Corporate Accounting & Controlling

Corporate Accounting & Controlling

The Department of Corporate Accounting & Controlling is your point of contact for all matters relating to Financial Accounting and Management Accounting, Consolidated Financial Statements, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Corporate Planning & Controlling, and all related matters.

Teaching

Our department offers one area of specialisation in each of the two Bachelor Programmes in Business, one is in English and one in German, and it offeres two Master Programmes in German.

Bachelor Programme in English: Business Consultancy International, Area of Specialisation: International Accounting & Finance (IAF)

This double major is implemented in cooperation with the Finance Department. The IAF specialisation focuses on finance and accounting in an international context addressing current challenges and issues facing the world’s international companies, financial institutions and markets.

In addition to a basic training in Accounting & Finance, courses like "Analysis of Financial Statements" and "Special Issues in Accounting and Taxation" will deepen your knowledge of Accounting. Additionally, you will have Finance courses about capital markets and investments, derivative securities, as well as about multinational finance and risk management.

For further details, please click here.

Bachelor Programme in German: Wirtschaftsberatung, Area of Specialisation: Unternehmensrechnung

For details, please refer to the German website.

Master Programme in German: Audit & Steuerberatung

For details, please refer to the German website.

Master Programme in German: Controlling & Business Intelligence

For details, please refer to the German website.

Our department provides courses on financial and management accounting topics, as well as on tax law, within many programmes. In programmes offered by the four Faculties of Engineering, Health, Sports and Security, for example, we also provide courses on basic accounting and business management topics.

Our lecturers teach in their classes what they effectively experienced in ther practical working lives. They are chartered accountants, management consultants and executives with solid academic backgrounds and broad teaching experience.

Research

Our department’s research activities can be divided into the following categories:

Research on current topics

Digitalisation in Tax Consulting and Auditing Firms
(Egger, Nitzlader, Zierlinger)

Digitalisation, i.e. the growing importance of information and communication technologies, is increasingly changing the day-to-day work of tax consultancy- and auditing companies. Internal processes and workflows in these firms are becoming more efficient as a result of digitalisation. In particular, the automation of certain activities and the faster accomplishment of complex tasks ultimately lead to an increase in value added.

In the spring of 2020, the Department of Corporate Accounting and Controlling, under the direction of Prof. (FH) Dr. Walter Egger, initiated an online survey on current and planned digitalization measures at tax consulting and auditing firms in Vienna and Lower Austria. The statistical analysis was performed by two master students in the course of their masters’ theses. The results of this survey, which was conducted in cooperation with the Austrian Chamber of Tax Advisors and Certified Public Accountants, relate primarily to digitalization measures regarding document management, document transmission and communication between accounting firms and their clients. Against the backdrop of increasing digitalization, another objective of the survey was to gain insights about the future competence profile of tax advisors and public accountants: According to the respondents’ assessment, proficiency in the use of accounting software and Excel, as well as knowledge in the area of data protection will be particularly important professional competencies in the future, on top of a well-founded proficiency in basic accounting knowledge. With regard to the social skills, analytical skills and consulting skills were considered particularly important for tax consultants and public accountants in the future.

In addition to the quantitative online survey, another master student conducted qualitative expert interviews with representatives of the so-called "Big Four" accounting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC. The experts’ observations about current and future digitalization measures within their companies and their assessment about the future competencies required of accountants and public accountants were incorporated into the study.

Download the study here (available in German only!)

Tax Consulting & Auditing
(Studnitzka/Krendelsberger/Zierlinger, Steuerberatung und Wirtschaftsprüfung in: Sichler/Häfke-Schönthaler (ed.), Beratung in der Wirtschaft. Grundlagen und

Anwendungsfelder, Linde international 2018, p. 131–158)
The article "Steuerberatung und Wirtschaftsprüfung" (Tax Consulting and Auditing) in the editorial work "Beratung in der Wirtschaft" (Consulting in Business) provides an insight into the world of accountancy services. It describes the role of auditors and tax consultants, presents the market structure and analyses current trends.

The department also conducts research on various topics together with students, who primarily research current innovations and issues in the context of their master's theses.