Audience The CAS Financial Decision-Making is designed for managers and employees working in companies of the private or public sector who want to get a solid understanding about finance and accounting.
Schedule Deadline
2025 session schedule Study start: January 13, 2025 2025 registration deadline: December 2, 2024 2026 session schedule Study start: January 19, 2026 2025 registration deadline: December 8, 2025 Register here for our online info session on October 7 at 5pm!
2025 session schedule Study start: January 13, 2025 2025 registration deadline: December 2, 2024 2026 session schedule Study start: January 19, 2026 2025 registration deadline: December 8, 2025 Register here for our online info session on October 7 at 5pm!Fees 10’800 CHF
All modules of this CAS have an integrated view and are organized around central subject areas, the development of which has been identified by employers and economic experts as the basis for a successful management. Prof. Dr. Michael BurkertCAS scientific coordinator
Content
The CAS Financial Decision-Making consists of the following modules and a supervised CAS thesis.
The focus of this module is to provide participants with an introduction to accounting basics. It showcases the role of financial and managerial accounting for effective decision-making and control. It also addresses some common pitfalls when making important decisions and ways to overcome them.
- Introduction to Financial Accounting
- Understanding and Creating Financial Statements
- Relevance of Financial Statements in Managerial Decision-Making
- Managerial Accounting, CVP Analysis and Cost Assignment
- Common Pitfalls in Cost-Based Decision-Making
- Cost Management
Prof. Dr. Michael Burkert Dr. Matthias Klein
The financial diagnosis of a company relies on its financial statements. This module focuses on the use of financial statements, to analysis both:
- The performance of the firm & its value drivers,
- And its credit and solvency risks.
The module also introduces the preparation of pro-forma financial statements. This provides participants the necessary tool to forecast potential financial risks (and/or opportunities) within their organisation.
The aim of this module is to provide participants with a hands-on understanding of the principles of finance, financial valuation and value-based management. We focus on concepts and tools of modern finance that are generally applicable to investment and corporate finance decisions. Topics include:
- Risk and return
- Cost of capital
- Discounted Cash Flow & Economic Value Added
- The Value of Flexibility
- Protecting Value Creation: Hedging Exchange Rate Risk
The aim of this course is to provide participants with a hands-on understanding of the design and use of common management control systems. This includes discussion of the planning and budgeting process, financial and non-financial performance measurement, and questions of target setting and performance evaluation. Participants learn about the usefulness of management control systems, but also about potential challenges and pitfalls.
- Planning, budgeting, and variance analysis
- Financial performance and value creation
- Performance measurement systems
- Target setting and relative performance evaluation
Prof. Dr. Martin Messner
This course introduces participants to a powerful tool that enables decision-makers to address uncertainty and risk explicitly when making financial decisions. The approach overcomes the weaknesses of traditional scenario analyses and is directly applicable to participants after completing this module. Participants learn how to make enhanced decisions that positively impact EBIT and how to identify hidden financial risks.
Prof. Dr. Michael Burkert
This course introduces you to Risk Management & FinTech, the emerging world of applications, concepts and developments at the interface of Finance and Technology. Participants will learn important aspects of risk management in a digitalized world, the application of artificial intelligence in finance, and the nature and use of digital assets. The course emphasizes a personal learning experience and is based on case discussions and lectures.
- Risk Management Techniques for Market and Credit Risk
- Corporate Risk Management in a Digitalized Bank
- Artificial Intelligence in Finance
- Digital Assets
- Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
Prof. Dr. Florian Weigert
Learn from Industry Experts and Certified Academic Teachers
Prof. Dr. Michael BurkertCAS scientific coordinator University of Fribourg
Prof. Dr. Franck Missonier-Piera University of Fribourg
Prof. Dr. Florian Weigert University of Neuchâtel
Prof. Dr. Martin WallmeierUniversity of Fribourg
Prof. Dr. Martin Messner University of Innsbruck
Dr. Matthias KleinDie Mobiliar / La Mobilière
Facts & Figures
University degree:
Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) Financial Decision-Making
Faculty/University:
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Fribourg
Prerequisite/Admission:
Bachelor or Master degree from a University or University of Applied Sciences or other diploma recognized as equivalent and three to five years’ work experience. Admission is given “sur dossier”. In justified cases, the study management can admit people who do not or only partially meet individual admission requirements.
Fees:
CHF 10’800
Language:
English
ECTS:
15
Examination
1 mid-programme examination and 1 final project
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask us. Melissa RohrerHead of Executive Programmes Administration Tuesday to Friday: 9:00 to 16:00 Phone: +41 26 300 84 28 Email: melissa.rohrer@unifr.ch