We offer you small-scale teaching throughout our entire curriculum, the commitment and support of our faculty, and a culture in which your views and contributions are highly appreciated. Our master’s programme covers all theoretical and practical aspects of collecting, categorising, summarising, analysing, and using financial data in organisations. Our core courses range from Advanced Financial Statement Analysis, and Corporate Reporting, over Accounting Process Management, and Ethic & Sustainability, to Introduction to Accounting Research, and Programming. These core courses help you to get acquainted with a wide range of topics that are essential for accounting, auditing, control, and finance, and also equip you with the necessary knowledge in data analysis and recent developments in corporate sustainability.
Seminars to deepen, apply and specialise
The core courses provide you with a solid background for attending the subsequent seminars in which you can deepen and apply your knowledge. Two seminars focus on data analytics and financial accounting, while the third seminar deepens your knowledge in the specialisation that you have chosen.
For example, if you choose the Accounting and Auditing specialisation, you will take the seminar Auditing. If the specialisation of your choice is Accounting and Control, you will take the Management Control seminar, while you follow the Corporate Governance seminar if you enroll in the Accounting and Finance specialisation.
In each of the seminars, you will be expected to write and present several papers, present aspects of the literature or case applications, and actively participate in in-class discussions. You will cover seminal topics and discuss recent developments in the field. The seminars stimulate critical, independent, and creative thinking and foster your argumentation skills.
The final block of the programme is devoted to your master thesis. You will work on your thesis individually, under close supervision by a member of our academic staff.
Curriculum
The curriculum consists of:
- 20% Foundation
- 20% Deepening understanding
- 60% Critical discussion and evaluation of accounting theory and practice
Study schedule
The Take-Off is the introduction programme for all new students at Erasmus School of Economics. During the Take-Off you will meet your fellow students, get acquainted with our study associations and learn all the ins and outs of your new study programme, supporting information systems and life on campus and in the city.
This course aims to prepare students for these changes in the accounting profession. Specifically, this course covers topics of
• Accountants as business analysts
• AIS and firm value
• AIS and internal controls
• Business processes and internal controls
• Cybersecurity and fraud prevention
• Data analytics in accounting
• Emerging technologies in AIS (e.g., blockchain, artificial intelligence, and automation)
• Monitoring and auditing AIS
- Introduction to empirical research in Accounting & Finance
- Theory and hypotheses development
- Framing research: The predictive validity framework
- Experiments versus observational studies
- Basic applied econometrics: Causality and Identification
The course focuses on understanding complex financial reporting issues such as business combinations, consolidation, foreign currencies, joint arrangements, hedge accounting and financial instruments. In addition, recent developments in corporate reporting are discussed including reporting on sustainability.
In this course, we will focus on empirical financial accounting research topics, such as the capital market implications of accounting information, earnings properties and disclosures. The course is given in a seminar format: sessions take place in small groups of (up to) 24 students and will consist of active discussions about existing research Besides reading academic research, you will learn to apply the knowledge to solve or provide advice to issues in practice. This will be achieved through in-class discussions and assignments, as well as a separate group assignment in which you will write a policy advice on a current topic of debate, drawing from existing academic research.
The general objective of this course is to acquire basic programming skills in R that students can use in data analytics. The topics covered are specified in the course objectives. The skills that you acquire during this course will be useful for the Seminar Data Analytics, Seminar Financial Accounting Research and the MSc Thesis.
- Introduction to Auditing
- Audit Research
This course has to main parts:
Ethics part:
One part of the course is about doing the right thing while practicing professional accounting. One part of doing the right thing is knowing what you are expected to do in various situations and recognising what will be the effect of our choice taken while practicing professional accounting. The hardest part of doing the right thing is, therefore, recognizing and avoiding ethical hazards with conflicting expectations. Accountants have special obligations and responsibilities beyond those of other business practitioners so this course aims to develop the ethical analysis of different scenario beyond philosophy ethics courses and beyond business ethics courses.
Sustainability (reporting) part:
Another part of the course, we will turn to non-financial (sustainability) reporting. In particular, we will discuss (economic) incentives to provide non-financial reporting on a voluntary base. We will also discuss the various mandatory reporting requirements in the context of sustainability and CSR reporting.
