Finance
Understand how business documents become reliable financial information. This course follows the accounting cycle of a Swiss organisation, from accounts and daily transactions through receivables, payables and year-end reporting. Practical exercises develop careful documentation, numerical judgement and effective communication with an external accountant or fiduciary adviser.
Request informationYOUR PROGRAMME AT A GLANCE
For individuals & organisationsWe agree a start that fits your professional and personal commitments.
OSAM certificates: according to your starting level and learning goals. Company group programmes are usually planned in days or half-days.
Federal preparation: see pathway durations belowSynchronous teaching. Both formats include the OSAM platform for course materials and organisational information.
From an eduQua-certified institution.
Related federal examination pathwaysAn individual quotation confirms the programme, delivery format and applicable fees.
Highly personalised teaching with experienced practitioners working at a high professional level.
FROM KNOWLEDGE TO CAPABILITY
Career changers, administrative staff, self-employed professionals and junior accounting staff.
YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY
These modules form the core programme. Where useful, we refine the emphasis, examples and learning activities to reflect your professional context, starting point and objectives.
Explore the relationship between assets, liabilities, equity, income and expenses. Practise debits and credits with straightforward transactions and develop a suitable chart of accounts. Every entry is linked to its underlying business event and supporting document, rather than learned as an isolated formula.
Follow a customer or supplier invoice from recording to settlement. Organise open items, discounts, credit notes and reminders. A bank reconciliation reveals differences and explains why the document date, posting date and value date can have different meanings within the accounting process.
Identify tax-relevant invoice information and place common transactions within a VAT workflow. Trace input and output tax through simplified examples. Learn to consult current Federal Tax Administration guidance for actual cases and record situations requiring clarification rather than applying an assumed rule automatically.
Work through asset acquisition, depreciation and disposal alongside basic inventory issues. Accruals demonstrate why a payment does not necessarily constitute an expense or income in the same period. Exercises require justified assumptions and a clear record of the evidence used in each calculation.
Carry out preparatory closing checks and read the balance sheet together with the income statement. Compare unusual balances and movements with earlier periods. Distinguish accounting profit from available cash and formulate precise questions for the professional responsible for the final financial statements.
Design a traceable workflow for documents, approvals and archiving. Discuss access permissions, responsibilities and independent checks using a small-company example. A final case combines everyday bookkeeping, reconciliation and a concise management report that explains what the figures can and cannot establish.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND YOUR PROGRESS
Educational direction, subject expertise and adult learning support. Your final trainer assignment is confirmed in your proposal.
DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE
Managing Director
Simon Pawolleck provides OSAM’s overall direction. The focus is on relevant skills, a clear learning structure and personal support that connects professional ambitions with practical progress.
EXPERT’S PERSPECTIVE
Accounting programme lead
Karolina Herrmann brings the programme’s subject expertise into focus. The educational approach connects a structured foundation with practical situations, relevant exercises and feedback aligned with your professional objectives.
ADULT LEARNING & ANDRAGOGY
Head of Adult Learning
Federal Diploma of Higher Education in Adult Education
Sandrine Mélé oversees the adult learning approach: coherent progression, active participation and learning methods that take account of prior experience. She supports a structured, practical and human approach to developing competence.
SWISS FEDERAL QUALIFICATION PATHWAYS
OSAM offers the following examination preparation in related fields. An OSAM certificate course in this topic is not automatically the complete federal preparation programme. We confirm the appropriate pathway, scope and admission requirements with you before enrolment.
Verein für die höheren Prüfungen in Rechnungswesen und Controlling — examen.ch
A recognised qualification and three years of accounting, fiduciary or tax practice; six years without a recognised qualification. Also required: an approved IT diploma no more than five years old, completed online leadership modules and no profession-related criminal record. Experience below 80% employment is prorated.
External Swiss federal professional examination under the examination regulations. The examination body manages registration, admission and fees. The federal qualification is awarded after passing the examination.
The examination organisation decides on admission. Its current examination regulations and deadlines take precedence; preparation and examination registration are separate steps. We confirm the preparation language separately from the examination language: an English-language information page does not mean the federal examination is offered in English.
Federal professional qualifications are awarded through the relevant federal examination. eduQua certifies the continuing education institution; it does not itself award a federal qualification.
SBFI / SERI — official professional qualifications registerActive at a high professional level, selected against demanding criteria.
Developing the skills of their employees with OSAM.
An experience centred on the people who learn with us.
Personal career goals. Shared organisational priorities.
SERI / SEFRIeduQua-certified institution. Federal qualifications listed by SERI in selected pathways.
TRUST, BUILT THROUGH EXPERIENCE
From ambitious individuals to established organisations. Discover some of the companies that work with OSAM.
LEARNERS’ VOICES
OSAM Google review rating
As displayed on the OSAM website, 4 November 2026.View Google reviews“Patient teaching and very engaging lessons.”
“Excellent quality and personalised practical scenarios.”
GOOD TO KNOW
Career changers, administrative staff, self-employed professionals and junior accounting staff. The programme is available to private individuals and organisations, including company teams. OSAM welcomes learners living or working in Switzerland as well as international participants joining live online.
OSAM is an eduQua-certified continuing education institution. An OSAM certificate documents the learning agreed for your programme; eduQua is a quality label for the institution, not federal recognition of every individual course.
The related federal qualifications listed on this page are recognised Swiss qualifications, recorded in the official SERI register. They require the prescribed federal examination and admission conditions.
SERI / SEFRI official registerOSAM’s work connects individual professional development with the needs of companies in Switzerland and internationally. Client references and learner reviews below offer a practical view of that work.
You develop skills you can apply in real situations, with guidance from experienced practitioners and access to learning materials on the OSAM platform. The programme focuses on these outcomes:
Yes. We start with the established programme and refine the emphasis, practical cases and learning support where useful. Adjustments take account of the individual or company’s professional context, existing skills and goals. The agreed programme is confirmed before enrolment; federal examination requirements remain binding where applicable.
For the OSAM certificate, contact us to review your current level, prior experience and objectives. We will confirm the appropriate entry requirements and any recommended preparation.
A recognised qualification and three years of accounting, fiduciary or tax practice; six years without a recognised qualification. Also required: an approved IT diploma no more than five years old, completed online leadership modules and no profession-related criminal record. Experience below 80% employment is prorated.
Examination details & official sourcesYes. A starting assessment determines the pace and depth of exercises. Participants with experience can spend less time on fundamentals and more on complex transactions.
The accounting principles come first. Use of a specific product is agreed during planning, including any licences or access needed before the course begins.
No. An internal course award is distinct from a federal professional qualification. Preparation for that external examination requires a separately planned pathway.
YOUR CAREER, IN PERSPECTIVE
Depending on your experience and qualifications, this subject can support development in the following professional directions.
Explore Swiss salaries on SalariostatYOUR NEXT STEP
Tell us where you want to go. Together, we will define the learning journey that gets you there.
info@osam-academy.com+41 31 528 01 28