MSc in Accountancy and Controlling
Groningen, Netherlands
MSc
DURATION
1 year
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
15 Oct 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
EUR 22,200 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
* Dutch I EU/EEA and non-EU/EEA students
** for Non-EU|for EU/EEA EUR 2695
Key Summary
About: Study accountancy and controlling in Groningen to learn how technology and sustainability shape information for internal and external stakeholders. In this one-year programme you'll learn to design and assess information systems, audit financial data, and apply sustainability principles to reporting, management control, integrated reporting, CSR and corporate governance.
Career Outcomes: Graduates enter audit, controlling, and sustainability roles in national or international firms, government and nonprofits. Typical jobs include junior audit trainee, management accountant, project controller, financial controller, strategy and ESG consultant and sustainability auditor. Many start at Big Four firms and progress to controller, CFO or chief sustainability officer.
Study accountancy and controlling in Groningen to learn about how technological innovations and sustainable practices are shaping the information provision to internal and external stakeholders of any organization.
What role do auditors and controllers play in society, and how is this role evolving in response to technological innovations? How can businesses integrate sustainability principles into their strategy and financial practices and what are the implications on information systems?
In the MSc Accountancy and Controlling you will learn how to design information systems that produce such information, and how to assess the quality of existing systems. During the one-year programme, you will gain the competences necessary to work and succeed in a financial landscape that is ever-evolving, with new regulations, technologies, sustainable practices and financial instruments emerging regularly.
You will be well-prepared to tackle challenges such as auditing financial data for multinational companies, ensuring compliance with evolving national and international regulations or steering financial sustainability of environmentally conscious organizations.
What study area interests you most? In Groningen, you can specialize in three different profiles:
- Accountancy
- Controlling
- Sustainability Management and Controlling
The demand for skilled professionals in Accountancy, Controlling and Sustainability remains consistently high. Did you know 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 and become a registered accountant? Alternatively, you can take the Executive Master in Finance and Control to become a registered controller.
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.
Year 1
Courses
- Accountancy profile
- Controlling profile
- Sustainability Management and Controlling profile
Programme options
- Accountancy (profile)
- Controlling (profile)
- Sustainability Management and Controlling (profile)
- Double Degree Master International Business and Finance (Shanghai) (specialization)
- Master Internship (specialization)
- Healthy Society Focus Area (specialization)
- Leadership and Governance Focus Area (specialization)
- Energy Transition and Climate Change Focus Area (specialization)
- Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence Focus Area (specialization)
As a graduate, you are qualified to work in national and international companies, non-profit organizations, and government institutions. Many auditors start their career at one of the Big Four auditing firms: KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY. An alternative is an auditing firm that focuses on the national market with small and medium enterprises. Controllers usually start their careers as assistant controllers and become senior controllers after three to six years, with a long-term perspective to become Chief Financial Officer. Sustainability experts have the choice among positions such as corporate sustainability controller or manager, a sustainability consultant or auditor, and in the long run chief sustainability officer.
Our graduates are being offered jobs before or right after graduation and their career perspectives are bright. Our alumni have different job positions in a variety of organizations, among others: KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, EY, ING, Skania, Wehkamp, and the Dutch Ministry of Finance.
Job examples
- Junior trainee - audit
- Strategy and ESG consultant
- Financial controller sustainability
- Management accountant
- Project controller
- Group financial controller
- Digital audit trainee
- Technological innovations, the role of artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge technologies like blockchain and cloud computing are only a few of the topics you will delve into in the courses IT in Control and Data-driven Control. Here, you get to examine how these innovations and threats can impact organizations’ risk profiles and internal management.
- A unique feature of the programme in Groningen is the teaching team with a mix of practitioners with work experience and excellent researchers. You will work closely in small groups on projects that require a critical analytical mindset and mirror work situations, gaining teamwork skills that matter.
- The demand for accountants, controllers and sustainability expertise remains consistently high, our graduates are being offered a job before or right after graduation. A few competences and skills that set our graduates apart are: critical thinking, problem-solving, creative thinking, initiative and self-direction.
- The programme has a very active community, FSG, which is run by students for students. With over 1800 members, there is an activity for everyone from socials to get to know your classmates to career activities where you can meet your future employer.
- 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). Master's degree in Groningen and become a registered controller.
- The programme has been internationally accredited by the AACSB and EQUIS, ensuring a high-quality education, which only 1% of universities reach worldwide.