 2005/2006. Students can choose between those specialization areas after they have passed the orientation phase.

There are a number of good reasons to decide for a Bachelor in Economics and Business Administration majoring in "Finance & Accounting" at Goethe University. Our University has always been among the most prestigious universities in this field in Germany. The Accounting Department includes five full-time chairs. Thus the Goethe University has one of the largest accounting departments in the German-speaking world. The Department of Finance has ten full-time chairs. Furthermore, both departments have numerous honorary professors and guest lecturers, who complement the curriculum.

In the research both departments enjoy an excellent reputation. The scientists working in the Accounting Department publish books and articles about normative and interpretive problems of accounting, taxation and business valuation, about empirical, capital-market-oriented issues of accounting, as well as formal and conceptual works on internal corporate accounting. The scientists of the Department of Finance deal among other issues with pensions, banking, financial intermediation, credit management and credit markets, private equity, development finance, investment and portfolio management, real estate financing, as well as strategies of financial intermediaries. The articles appear often in the most prestigious national and international journals and the textbooks authored by members of the departments are often among the standard references of the respective area. The expertise of the professors working in the two departments is therefore appreciated at national and international committees and commissions and is often requested.

The close contact of the University to firms from the financial and accounting services industry, which are located in Frankfurt, the banking centre, makes precisely this major field of study so interesting for prospective students. Students can combine theory and practical experience not only in the courses of external professors and lecturers, but also in the context of numerous practical lectures, workshops, fireside evenings and other events. In addition, several companies also offer financial support opportunities for students. In this way the building of an individual network succeeds quickly and effectively.

The Bachelor’s program in Frankfurt is divided into six semesters. In the orientation section (first and second semester), students receive an introduction to the three specialization areas. In the third and fourth semesters the acquired information in the orientation section is engrossed in the form of compulsory modules, whereas students can choose optional modules in the following last two semesters which allows them to specialize in chosen focus.

In teaching the specialization area "Finance & Accounting" covers a wide spectrum of content and is represented in each study section. In the orientation section the lectures "Management Accounting" (Introduction to double-entry accounting) and "Finance 1" (basic concepts, such as the valuation of cash flows) are available. The third semester offers with the base modules "Cost and Activity Accounting" and "Finance 2" (financial instruments and financial markets) more foundations for later specialization. On the other hand, the second part of the qualification section (fourth semester) provides deeper insights in external accounting ("Financial Statements"). In the finance area the topic of capital structure will be taken up simultaneously with the lecture "Finance 3".

In the subsequent fifth and sixth semesters the students are offered a wide range of choice lectures in the specialization area "Finance & Accounting". The addressed issues are, among other, problems of the (international) group accounting, business valuation, business taxation, commercial and international banking, derivatives, risk management, as well as investment theory. The teaching is based always on theoretical knowledge, fosters critical discussion of problems and their solutions, and presents possibilities of practical implementation. The mandatory seminar in the fifth semester should serve as a possibility to prepare for the upcoming Bachelor thesis in the sixth semester.

More information about the bachelor's program can be found on the page of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

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