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Program and courses Accountancy

Learn how to design and assess the financial and non-financial information environment of companies, while getting a solid foundation in emerging themes such as incorporating and reporting of sustainability strategies and extracting valuable information from accounting data by using state-of-the-art data analytics.

Program structure

This one-year full-time program of MSc in Accountancy consists of 60 credits (ECTS).

  • 6 core courses (36 ECTS) for all students
  • 2 elective courses (12 ECTS)
    In addition to the core courses, you choose elective courses within the track Auditing or the track Business Analysis and Control.
    • Auditing: the track-specific course Advanced Auditing  introduces the regulatory and institutional requirements to perform an audit, discusses the audit process, and provides hands-on experience with commonly used audit tools. The course Advanced Financial Accounting focuses on more complex financial accounting rules (IFRS) to understand and evaluate financial information in more detail.
    • Business Analysis and Control: the track-specific course Budgeting and Forecasting  provides you with solid knowledge about budgeting and forecasting techniques and gives you practical experience by applying these techniques in a real-life setting. The course Data-Driven Decision-Making  focuses on interpreting data and reporting information in a meaningful way for decision-making, which involves advanced analysis techniques.
  • Master File Accountancy (12 ECTS)
  • Professional Skills and Character Development workshops (extracurricular activity)
  • Career Development courses (extracurricular activity)

You can start either in the fall or the spring. Students who start in the fall semester begin with courses in unit 1, and students who join us in the spring semester start with the courses in block 3. The Master File Accountancy starts up twice per year, that is, in the fall as well as in the spring semester.

Program content

Core and elective courses

Block 1, August - October:

  • Management Accounting and Control
  • Empirical Research in Accounting

Block 2, October - December:

  • Information Systems and Data Analytics
  • Elective Auditing track:
    Advanced Auditing
  • Elective Business Analysis and Control track:
    Budgeting and Forecasting

Block 3, January - March:

  • Financial Accounting and Reporting
  • Financial Statement Analysis and Valuation

Block 4, April - June:

  • Corporate Sustainability
  • Elective Auditing track:
    Advanced Financial Accounting
  • Elective Business Analysis and Control track:
    Data-Driven Decision-Making

In addition to the courses in the program, we offer a variety of workshops under the theme “Professional Skills and Character Development Accountancy" in collaboration with practice partners. These workshops allow you to improve both your soft skills (e.g., how to approach ethical dilemmas) as well as practical skills (e.g., software-related skills). Moreover, these workshops provide you with information on different career options and allow you to expand your professional network.

Master File Accountancy

The Master File Accountancy (Block 1 - 4) contains:

  • Business Application in which academic research is used to give advice on a real-life company problem;
  • Replication Study that focuses on the collection and analysis of data; 
  • Research Note in which students design their own academic research study;
  • a Reflection Report to examine your personal learning process.

The Master File Accountancy links back to the topics discussed throughout the courses, connects challenges in practice and academia, and pays attention to training and learning in groups and individually with your supervisor. You also have the possibility to combine working on the Master File Accountancy with an internship or traineeship.

Watch a trial lecture


Please note: programs are subject to change. We advise you to look up the current program in OSIRIS Student at the start of the year.


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Make the most of your Master's

In the first semester of the regular program, ambitious students can apply for the following additional advanced programs:

Extended Master's Program: traineeship (+0.5 years)

Short overview of the Extended Master's Program

During your traineeship, you work on practical assignments for a company, follow professional skills courses, and receive mentoring and guidance. By increasing your professional experience, skills, and network like this, you seriously boost your chances in the job market.

  • If selected, you will fulfill your traineeship from April to October. On average, you will work four days at the company, and attend skills training once a week at Tilburg University. In addition to this, company visits will be organized in the Extended Master's Program network.
  • If both you and the company are happy with the results, you are welcome to extend the traineeship by writing your Master's thesis at the company. Your research topic then needs to be approved by the Tilburg University thesis coordinator.
  • There are no administrative or participation fees for taking part in the Extended Master's Program. You will pay the regular tuition fees for the extra six months the Extended Master's Program takes.

Application and admission

You can apply for the Extended Master's Program once you've started the regular Master's program.

More on the Extended Master's Program

QTEM program: study abroad and traineeship (+1 year)

This Master's program is a proud partner of the prestigious Quantitative Techniques for Economics and Management (QTEM) network.

  • Excellent and ambitious students have the opportunity to extend their one-year Master's program with an additional year.
  • In this additional year, they can spend up to two semesters at different QTEM partner universities, and do an internship abroad at one of the corporate partners. Corporate partners include McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, and ABInBev.
  • Successful QTEM students are awarded the QTEM Network Certificate.

Application and admission

You can apply for the QTEM program once you've started with the regular Master's program.

More information about the QTEM program

Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative: online extracurricular program

Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative (ELI) is an online extracurricular program that provides Master's students with tools to reflect and plan for an entrepreneurial career. Overall, ELI can be a very useful experience if you have entrepreneurship on your mind. —either right after graduation or later in your career! If you are unsure whether entrepreneurship fits you and your goals, ELI will help you find out.

Application and admission

All students enrolled in a Master's program at TiSEM are invited to apply.

More information about the Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative

Short overview of the MSc Accountancy

The program focuses on the role of accounting information in facilitating decision-making, planning, and control.

  • Excellent integration with practice. The content of this program is established in close cooperation with leading (multinational) companies and is regularly updated to reflect current practices in business. For example, the program covers current developments such as sustainability issues and the emerging use of data analytics and digital assets. Throughout the courses, you study real cases, work on assignments, and frequently attend lectures of corporate guest speakers. Various extracurricular offers such as skills workshops, company events, or symposia increase the practice relevance in our program.
  • Reinvented Master Thesis. Instead of one extensive document at the end of your studies, our so-called Master File Accountancy consists of multiple consecutive reports which complement each other in terms of their learning goals: a Business Application in which academic research is used to give advice on a real-life company problem; a Replication Study that focuses on the collection and analysis of data; and a Research Note in which students perform their own academic research study.
  • Train your professional skills and learn how to negotiate or communicate with business partners, or advance your Excel skills.
  • Two tracks allow you to specialize in either:
    • Auditing
      Are you interested in verifying financial and non-financial information of organizations? Do you want to help providing accurate information to investors, banks, and other stakeholders to make relevant business decisions?
    • Business Analysis and Control
      Do you want to plan and forecast the business activities of a company? Do you want to prepare data to support internal decision-making?
  • Ambitious Accountancy students can also apply for the following:
    - The Extended Master's Program, which adds a traineeship of half a year to the regular Master's program
    - The QTEM network program, which adds an additional year to the program which you spend at a QTEM partner university and corporate partner.

Interested in the MSc Accountancy?

Check your eligibility and the deadlines for application

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