Aalto University Accounting Master’s Thesis Guide: 30 ECTS ACC.thes, Two-Stage Seminar and Submission Process

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Accounting is a 120 ECTS Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) programme in the School of Business. Under the current 2026–2028 curriculum, the controlling degree structure is 88 ECTS programme studies + 32 ECTS elective studies. The programme studies include a 30 ECTS ACC.thes Master’s Thesis, a separate 2 ECTS ABL-E1999 Master's Thesis Seminar 2, and the 0 ECTS BIZ.matr maturity test.

That structure matters because Accounting has a thesis process that is more specific than the generic School of Business overview. The Accounting seminar normally runs through two usually consecutive semesters. In Stage I, the student presents a research plan and is expected to reach roughly 25% completion. In Stage II, the student presents a first draft including empirical findings and results and reaches roughly 75%. The final thesis should then be submitted no later than the end of the following semester.

This guide uses current official Aalto sources verified on 30 August 2026. It does not import Marketing’s Expression of Interest process, Management Studies’ MNGT-E1016 seminar allocation, or a 20 ECTS workload model. Accounting’s own curriculum and thesis page control.

Where the thesis fits in the current Accounting degree

The current programme code is BIZ506. The 2026–2028 curriculum places 88 ECTS in programme studies and 32 ECTS in electives. Within the programme studies, ACC.thes is 30 ECTS, ABL-E1999 Master's Thesis Seminar 2 is 2 ECTS, and BIZ.matr is 0 ECTS.

The applicant-facing study-option page still contains a broader 84 ECTS programme studies + 36 ECTS electives description. For current course planning, use the 2026–2028 curriculum page and Sisu because that is the active curriculum for this guide.

Accounting covers financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, corporate governance, sustainability accounting, risk management, financial analysis and data analytics. Those areas can lead to very different thesis questions, but they all sit inside the same Accounting thesis administration.

Plan the thesis for the second study year

Aalto’s recommended timetable places the thesis, seminar and maturity work in the second year. The programme also recommends taking the 6 ECTS Research Methods in Accounting course before starting the thesis seminar, or at least so that the methods training supports the early thesis stages.

If you plan an exchange, Aalto recommends completing it before starting the second-year thesis work when possible. This reduces the risk of interrupting the seminar sequence, supervision and empirical work.

The practical lesson is to begin topic exploration in the first year even though the formal thesis work is usually second-year work. A strong early topic idea helps you choose a suitable seminar group and supervisor when registration opens.

Understand the separate 2 ECTS seminar

The 2 ECTS ABL-E1999 seminar is not part of the 30 ECTS thesis credit value. The thesis remains ACC.thes, 30 ECTS. The seminar is a separate programme-study course designed to structure the research process and peer academic work.

Aalto describes the seminar as including meetings, thesis work, presentations and opponent work. It usually spans two consecutive semesters, though students who progress unusually quickly can discuss a faster completion arrangement with their thesis advisor.

There is no Accounting thesis seminar starting in summer. If you know you can work intensively during summer, Aalto suggests either beginning the seminar in spring or planning the summer work with an advisor and then entering the autumn seminar.

Stage I: turn an interest into a research plan

During the first seminar semester, Stage I, the student presents the research plan. Aalto describes the thesis as approximately 25% complete after this stage.

That percentage is a planning marker rather than a grading formula. The purpose is to make the project researchable before the student invests months in data collection or analysis. At this point, you should be able to explain the research problem, the purpose of the study, the relevant literature, the proposed method, the evidence you expect to use and a realistic timetable.

A weak Stage I plan often creates later problems. For example, a topic such as “sustainability accounting in companies” is far too broad. A defensible plan might narrow the question to a defined reporting practice, industry, time period, governance mechanism or decision context and then identify suitable evidence.

Stage II: move from plan to evidence and results

During the second seminar semester, Stage II, Aalto expects the student to present the first draft of the thesis including empirical findings and results. The programme describes the project as approximately 75% complete after this stage.

The second stage is therefore not just another proposal presentation. The core research should already be producing interpretable evidence. The student presents the near-complete work, receives feedback and also acts as an opponent for another student’s thesis.

The final version should be submitted by the end of the following semester at the latest. This gives the student a useful project-management boundary: Stage II should leave enough time for revisions, final interpretation, writing, formatting and the formal submission steps, not another full research cycle.

Register for the seminar and choose supervision carefully

Accounting seminar groups start in autumn and spring. The current public page says registration is around mid-August for autumn-start groups and late November for spring-start groups. Students enrol in ABL-E1999 through Sisu and answer additional questions about their thesis plans and preferred supervisor.

You do not need a perfectly finalised topic at registration. However, you should have enough of an idea to identify the supervision area that best fits the project. Aalto publishes the current Accounting thesis advisors and their specialisation areas, covering fields such as financial reporting, financial analysis, management accounting, auditing, governance, sustainability accounting, risk management, data analytics and related quantitative or qualitative methods.

