MSc in Accountancy and Controlling
Groningen, Netherlands
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
01 May 2025*
EARLIEST START DATE
01 Feb 2025
TUITION FEES
EUR 20,800 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* Dutch I EU/EEA and non-EU/EEA students
** for Non-EU|for EU/EEA EUR 2,530
Introduction
How can you ensure that shareholders and managers receive the right information? How do modern-day developments, such as IT and Corporate Social Responsibility, affect the provision of information?
The MSc Accountancy and Controlling emphasizes the importance of high-quality information. In today's world, such information is crucial for all kinds of decisions. For instance, shareholders have to decide whether to continue their investment in particular companies, and managers need to decide which strategy to follow for their company to remain successful. These and other decisions require relevant, reliable, and timely information. In your Master’s program, you will learn how to design information systems that produce such information, and how to assess the quality of existing systems.
The emphasis will be on the future role of auditors and controllers in society. Therefore, much attention will be paid to the opportunities and threats which arise due to innovations in information technology. Similarly, the current trend of reporting about sustainability issues, and their implications for information systems, will receive ample attention. Of course, also more traditional topics, such as ways to detect fraud, will be discussed at length. Many graduates further specialize by obtaining a professional qualification and/or following an executive master's program.
Why study this program in Groningen?
The program prepares you for a role as an auditor or controller in a dynamic world which faces major developments in IT and increasingly emphasizes sustainability issues. This is an internationally accredited program, providing high-quality teaching that meets both AACSB and EQUIS standards, which only one percent of universities worldwide achieve.
The Master's program in Groningen is taught at an advanced level because the students attending this program have specialized in Accounting in their previous studies. Groningen is also the only place in the Netherlands where you can gain a second Master's degree in Accountancy, the Executive Master of Accountancy (EMA).
Research
Linking education to research and career preparation.
The master Accountancy and Controlling focuses on both practically-oriented and academic research. On the one hand, you will become familiar with the outcomes of research in the fields of audit quality, management control, information systems, financial reporting, and corporate governance. On the other hand, you will perform practically-oriented assignments as well as research assignments yourself, which will help you to develop your academic skills.
The team of lecturers is a mix of practitioners and active researchers. Their research projects – often in collaboration with external parties – are focusing on: integrated reporting, voluntary disclosure, Corporate Social Responsibility, risk management, the role of controllers, board composition, and more.
Admissions
Curriculum
The program has two profiles to choose from: Accountancy and Controlling.
The Accountancy profile focuses on the information needs of external stakeholders, such as shareholders. This focus comes back in courses on Auditing (10 EC in total) and Financial Accounting (10 EC). So much attention will be paid to a firm's external reporting and the investigation of the quality of information systems and external reports.
The Controlling profile emphasizes the information needs of managers and other internal stakeholders. This emphasis is realized in courses on Management Accounting / Management Control (15 EC) and Financial Management (5 EC). Therefore, the provision of information for decision-making and control will be the main interest.
Both profiles include courses on Strategy (5 EC) and Accounting Information Systems (10 EC). The AIS courses are centered around current developments in IT. Current developments in Corporate Social Responsibility come back in several courses (including both profile-specific and shared courses). Both profiles are rounded off with a thesis (20 EC), for which students prepare themselves in a course on research methods (5 EC). You can choose between quantitative and qualitative research methods. The data collection for the thesis can be combined with an internship.
Courses
- Accountancy: Advanced Accounting Information Systems (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Auditing Theory (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Financial Accounting Theory (5 EC)
- Accountancy: IT in Control (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Research in Accounting and Control (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Strategic & Organizational Design (5 EC)
- Controlling: Advanced Accounting Information Systems (5 EC)
- Controlling: Management Accounting Techniques (5 EC)
- Controlling: Research in Accounting and Control (5 EC)
- Controlling: Strategic & Organizational Design (5 EC)
- Controlling: Value-Based Management (5 EC)
- ControllingManagement Accounting Change (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Auditing Research (5 EC)
- Accountancy: International Financial Accounting (5 EC)
- Accountancy: Master's Thesis Accountancy (20 EC)
- Controlling: IT in Control (5 EC)
- Controlling: Master's Thesis A&C (20 EC)
- Controlling: Research in Management Control (5 EC)
Program options
- DDM China & The World Economy (track)
- Master Internship (specialization)
Study abroad
- Study abroad is unaccommodated
Gallery
Career Opportunities
Job prospects
Your Master's program is a good basis for many positions in both the private and the public sectors, including the positions of auditor and controller (sometimes called management accountant). Also becoming a consultant in related areas is an option.
Many auditors start their career at one of the Big Four auditing firms: KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and EY. Auditors examine a company’s information systems and test the reliability of these systems by conducting random sample checks and data analyses.
Controllers are employed by regular companies, where they prepare budgets and reports, make cost price calculations assess investment proposals and design performance measurement systems. Strategic decision-making, IT solutions, and risk management are also examples of subjects a controller deals with.
To become an auditor, you usually need an additional qualification as a Chartered Certified Accountant. As a controller, you may want to pursue a Chartered Management Accountant qualification (optional). The ways of attaining these qualifications differ per country. In the Netherlands, after finishing the Accountancy profile, you can combine your job with the Executive Master of Accountancy (EMA). This program lasts one and a half years and is combined with a three-year practical internship. On completion, you can use the title Executive Master and the Dutch qualification of 'register accountant.
Alternatively, and irrespective of the profile you completed, you can follow the Executive Master of Finance and Control (EMFC). This part-time program lasts two years, and – after completion – allows you to use the title Executive Master in Finance & Control and the Dutch equivalent 'register controller.
FEB Career Services
To support you in developing your career and strengthen your employability skills, our FEB Career Services empowers you to achieve lifelong success through various career services during your studies. In order to give you a better idea of your prospects after graduating, we have gathered some facts and figures from our alumni.
Job examples
- Financial manager
- Consultant in the domain of financial management/information systems
- Auditor
- Controller / Management accountant
Accreditations
Program Admission Requirements
Show your commitment and readiness for Grad school by taking the GRE - the most broadly accepted exam for graduate programs internationally.