Taxation studies

You will acquire a basic understanding of business administration as a science and learn to think economically, recognize problems and conduct initial technical discussions. At the same time, you will familiarize yourself with central business management methods, target systems and functional areas such as procurement, production, sales, personnel, financing and corporate management.

You will learn to formulate economic questions mathematically and, in particular, to solve financial mathematical problems such as present value, terminal value and annuity calculations. At the same time, you will deepen your knowledge of linear algebra, differential and integral calculus as well as optimization methods in order to provide mathematical support for business decisions.

You will acquire a solid understanding of business accounting and learn how to systematically record business transactions and apply the relationship between the balance sheet and income statement with confidence. At the same time, you will learn the basics of cost type, cost center and cost unit accounting as well as partial cost accounting in order to support operational decisions mathematically.

You will gain an overview of the areas of law that are important for business and learn to classify and solve legal issues in a practical way. At the same time, you will deepen your knowledge of the basics of civil law, in particular the German Civil Code (BGB), the law of obligations and property law, and will be able to use commercial law sources independently.

You will learn the basics of human resources management and marketing and understand how both areas interact within the company. At the same time, you will develop the ability to apply personnel and market-related concepts to practical problems and derive independent solutions from them.

You will acquire a basic understanding of market economy relationships and learn how to apply microeconomic and macroeconomic models to economic policy issues. At the same time, you will analyze market mechanisms, government intervention and economic policy management by the state and central bank.

You will learn to carry out investment and profitability calculations with certainty and to systematically evaluate investment alternatives. At the same time, you will deal with forms of financing, capital structure, liquidity planning and modern financing instruments in order to make well-founded financial decisions.

You will acquire an in-depth understanding of annual financial statements in accordance with commercial and tax law as well as the business significance of the balance sheet and income statement. At the same time, you will learn the basics of corporate taxation and be able to calculate and classify the tax implications of business decisions.

You will acquire the skills to analyze business and financially relevant data sets both descriptively and inductively. You will learn to apply statistical methods such as probability calculation, parameter and interval estimation and hypothesis tests in theory and practice. Using spreadsheet software (Excel) intensively, you will be able to carry out quantitative analyses in order to prepare complex economic decisions based on data.

You will familiarize yourself with the strategic tools and technologies of modern business informatics and learn to classify hardware and software technologies from a business perspective. The focus is on practical data processing and analysis with Advanced Excel. You will learn how to prepare business data in a structured way, understand database concepts and use information theory solutions to optimize operational processes.

This module prepares you optimally for professional work in an international environment. You will further develop your English language skills for typical business situations (Business English) and learn to confidently grasp and communicate subject-specific content. At the same time, you will train essential soft skills such as presentation and moderation techniques, self-organization and learning organization as well as the basics of scientific work.

Here, you will fully immerse yourself in national tax law and acquire in-depth specialist knowledge of the most important German income taxes. You will systematically analyze the structure and functioning of income tax, corporation tax and trade tax. You will learn how to determine taxable profits in a legally compliant manner, prepare tax returns independently and precisely calculate the impact of income tax on business decisions.

You will combine modern management concepts with the legal framework conditions of corporate practice. On the management side, you will learn about strategic and operational controlling instruments as well as key performance indicator systems for the goal-oriented management of organizations. On the legal side, you will deepen your knowledge of company law and corporate governance in order to understand the legal structures of partnerships and corporations as well as the role of the supervisory board and auditors.

You will lay the foundations for your career in auditing. You will learn about the tasks, the organization and the strict professional and legal framework of the auditing profession. The module will teach you the fundamental audit logic, the phases of the risk-oriented audit process (from audit planning to reporting) and the importance of internal and external company monitoring.

You will take your professional communication skills to the next level. In the English-language part, you will learn how to discuss complex, critical specialist topics fluently and master challenging negotiations or client meetings with confidence. At the same time, you will deepen your methodological skills in the areas of conflict management, advanced negotiation techniques and agile working methods so that you can act in an agile and solution-oriented manner in your day-to-day work.