The programme forms seminar groups after registration and allocates students across groups. A preferred supervisor is therefore an input into the process, not an unconditional guarantee.

Formalise the topic and supervisor in MyStudies

Once you have a preliminary thesis topic and an assigned thesis supervisor, apply for supervisor and topic approval through the MyStudies Thesis tab.

The starting information includes the thesis topic, supervisor, advisor if applicable and thesis language. The supervisor receives the approval request automatically. Programme administration then checks details such as the correct thesis course code and whether the maturity essay requires language-proficiency checking.

If the supervisor or topic changes later, do not simply continue with outdated MyStudies information. Contact the programme administration and keep the formal thesis record aligned with the real project.

Scope the 30 ECTS thesis around 5–6 months of full-time work

Accounting is fixed at the 30 ECTS School of Business thesis scope. Aalto describes that scope as approximately 750–900 hours, or about 94–113 full-time workdays, equivalent to roughly 5–6 months of full-time study.

The point of this figure is scope control. A 30 ECTS thesis allows a deeper literature review, primary empirical data and more complex analysis than a 20 ECTS project might reasonably support, but it still needs a defined endpoint.

Aalto’s Accounting FAQ advises students to leave substantial calendar space for the thesis and warns against taking too many simultaneous courses. Combining the thesis with full-time employment is also not recommended without deliberate periods of protected thesis time.

Choose a research design that fits the accounting question

Accounting is not one method. Financial-reporting research may use archival datasets, financial statements or market information. Management-accounting work may use interviews, cases, surveys or organisational data. Auditing and governance questions may combine regulatory documents, firm data and empirical analysis. Sustainability accounting can involve disclosure data, reporting frameworks, interviews or comparative cases. Data-analytics topics may require statistical or computational methods.

The method should follow the research question. A quantitative method is not automatically stronger than a qualitative one, and a qualitative project is not automatically more exploratory. The important issue is whether the evidence and method can answer the stated question with appropriate academic rigour.

The programme’s Research Methods in Accounting course and the seminar are valuable because they force this alignment before the thesis is too advanced to redesign cheaply.

Individual, pair, commissioned and article-type theses

Current School of Business guidance allows Accounting students to write the thesis individually or in a pair. A pair thesis must be one cohesive research project, with equal contribution expected from both students. Students choose their own co-author and should document task division and contributions. The thesis is normally graded as one work and the students usually receive the same grade, although exceptional individual grade differences are possible.

Accounting also supports commissioned theses. The programme’s FAQ says roughly every fourth student writes a commissioned thesis. Company involvement can provide a practical problem, data and motivation, but university academic requirements still control the assessed thesis.

Students may also choose an article-type thesis. Aalto’s common BIZ guidance describes one ready-to-submit article manuscript and typically cites about 10,000–15,000 words as a journal-article-scale target. That number applies to the article-type format only. It is not a universal word limit for every Accounting thesis, and journal publication is not required for thesis acceptance.

Protect academic independence and public-document rules

A commissioned Accounting thesis can still create confidentiality problems if the company expects the university thesis to remain secret. Aalto’s rule is clear: the assessed master’s thesis is a public document.

An external party cannot require the thesis itself to remain confidential, and Aalto or the supervisor does not become a party to an external NDA simply because the thesis is commissioned. Sensitive company material may need to remain outside the assessed thesis. Extra confidential reports can be prepared for the commissioner, but they are not considered in thesis grading.

Aaltodoc publication consent concerns online full-text access, not whether the thesis is legally public. Metadata and the thesis abstract are openly published in Aaltodoc.

Use Turnitin, sources and AI responsibly

Aalto allows students to use Turnitin proactively during thesis work and provides a MyCourses route for a pre-submission check. Similarity should be interpreted academically rather than treated as an automatic plagiarism verdict.

Students remain responsible for quotations, citations, paraphrasing, data use and the final accuracy of the thesis. Academic writing should be coherent and consistent. The Accounting page advises avoiding spoken language, slang and unnecessary business jargon. If writing in English, use British or American English consistently rather than mixing conventions throughout the manuscript.

AI use must follow current Aalto and thesis-specific instructions. In particular, current Aalto guidance prohibits language-model use in the maturity test. Because the thesis abstract acts as the maturity essay, this restriction must be treated seriously when preparing the assessed abstract.

Complete the seminar presentation and opponent work

Accounting’s presentation requirement is built into the programme-specific seminar rather than a separate Management Studies presentation calendar. Stage II concludes with presentation of the near-finished thesis. Students also act as opponents for another student’s thesis.

This peer role matters. Opposition forces the student to evaluate another research design, argument and evidence critically, while the presentation forces the student to explain their own contribution clearly enough for discussion.

Do not import another School of Business programme’s presentation dates into Accounting. Follow your seminar group’s current schedule and instructions.

The abstract serves as the maturity essay

The thesis abstract acts as the maturity essay. Depending on the student’s previous education and demonstrated language proficiency, additional language checking may apply.

