In light of the growing complexity in corporate structures and the growing relevance of groups, group accounting is becoming increasingly important. It portrays the overall economic situation of a group and thus serves as a key source of information for many stakeholders, including investors. The overarching learning objective of this course is to enable students to prepare and analyze consolidated financial statements in accordance with both German GAAP and IFRS, and to understand what these reveal about the economic activities of groups. The weekly lecture is complemented by a exercice every other week taught by WP/StB Simone Hemmer and WP/StB Matthias Reichert (both Partners at W + ST Revision GmbH Kaiserslautern).

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to…

• prepare and analyze consolidated financial statements in accordance with the HGB and IFRS and interpret what they reveal about the economic activity of corporate groups,
• explain the accounting standards relevant for consolidated financial statements under the HGB and IFRS, as well as the required consolidation steps and techniques,
• describe the relevance of individual consolidation steps, techniques, and included entities for depicting the economic activity of corporate groups,
• and confidently apply various consolidation techniques in group accounting to familiar and novel cases.

The following topics are covered:

• Legal and economic foundations of consolidated financial statements
• Requirements for preparing consolidated financial statements and determining the scope of consolidation
• Adjustments for uniformity
• Full consolidation of subsidiaries
• Equity method for investments in associates
• Proportionate consolidation
• Consolidated cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity
• Notes to the consolidated financial statements and the group management report

Key data:

Important:

• This course is held in German.
• The course consists of a weekly lecture and a exercise session every other week.
• This is an on-site course.
• The examination is a portfolio examination.
• The access code for the Olat course will be announced at the kick-off event.