- Earnings quality and cash flows versus accruals
- Creating condensed financial statements
- Forecasting of future firm performance
- Equity Valuation (Residual Income Valuation)
- Financial analysis
The general objective of this course is to acquire methodological and analytical skills to analyze large datasets. The analysis of big dataset produces information that can be effectively used to improve decision-making and business outcomes.
The thesis is an individual assignment about a subject from your Master's specialisation. More information about thesis subjects, thesis supervisors and the writing process can be found on the Master thesis website.
The Take-Off is the introduction programme for all new students at Erasmus School of Economics. During the Take-Off you will meet your fellow students, get acquainted with our study associations and learn all the ins and outs of your new study programme, supporting information systems and life on campus and in the city.
This course aims to prepare students for these changes in the accounting profession. Specifically, this course covers topics of
• Accountants as business analysts
• AIS and firm value
• AIS and internal controls
• Business processes and internal controls
• Cybersecurity and fraud prevention
• Data analytics in accounting
• Emerging technologies in AIS (e.g., blockchain, artificial intelligence, and automation)
• Monitoring and auditing AIS
- Introduction to empirical research in Accounting & Finance
- Theory and hypotheses development
- Framing research: The predictive validity framework
- Experiments versus observational studies
- Basic applied econometrics: Causality and Identification
The course focuses on understanding complex financial reporting issues such as business combinations, consolidation, foreign currencies, joint arrangements, hedge accounting and financial instruments. In addition, recent developments in corporate reporting are discussed including reporting on sustainability.
In this course, we will focus on empirical financial accounting research topics, such as the capital market implications of accounting information, earnings properties and disclosures. The course is given in a seminar format: sessions take place in small groups of (up to) 24 students and will consist of active discussions about existing research Besides reading academic research, you will learn to apply the knowledge to solve or provide advice to issues in practice. This will be achieved through in-class discussions and assignments, as well as a separate group assignment in which you will write a policy advice on a current topic of debate, drawing from existing academic research.
The general objective of this course is to acquire basic programming skills in R that students can use in data analytics. The topics covered are specified in the course objectives. The skills that you acquire during this course will be useful for the Seminar Data Analytics, Seminar Financial Accounting Research and the MSc Thesis.
This course has to main parts:
Ethics part:
One part of the course is about doing the right thing while practicing professional accounting. One part of doing the right thing is knowing what you are expected to do in various situations and recognising what will be the effect of our choice taken while practicing professional accounting. The hardest part of doing the right thing is, therefore, recognizing and avoiding ethical hazards with conflicting expectations. Accountants have special obligations and responsibilities beyond those of other business practitioners so this course aims to develop the ethical analysis of different scenario beyond philosophy ethics courses and beyond business ethics courses.
Sustainability (reporting) part:
Another part of the course, we will turn to non-financial (sustainability) reporting. In particular, we will discuss (economic) incentives to provide non-financial reporting on a voluntary base. We will also discuss the various mandatory reporting requirements in the context of sustainability and CSR reporting.
- Various management control systems are used by firms to assure the organizational goal can be achieved. This course discusses the commonly used control mechanisms such as performance measurement, pay-for-performance systems, target setting, promotion decisions and corporate governance. In particular, why are they used, what are the advantages and disadvantages, and how to apply.
- This course also relies on cases from financial reports to help students build connections between theories and real-life problems.
- Earnings quality and cash flows versus accruals
- Creating condensed financial statements
- Forecasting of future firm performance
- Equity Valuation (Residual Income Valuation)
- Financial analysis
The general objective of this course is to acquire methodological and analytical skills to analyze large datasets. The analysis of big dataset produces information that can be effectively used to improve decision-making and business outcomes.
The thesis is an individual assignment about a subject from your Master's specialisation. More information about thesis subjects, thesis supervisors and the writing process can be found on the Master thesis website.
The Take-Off is the introduction programme for all new students at Erasmus School of Economics. During the Take-Off you will meet your fellow students, get acquainted with our study associations and learn all the ins and outs of your new study programme, supporting information systems and life on campus and in the city.