In this module, you will have a close, personal exchange with a full-time lecturer from the Department. The program is designed to provide you with optimal support and guidance during your studies. You will reflect on your course of study to date, discuss organizational or content-related issues and receive valuable support in planning your practical phase, your semester abroad and the subsequent Bachelor's thesis.

You will learn the necessary tools to work on challenging economic issues independently and methodically. The module teaches you the standards of good scientific practice, literature research and evaluation techniques as well as the formal requirements for structure, argumentation and correct citation. You will be perfectly prepared to successfully write seminar papers and your Bachelor's thesis.

In the 4th semester, you design your profile individually and revisit your business basics in a targeted manner. You choose exactly the topics that interest you from a wide range of electives - such as management consulting, HR management, marketing, controlling or logistics. This allows you to expand your core competencies and acquire in-depth, interdisciplinary expertise that fits in perfectly with your career plans.

In this specialization seminar, you will apply your theoretical knowledge directly to complex, current practical issues. You will work independently on an academic paper on a specific topic from the fields of finance, tax consultancy or auditing. You will then present your findings in a plenary session and defend your point of view in a professional discussion - ideal preparation for practice and your Bachelor's thesis.

This module focuses on tax practice and structuring. You will penetrate the procedural tax law (Fiscal Code), which regulates the legal framework between the tax office and taxpayers, as well as the VAT system. A key focus is on the comparison of legal forms: you will analyze how different company structures are taxed and learn to specifically identify scope for optimizing the overall tax burden.

You will learn how to professionally evaluate and document the results of annual audits. The module provides you with knowledge about the statutory reporting of the auditor, in particular the audit report and the audit opinion. You will also learn advanced balance sheet analysis tools to assess the economic situation, risks and future viability of companies in depth.

This is where things get really practical: you plan and simulate an annual audit using specific examples. You will apply risk-oriented auditing methods, examine individual balance sheet and income statement items and familiarize yourself intensively with modern auditing software. You will learn first-hand how digital tools shape everyday auditing and how to use mass data analysis to uncover errors or irregularities.

The economy operates globally - and you will learn how to support it from a tax perspective. This module is dedicated to international tax law, the avoidance of double taxation and the regulations of double taxation agreements (DTAs). At the same time, you will delve deep into reorganization tax law: You will find out how mergers, demergers or changes in the legal form of companies are treated for tax purposes and how they are structured advantageously.

This module prepares you intensively for your day-to-day digital and advisory work. You will train in the professional use of market-leading law firm software (such as DATEV) to prepare tax returns and accounts. This is flanked by instruction in inheritance and gift tax law as well as real estate transfer tax in order to be able to plan asset and company successions in a legally secure and tax-optimized manner.

You will delve deep into modern capital market theory and the financial decisions made by companies. You will analyze the relationships between return and risk, evaluate securities and financing instruments and learn how to manage portfolio structures in an optimized way. The module teaches you how financial decisions, capital structure variants and risk management tools are used to sustainably increase the overall value of a company.

In this high-level module, you will combine accounting and business analysis. You will master the preparation and auditing of consolidated financial statements in accordance with national (HGB) and international standards (IFRS). At the same time, you will learn the common methods of company valuation (e.g. capitalized earnings value, DCF and multiplier methods) and apply these for transactions, tax purposes or strategic analyses. Another focus is on the integration of current ESG sustainability reporting.

In the sixth semester, you choose your individual path: you can either deepen your knowledge worldwide at one of our numerous partner universities, immerse yourself in foreign cultures and strengthen your intercultural skills. Or you can complete an internship semester directly in a company, tax consultancy or auditing firm, apply the specialist knowledge you have acquired in real mandates or projects and make valuable contacts for your career start.

You will successfully complete your three-year degree with your Bachelor's thesis. You will work independently on an application-oriented tax or auditing issue, often chosen in cooperation with regional companies or law firms. In doing so, you will demonstrate that you are able to apply theoretical and scientific knowledge precisely to a specific, complex problem in professional practice.