Help investors make the right financial decisions
Accounting provides the information necessary to make important financial decisions at a high level. Investors will look at financial reports to see what is going right for the company, compare performances of different companies, and predict future performance.
Using this information, investors will decide where to allocate their savings and how to adjust their investment portfolio. Accountants provide assurance on this information through their audit. They also give oversight to internal issues like fraud as well as staying in compliance with both national and international regulations.
In the Accountancy track you learn to analyse information needed for reporting purposes of organisations. We place key emphasis on studying the rules, procedures and systems that are needed.
Why choose the Accountancy track?
- Beside the 6 general courses you will have specific courses with focus on Financial Accounting Research and Auditing.
- After graduation, you have an excellent job prospect at wide variety of business and public organisations, including commercial organisations, non-profit organisations, the Financial Markets Authority and the Dutch Central Bank.
The Amsterdam Business School has positioned itself amongst the best business schools in Europe and I can tell so by the many ambitious young people I met here.Denitsa Pacheva, Accountancy track Read Denitsa's full review
Track-specific courses
Apart from the 6 general courses of the full programme, you will follow 3 track-specific courses.
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Financial Accounting Research (5EC)
The main objective of this course is to provide you with a thorough introduction into academic research on financial accounting and reporting to get a better understanding of the financial reporting environment.
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Auditing (5EC)
In this course you will learn about the role and of the auditor in society. We will cover various topics, such as the expectation gap, auditor independence, the audit risk model, the audit process, audit quality and fraudulent reporting, auditor oversight and regulation, as well as current developments in the market for audit services.
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Business Lab: Accountancy (3EC)
Apply your knowledge to solve complex business issues in the area of accountancy. Together with your fellow students, you will work on cases that an audit firm or company struggles with, such as the implementation of new accounting standards or the use of data analytics and process mining to improve an audit.
Sales revenue is crucial for stakeholders to understand performance. But revenues are not easily defined in case of long-term customer relationships. So how should a telecom firm account for up-front payment for a two-year cellphone plan? Treatment according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is changing. Does this change influence firm valuation?
Contemporary issues
Examples of relevant issues that could be discussed in your classroom.
- Financial Accounting Scandals - Recently, the large accounting scandal of Wirecard in Germany raised the question how it is possible that large accounting scandals keep recurring. As a result, auditors faced renewed scrutiny from regulators, investors and the general public for big changes in the profession. However, research evidence on the effectiveness of these changes in preventing new scandals suggest that there is a permanent risk for scandals. What is driving this risk? We need more understanding of the economic determinants and consequences of this permanent risk of accounting scandals, as well as new ways to prevent future scandals.
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - In April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This proposal will affect the reporting of nearly 50,000 European firms with regards to sustainability information, and is considered the most important change in financial reporting since the introduction of IFRS. The 1st standard is expected to be ready by mid-2022, and the Directive applicable for the 1st time for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2023. How will the CSRD affect the reporting requirements of Non-Financial Information? Which training do auditors require in order to audit the sustainability data? How will investors react to this new type of annual report?
Career prospects
Graduates of the Master's programme in Accountancy and Control/Accountancy track have excellent job prospects for positions as:
- Accountant
- Auditor
- Register Accountant (RA)
- Data analyst
- Consultant