- Introduction to empirical research in Accounting & Finance
- Theory and hypotheses development
- Framing research: The predictive validity framework
- Experiments versus observational studies
- Basic applied econometrics: Causality and Identification
The course focuses on understanding complex financial reporting issues such as business combinations, consolidation, foreign currencies, joint arrangements, hedge accounting and financial instruments. In addition, recent developments in corporate reporting are discussed including reporting on sustainability.
Students choose one course from the listed courses:
- Advanced Corporate Finance and Strategy
- Advanced Money, Credit and Banking
- Accounting Process Management
- Financial Risk Management
- Advanced Investments
- Advanced Corporate Finance and Governance
In this course, we will focus on empirical financial accounting research topics, such as the capital market implications of accounting information, earnings properties and disclosures. The course is given in a seminar format: sessions take place in small groups of (up to) 24 students and will consist of active discussions about existing research Besides reading academic research, you will learn to apply the knowledge to solve or provide advice to issues in practice. This will be achieved through in-class discussions and assignments, as well as a separate group assignment in which you will write a policy advice on a current topic of debate, drawing from existing academic research.
The general objective of this course is to acquire basic programming skills in R that students can use in data analytics. The topics covered are specified in the course objectives. The skills that you acquire during this course will be useful for the Seminar Data Analytics, Seminar Financial Accounting Research and the MSc Thesis.
Corporate governance analyzes two conflicts of interest that arise in the financing of the firm.
The first is the conflict between shareholders and the firm's management. While shareholders usually want to see a high return on their investment, managers might have a different agenda. They could try to use the firm's funds for their own interests, or to build an empire that is big but unprofitable. We will discuss this problem and its two main solutions: monitoring by a big shareholder and incentive contracts that give the managers a share in the value they created for the firm.
The second conflict of interest emerges between controlling shareholder and minority shareholders. The controlling shareholder might try to tunnel money from the firm into her own pocket and thereby to expropriate minority shareholders. Depending on the legal environment, there might be many ways to do this. We will discuss the relevance of this problem and its implications for the ownership structure of the firm and for a firm's ability to obtain outside financing.
Against this background, we will discuss corporate governance laws and codes, the role and composition of the board of directors, executive compensation, the design of financial securities, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder activism.
This seminar provides you with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding about what good corporate governance is and why it matters. The course covers some theoretical and legal issues, but its main focus is on empirical research and insights. Therefore, we will analyze, discuss and criticize the methodology used in the empirical research. Hence, this course also aims at building a critical view on any empirical results presented to the student.
Active participation in and a strong commitment to this course are a prerequisite. You are expected to present pieces of the literature and to prepare for in-class discussions. You will also present your own results, ask questions, mention doubts and express your ideas in the class discussion. Hence, learning group dynamics is a positive (and important) side effect of this course.
This course has to main parts:
Ethics part:
One part of the course is about doing the right thing while practicing professional accounting. One part of doing the right thing is knowing what you are expected to do in various situations and recognising what will be the effect of our choice taken while practicing professional accounting. The hardest part of doing the right thing is, therefore, recognizing and avoiding ethical hazards with conflicting expectations. Accountants have special obligations and responsibilities beyond those of other business practitioners so this course aims to develop the ethical analysis of different scenario beyond philosophy ethics courses and beyond business ethics courses.
Sustainability (reporting) part:
Another part of the course, we will turn to non-financial (sustainability) reporting. In particular, we will discuss (economic) incentives to provide non-financial reporting on a voluntary base. We will also discuss the various mandatory reporting requirements in the context of sustainability and CSR reporting.
- Earnings quality and cash flows versus accruals
- Creating condensed financial statements
- Forecasting of future firm performance
- Equity Valuation (Residual Income Valuation)
- Financial analysis
The general objective of this course is to acquire methodological and analytical skills to analyze large datasets. The analysis of big dataset produces information that can be effectively used to improve decision-making and business outcomes.
The thesis is an individual assignment about a subject from your Master's specialisation. More information about thesis subjects, thesis supervisors and the writing process can be found on the Master thesis website.
Disclaimer
The overview above provides an impression of the curriculum for this programme for the academic year 2025-2026. It is not an up-to-date study schedule for current students. They can find their full study schedules on MyEUR. Please note that minor changes to this schedule are possible in future academic years.