Prof. Dr. Ken Bechmann is the Director of the Institute for Accounting, Auditing, and Analysis at Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich’s School of Management. Previously, he held the Endowed Chair of Accounting at WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar. He has studied and conducted research at esteemed institutions such as Bochum, Wisconsin-Madison, Arizona-Tucson, Boston, and Harvard Business School.
Prof. Bechmann has extensive experience designing and delivering executive education programs for major international organizations, including Bayer, Volkswagen, Henkel, Deutsche Bank, Sal. Oppenheim, RTL, the German CPA Institute, and the German Ministry of Finance. Additionally, he serves as an examiner for the German CPA exam and has provided consulting services in financial and managerial accounting for companies such as Deutsche Post DHL, Daimler, Volkswagen, and Borussia Dortmund.
His research focuses on the role of corporate transparency in markets and society, with particular emphasis on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), sustainability reporting, and digital transformation. His work is published in leading international journals such as Management Science, The Accounting Review, European Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, and Journal of Accounting Research. He is also a co-author of the widely used German textbook Internationale Rechnungslegung and a frequent commentator in the business press.
From 2019 to 2021, Prof. Bechmann served as the President of the European Accounting Association (EAA). He currently serves on the IFRS Foundation’s Advisory Council, as well as the Academic Panel and Connectivity Advisory Panel of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), contributing to the advancement of accounting standards and practices at the global level.