ACA Prize for Financial Management goes to Prof. Dr. Thorsten Sellhorn

The ACA Prize in Financial Management will be awarded for the tenth time in 2026 in recognition of excellent academic achievements in the fields of accounting, controlling, corporate finance and auditing. The Institute of Accounting, Control and Auditing at the University of St.Gallen (HSG) thus contributes to highlighting important research results and their implementation in practice in the field of financial management. The prize is one of the most highly endowed awards in the German-speaking world and underlines the ACA-HSG's commitment to achieving and recognising excellent achievements in the field of financial management.

Research on international accounting and sustainability reporting

Thorsten Sellhorn receives the award in recognition of his significant contributions to empirical capital market research, international accounting and sustainability reporting. He received his doctorate in 2004 from Ruhr University Bochum on the extraordinary amortisation of goodwill and related incentives in financial reporting under U.S. GAAP. He habilitated there in 2008 on the topic of the internationalisation of accounting. In 2008, he was appointed full professor at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He declined offers from the universities of Göttingen, Osnabrück, Duisburg-Essen and Innsbruck. Since 2014, he has been a full professor and director of the Institute of Accounting and Auditing at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Several research stays have taken him to the University of Wisconsin, Harvard Business School, the University of Arizona and Boston University. During his academic career, he has received numerous awards for his research work and teaching, as well as grants from the German Research Foundation.

The award winner is one of the most influential and well-known academics in the field of international accounting and sustainability reporting. He publishes his research in leading subject journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Management Science and European Accounting Review. As President of the European Accounting Association from 2019 to 2021, he headed the largest academic organisation in Europe in the field of accounting. As co-author of the standard textbook International Accounting, which will soon be published in its 12th edition, he has already influenced generations of students.

The presentation of the ACA Award in Financial Management 2026 will take place as part of the ACA Symposium on 19–20 May 2026 in Zurich.