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Business taxation & Auditing

Welcome to the information pages of our Bachelor's degree course "Business Taxation & Auditing". On the following pages you will find all the important information about this application-oriented degree program, which will qualify you for a professional career in the field of tax consulting as well as auditing. The degree program is a six-semester, modular full-time course. 

If you require further information or have any questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Diesch (course director) or Christiane Weinerth (program manager). We will be happy to assist you.

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Brief profile of the Bachelor's degree program in Business Taxation & Auditing

Nothing is more constant than change. This applies in particular to tax legislation and accounting. We impart state-of-the-art knowledge of both national and international regulations. In our degree programs in Business Taxation and Auditing, you will acquire the necessary knowledge and become familiar with the latest trends and developments in the two main areas of study.

Business taxation Taxation - you will not only acquire knowledge of the various types of tax, but will also be able to determine the tax burden and make business decisions taking taxes into account.

Auditing - the focus here is on dealing with national and international accounting regulations and checking their correct application.  Knowledge of capital market regulations and company valuation is also taught.

In a standard study period of 6 semesters, you will first learn the basics of business administration before focusing on specific tax and auditing content. You will learn to understand and classify legal regulations, structure and solve practical issues in a team, present and communicate with and in front of your lecturers and fellow students.

The curriculum includes in-depth knowledge of Office applications and the basics of business informatics as well as the application-oriented use of software solutions in tax consultancy and auditing. Thanks to the resulting broad range of applications, you will have the best opportunities for a quick career start with a variety of possibilities in the exciting and future-oriented fields of tax consulting and auditing.

However, the Bachelor's degree also enables you to qualify for a Master's degree of your choice or to take the professional examinations Steuerberater and / or Wirtschaftsprüfer after a period of practical work experience.

The program at a glance: 

*Here you will find detailed information about the admission requirements.

Your studies at a glance

The professionally qualifying Bachelor's degree course in Business Taxation and Auditing is divided into six semesters. The course has a modular structure and is divided into 25 modules plus a practical phase abroad and a Bachelor's thesis. In this way, you will acquire the necessary practical skills to meet the expectations and requirements of the job market.

The following diagram gives you an overview of the course and structure of the degree programs:

Below you will find detailed information on the individual study modules: 

1st semester

General Business Administration module

The basic module "General Business Administration" first deals with the special features of business administration as a science before moving on to concepts and approaches of economic thinking and action in order to recognize, analyze and discuss economic issues. This includes business management functions such as procurement, production, sales, personnel and financing as well as initial management concepts. You will become familiar with basic business management methods and tools and will be able to apply these to simple problems.

Business mathematics module

The basic contents of this module are financial mathematics, linear algebra and analysis, which are used to formulate economic problems in the language of mathematics. In particular, the focus is on questions of financial mathematics in order to interpret and implement results derived from mathematics in economic terms. For example, capital value calculations, curve discussions, determination of extreme values, elasticities, fundamentals of optimization, linear systems of equations and input/output analysis are used. 

Bookkeeping and cost accounting module

The overall module consists of the two sub-modules "Bookkeeping" and "Cost Accounting". In addition to the basic structure of business accounting and bookkeeping, the "Bookkeeping" sub-module deals with the fundamental relationship between the balance sheet and the income statement. In addition, operational processes are mapped using double-entry bookkeeping and annual financial statements are prepared. In the "Cost Accounting" sub-module, students learn about the tasks and instruments of cost type, cost center and cost unit accounting on a full cost basis as well as basic knowledge of partial cost accounting. This includes the application of the main instruments of cost element, cost center and cost unit accounting in the context of operational issues.

Legal module

The range of topics covered in this module includes an introduction to private law and public law and relates to the German Civil Code, the general part, the law of obligations and property law. The aim is to ensure that you are familiar with the areas of law and legal matters required for future tasks in business and that you can apply the most important areas of civil law relevant to business law in a practical manner. This includes the ability to use the relevant legal sources independently, assess business law issues and solve legal cases.

Personnel and marketing module

The module consists of the two sub-modules "Human Resources" and "Marketing". The first sub-module deals with the functional basics of human resources management, personnel planning, organization of working conditions, remuneration determination and policy, as well as recruitment, selection and development. The sub-module "Marketing" deals with the elements of a management-oriented marketing concept as well as basic instruments and organizational aspects of marketing. This includes the basics of strategic marketing management, methods of market research as well as central aspects of product, price, communication and sales policy.