The maturity test is separate from the numerical thesis grade. The programme administration marks the applicable maturity-language requirement in MyStudies. Students should therefore complete the abstract as an assessed academic component, not as a rushed summary added after the thesis is otherwise finished.

Current Aalto guidance prohibits language-model assistance in the maturity test. Use the live instructions applicable to your study right when preparing the final abstract.

Submit the final thesis through MyStudies as PDF/A

The final thesis is submitted through MyStudies for evaluation. Aalto requires the archival thesis file in PDF/A format and advises students to practise creating and validating PDF/A before the actual deadline.

If the thesis is written in a pair, both students submit the same final file for evaluation. The student must be enrolled as attending for the relevant study right when submitting the thesis.

If all other studies are complete, the student can normally apply for graduation in Sisu on the same deadline as the thesis submission. The thesis, maturity essay and seminar may still be awaiting final Sisu registration on that day, but they must satisfy the graduation timetable requirements.

Understand how the Accounting thesis is evaluated

The thesis is evaluated by the supervisor and a second examiner who knows the field. They provide a single evaluation using the School of Business grading rubric.

The detailed rubric files are login-protected, so this guide does not reconstruct hidden weights or invent a formula. The public Accounting page does make clear that evaluation is broader than whether the empirical findings look impressive. It also considers project management, critical thinking and how the research is positioned within its academic field.

The final grade appears in MyStudies and Sisu, and the evaluation statement can be downloaded from MyStudies.

Current 2027 Accounting thesis and graduation dates

The Accounting graduation page already publishes the 2027 graduation/thesis calendar. The listed graduation dates are:

• 27 January 2027;
• 17 February 2027;
• 24 March 2027;
• 21 April 2027;
• 26 May 2027;
• 23 June 2027;
• 30 July 2027;
• 25 August 2027;
• 22 September 2027;
• 20 October 2027;
• 17 November 2027; and
• 31 December 2027.

There is an important June exception. No theses or maturity essays may be submitted for examination in June. If you intend to graduate on 23 June 2027, use the applicable May thesis and maturity timetable.

Dates are cycle-sensitive. Recheck the live Accounting Graduation page before building a submission plan around any future deadline.

A practical Accounting thesis workflow

A defensible sequence is:

1. Plan second-year space early. Complete as much first-year programme work as possible and avoid placing exchange in the middle of the thesis sequence.
2. Take Research Methods in Accounting early. Use it to build research-design competence before or alongside seminar entry.
3. Develop a topic area before seminar registration. You do not need a final question, but you should know enough to identify suitable supervision.
4. Register for ABL-E1999 in Sisu. Watch the autumn or spring registration window and provide thoughtful supervisor/topic preferences.
5. Complete Stage I. Turn the idea into a research plan and reach a defensible early research design.
6. Formalise the preliminary topic and assigned supervisor in MyStudies. Keep the record current if anything changes.
7. Execute the research at 30 ECTS scale. Control literature, data collection and analysis around the 750–900-hour planning baseline.
8. Complete Stage II. Present the first draft with findings/results and participate in opponent work.
9. Revise toward the final manuscript. Use supervisor feedback, Turnitin and careful source checking.
10. Prepare the maturity abstract without prohibited AI assistance. Complete any required language check.
11. Validate the final PDF/A. Do not leave file conversion until the submission day.
12. Submit through MyStudies. Pair-thesis students each submit the same final file.
13. Use the live graduation timetable. Remember the June exception.
14. Apply for graduation in Sisu when the degree requirements are ready. Keep the study plan correct and attendance status valid.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• your current thesis is 30 ECTS ACC.thes;
• ABL-E1999 is correctly treated as a separate 2 ECTS seminar;
• BIZ.matr is the 0 ECTS maturity test in your current study plan;
• you have not used the generic 20 ECTS BIZ workload as your Accounting scope;
• your research topic fits Accounting and your assigned supervisor’s expertise;
• Stage I and Stage II seminar requirements are complete or on an approved accelerated plan;
• your MyStudies supervisor/topic information is current;
• your research question, evidence and method align;
• the project fits the roughly 750–900 hour / 5–6 month 30 ECTS scope;
• any pair-thesis contributions are documented;
• commissioned-thesis confidentiality has been managed outside the public assessed thesis;
• citations and Turnitin issues have been reviewed;
• the thesis presentation and opponent work are complete;
• the abstract satisfies the maturity requirement and prohibited language-model assistance was not used;
• the final file is valid PDF/A;
• you are enrolled as attending for the relevant study right;
• the live Accounting submission date has been rechecked; and
• if targeting June graduation, you have used the May thesis/maturity timetable.

The central planning principle is simple: Accounting’s thesis is a 30 ECTS research project embedded in a separate two-stage 2 ECTS seminar. Treat the seminar as the project’s academic scaffolding, not as extra thesis credit, and use its Stage I and Stage II milestones to keep the research question, evidence, analysis and final submission under control.