Business Informatics module

The module consists of the two sub-modules "Theory" and "Practice". The aim of the module as a whole is to familiarize students with the working methods and the most important techniques of current hardware and software and to understand how information and communication technology can serve business purposes. The most important business applications of information and communication technology are covered and simple business methods (e.g. break-even, ABC analysis) are applied in a practice-oriented manner with the help of spreadsheet programs.

 

2nd semester

Investment and financing module

The sub-module "Investment" deals with the basic investment and profitability calculations under certainty and the evaluation of investment alternatives. The methods of static investment calculation as well as the methods of dynamic investment calculation are discussed and deepened with concrete application examples. In addition, special cases of investment appraisal such as the replacement problem as well as profitability, financial and liquidity planning are dealt with. The mirror-image sub-module "Financing" deals with the instruments of external and internal financing and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different financing alternatives and evaluates selected capital structures.

Accounting and taxation module

The "Accounting" sub-module deals with the legal origins and core business statements of (individual) annual financial statements under national law (commercial and tax law), including the distinction from group accounting and annual financial statements under international law (IFRS). Important business statements in accounting such as the balance sheet and income statement are examined and assessed in order to derive economic decisions. In the "Taxation" sub-module, the fundamentals of corporate taxation are dealt with in depth and the tax burden effects associated with business decisions are determined.

Statistics module

The statistics module consists of the sub-modules "Statistics" and "Statistics with Excel". In the context of "Statistics", you will learn the most important concepts, definitions, formulas and methods of descriptive and inductive statistics. This includes, for example, mean values, measures of dispersion and higher moments, index numbers, correlation and regression. You will learn how to analyze collected data (descriptive statistics) as well as how to apply probability theory, estimation methods and hypothesis tests in theory and practice. In the "Statistics with Excel" sub-module, you will apply the topics covered theoretically in the "Statistics" sub-module using sample data relevant to business administration (e.g. share prices) in Excel. You will deepen your theoretical knowledge of statistics and also acquire additional Excel skills. This provides you with the application competence for practice-oriented, quantitative methods for processing, summarizing and analyzing data to improve the quality of decision-making in business management functional areas.

Economics module

The learning objectives of the "Economics" sub-module are knowledge and understanding of the functioning of market economies as well as economic policy objectives and instruments. This includes the basics of national accounting and economic policy as well as basic macroeconomic explanatory approaches, which are analyzed in the short and long term and applied to practical economic policy. In addition, central production technologies are differentiated from one another and pricing on markets is described and interpreted.

Basic Business Skills module

In the sub-module "English I - Business Basic", simple to moderately difficult business situations are simulated communicatively (by telephone or in writing). You will practice describing companies, business objects, etc., as well as analyzing basic processes and describing them using suitable media. The "Soft Skills I" sub-module teaches appropriate language skills in international contexts and distinguishes between the different language registers (business language, everyday language, academic language, student language) and regional language phenomena (US English, UK English). Furthermore, students will learn how to organize their learning and presentation techniques, prepare a short presentation on business topics and give it in German and/or English.

 

3rd semester

Module Corporate Management and Controlling

This module consists of the sub-modules "Corporate Management" and "Controlling". You will learn about the interests of all stakeholders in a company, examine basic management models, planning and decision-making techniques and be able to evaluate and use these in a targeted manner. This also involves the goal-oriented design of organizations and processes and their management approaches, which you will evaluate and operationalize for application. You will also learn the central principles and methods of controlling and be able to apply these to practical issues. You will reflect on and take into account different perspectives and interests in order to be able to recognize the appropriate framework conditions and make well-founded and responsible decisions.

  • Module Business Taxation I
  • Auditing I module

Advanced Business Skills module

The module aims to equip students with business skills in an international context. In the sub-module "English II - Business in Practice", students discuss specific, current but also critical topics in a results-oriented manner and rehearse application procedures in English, for example. The module is rounded off by the sub-module "Soft Skills II - Communication", in which students learn to prepare a more extensive presentation or training course on business topics in the area of communication/conflict management/negotiation and to present it in German and/or English and to activate participants.

Mentorship programs module

The mentorship programs serve to get to know students and full-time lecturers of the degree programs and ensure personal, individual support. On the other hand, initial discussions on topics relating to the Bachelor's thesis should be held. Another aspect is the discussion of possible problems in the course of studies and finding a supervisor for the internship.

 

4th semester 

Business Taxation II

Auditing II

Compulsory elective module

In the 4th semester, you choose an area of your choice from the range of other degree programs. This allows you to choose a second focus, which increases your professional flexibility. 

International Business Skills module

In the sub-module "English II - Business Knowledge", you will be able to communicate a comprehensive business topic in English in a compact manner and with subject-related specialist vocabulary. You will be familiar with typical cultural differences in presentations in English-speaking countries. As part of the sub-module "Soft Skills III - Business Ethics", you will practise forming opinions and representing your point of view in a discussion in English and motivating other people to express their opinions.

Academic writing module

In this model, you will learn about objectives and standards in an academic environment and will be able to apply the relevant guidelines to practical issues using the basics of academic expression and citation. This module prepares you for your own academic thesis (Bachelor's thesis).

 

5th semester

  • Business Taxation III
  • Business Taxation IV 

Module Auditing III

In the "Company Valuation" sub-module, you will learn the methods and principles of valuing companies and shares and apply these to case studies. As part of the "Group Accounting" sub-module, you will deal with the preparation of consolidated financial statements and gain a deeper understanding of the application of individual types of consolidation by working on case studies. In the "International Accounting" sub-module, you will acquire basic knowledge of accounting in accordance with the German Commercial Code (HGB) and IFRS and differentiate between them. The importance, development, principles and special features of IFRS in the accounting and valuation of assets and liabilities as well as in the realization of profits are dealt with in order to be able to understand, analyze and evaluate the main features of annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS.

Auditing IV module

The sub-module "Portfolio and Capital Market Theory" deals with the risk and return of capital investments and investment programs (securities portfolios) and their valuation and quantification. You will understand the concept of diversification, be able to apply it and determine efficient and optimal portfolios. The focus is also on the CAPM and APT capital market models. In the sub-module "Investment and Value Enhancement", students are enabled to analyze the main issues of corporate finance, the role of the financial manager with the tasks and implications of a separation of corporate management and capital ownership. The valuation of financial instruments and working capital is applied in practice.

 

6th semester 

Semester abroad or internship module

You can choose between a semester abroad or an internship (compulsory internship). In an authentic environment, you can get to know cultural and economic peculiarities, develop existing language skills in specific communication situations and improve your social skills for further professional development. Optionally, you can apply and deepen your practical knowledge and skills in as many areas of your degree programs as possible in the relevant areas of a commercial enterprise or a business-related institution in Germany or abroad during a practical phase.

Bachelor's thesis module

As part of their Bachelor's thesis, students work independently on a business management problem using scientific methods, both in terms of subject-specific details and interdisciplinary contexts.

Special features

Study concept

Our Bachelor's degree program provides you with fundamental specialist knowledge of business administration based on the fundamentals of business taxation and auditing. In addition, the degree programs imparts interdisciplinary qualifications, supplemented by the special teaching content of the major fields of study. A central feature of the course is the topicality of the content, which takes into account tax legislation, tax case law and accounting regulations, which are constantly being amended and developed.

With our application-oriented degree programs, we pay particular attention not only to the basic technical content, but also to the development of your methodological, personal and social skills in order to prepare you in the best possible way for your future career For example, the consideration of ethical aspects in decision-making, interculturalism and leadership quality play an important role.

 

Varied education with a high level of practical relevance

Our degree programs are characterized by first-class theoretical education that provides you with a sound knowledge base for your future field of activity. The high level of practical relevance, the concrete application relevance and the orientation of the teaching content to current trends and developments are decisive. The courses are held as lectures with integrated exercises with the help of technological support. Group work, discussions, seminars, case studies & mini-cases for reflection and application of knowledge are an essential part of the course. In addition, digital units round off the curriculum and increase flexibility in learning.

Project work - where possible in cooperation with companies -, case studies and guest lectures underpin the practical relevance of the course content and offer you first-class opportunities to network with renowned experts and practitioners.         
For your final thesis, we aim to cooperate with a company.    

  

Diverse specializations and in-depth options

We offer a wide range of elective modules to complement and deepen your individual interests. These build on the business fundamentals taught in the first semesters. This gives you the opportunity to specialize in topics such as management consulting, human resources, marketing, controlling or logistics in addition to your main area of study, thus acquiring further core competencies and in-depth professional know-how.

Study abroad/practical phase

With globalization and increasing international interdependence, activities and trade volumes are growing in an international context.  You can meet these challenges in your future working life. For this reason, we offer you the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at a partner university in your sixth semester. During your semester abroad, you will receive first-class support from our International Office. In addition to deepening your specialist knowledge, you will get to know the culture, mentality and language of the host country and can make international contacts with students and potential employers.    


In the degree programs "Business Taxation & Auditing" we train you specifically for practical work. Accordingly, we provide you with an internship semester in the sixth semester as an alternative to a semester abroad. During this time, you will work in a company and apply the specialist knowledge you have acquired at to gain your first practical experience and practical contacts. During your practical phase, you will be individually supervised by a professor from your degree program.

Mentoring program

We accompany you. Our professors maintain personal contact with you as part of our mentoring program. This enables you to arrive at our university, ensures optimal support and guidance not only at the beginning of your studies, but also throughout your studies, especially in personal, organizational and content-related matters.

Studium Generale

Beyond the study program of your degree program, you have the opportunity to voluntarily attend events in the Studium Generale, which we offer in cooperation with partner universities and colleges. Exciting topics and lecturers broaden your horizons beyond the purely technical topics.

Career opportunities

Graduates of the Bachelor's degree course "Business Taxation & Auditing" take on specialist and management roles in various areas of the economy. In particular in tax and auditing companies, in the accounting or controlling departments of companies, in industrial, commercial or service companies and in associations and institutions.

The Bachelor's degree is your first professional qualification "Bachelor of Arts B.A."! However, it also enables you to qualify for a Master's degree of your choice or to take the professional exams to become a tax consultant and/or auditor after a period of practical work experience.

The following are some examples of the experiences of some of our graduates: 

This page provides you with an overview of the professors and lecturers who teach the lectures as part of the Bachelor's degree program "Business Taxation & Wirtschaftsprüfung":

Prof. Dr. Frank Grafmüller

Head of degree program Business Taxation & Auditing
Field of study: Business Taxation and Auditing

further information

Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Birgit Angermayer

Teaching areas: Group accounting, accounting of insurance companies and credit institutions, business valuation, tax planning, professional law, cost accounting 

further information

Prof. Dr. Andreas Diesch

Teaching areas: Income taxes, international tax law, taxation of corporate restructuring, accounting, investment, cost accounting 

more information

Prof. Dr. Markus Widmann

Teaching areas: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), annual audit, audit methodology, auditing principles,...

further information

Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hehn-Ginsbach

Teaching Areas: Investment and Finance, International Finance, Portfolio and Capital Market Theory, Investment and Value Enhancement, Applied Corporate Finance.

"Finance is the heart of the entire economy - it is what makes any entrepreneurial activity possible, ensures that markets function properly, and creates prosperity and growth. Imparting knowledge and skills in these exciting subject areas, as well as mentoring and developing young talent in preparation for exceptional careers in the diverse fields of finance, is my passion and my top priority." more information

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Carsten Pohl

Teaching Areas: Statistics, SAP ERP, mathematics, asset management 

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

more information

Prof. Dr. Gösta Jamin

Teaching areas: Banking, financial markets and derivatives, risk management, corporate regulation, economics 

"Alongside the invention of the wheel and the taming of fire, the financial system is one of mankind's greatest inventions."

further information

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Walz

Teaching areas: asset classes and investment psychology, current developments in the financial services market, behavioral economics, investment banking, financial psychology and behavioral economics, financial services

"The ultimate secret of successful investment and retirement planning is that there is no secret!"

further information

Prof. Dr. Sibylle Baumann

Fields of teaching: Civil law, commercial and corporate law, international business law, IT law, logistics law

more information& nbsp;

Prof. Dr. Martin Selchert

Fields of teaching: Marketing, Business Management, Consulting 

more information

Christine Heinzel

Teaching areas: Marketing, Human Resources, Project Management, Conflict Management, International Business Skills, Scientific Work

more information

Dieter Ott

Teaching Areas: Soft Skills, Business Ethics and Intercultural Competence

more information& nbsp;

Harry Sponheimer

Teaching Areas: Business English, English for Logistics, Intercultural Awareness 

more information& nbsp;

Application

For information on application procedures , please contact the staff at the Student Service Center. International applicants should contact the International Affairs staff. 

Here you can find an overview of the study programs and access the application form.

Contact persons

For all questions relating to the Bachelor's degree program, please contact

Ms. Christiane Weinerth
Email: christiane.weinerth@hwg-lu.de
Phone: 0621-5203-314
Mobile: 0162-6418062