ASPECTS OF A GROUP PROJECT UTILIZING ACTUAL BUSINESS DATA AND A COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 19, 1992 228 ASPECTS OF A GROUP PROJECT UTILIZING ACTUAL BUSINESS DATA AND A COMPUTERIZED ACCOUNTING SYSTEM David E. Zoeller, College of St. Benedict ABSTRACT Changes in educational requirements for Certified Public Accountants will cause many colleges to evaluate their accounting curriculum. Part of this evaluation will likely include the addition of courses, some of which may investigate the use of a computer in a business, specifically for accounting. As part of an accounting information systems course, students were required to take source financial data and create financial statements as if they were the CPA firm hired by the business. This involved the setup and use of a computerized accounting package called DacEasy. Students felt that they increased their understanding of the accounting cycle and the relationship between the financial statements. INTRODUCTION During the next decade the accounting curriculum at many schools will undergo many changes as the requirements for Certified Public Accountants extend to five years of college education. This change may allow some schools to add additional accounting course work to their majors. A course that is often considered for addition involves some sort of computerized accounting or information systems course. The purpose of this course is to instruct students in the uses of a computer in a business environment, specifically in accounting applications. In an effort to make this course more realistic for students. I have engaged students in a group project with actual accounting data manipulated with accounting software. Accounting courses often use cases or practice sets to try and replicate a real world situation. GROUP COMPUTER PROJECT The project requires groups of students to take actual data from a business and through the use of an accounting general ledger software package create annual financial statements. The software package I have used is DacEasy Accounting Student Edition The student version does contain a preset chart of accounts which can he used it desired. This chart of accounts can be easily modified for the specific requirements of the business in the project. Preset financial statements are also available, but they may also be altered by users for their specific needs. For the duration of this project students worked in teams of two to four individuals. An effort was made to divide accounting majors among all groups in hopes of having at least one person in each group with recent and extensive work in accounting. Since the computer backgrounds and skills were much more difficult to measure, no effort was made to try to disperse the students with these skills. Each group of students was responsible for the purchase of one student version of the accounting package. They were then supplied with actual bank statements from a business and a check register of that business. Written information regarding bank loans, equipment purchases, and sales was also supplied. All of this information was available to the instructor through a business, which permitted its use. The student groups are responsible for the system setup, the entering of all data into the system, and the creation of monthly and annual financial statements in a form that clearly reflects the needs of this business. The final product of the project was a report from the group containing the balance sheet and income statement, a compilation letter, and a letter to management. The group was to consider themselves the public accounting firm engaged by the business for the purposes of completing a compilation engagement. The goal of this project is to help students to more fully understand the use of a computerized general ledger system, generate a greater appreciation of the thought process necessary in the successful setup of an accounting system for a business, and create a clearer understanding of the accounting cycle. By being involved and responsible for the entire system, students should also understand the closing process better and also recognize the importance of cutoff dates. Since most groups invariably make errors (just as public accounting firms) they also learn the steps required for error correction. All of this creates an excellent opportunity for the student to meet the challenges facing public accountants working for small business clients. Due to the nature of the data in this project, students also learn how to change cash financial statements to accrual financial statements. PROJECT OUTCOME The success of this project is measured in its effectiveness in meeting the preset goals. Undoubtedly, students acquire a great deal of knowledge concerning the benefits and frustrations involved in setting up and utilizing a computerized accounting system. Since the project requires a completed compilation report, they gain a greater appreciation for the time required to complete a project of this size. Because of its size, they also learn the importance of working together for a common goal. As a side benefit, many students with an excellent understanding of accounting learn the difficult task of clearly explaining an accounting system to someone else less versed in accounting. The same can also be said for those students with better computer skills. CONCLUSION The success of this project requires a substantial investment of time on the part of the instructor both in and out of the classroom. The availability of actual data can also he a problem, although through contacts with colleagues a small business can usually be found which is willing to participate. For those students willing to invest the time, this project can be especially enlightening. Table of Contents Volume 19, 1992 The Pedagogical Utility of a Management Simulation Game in a Business Policy Course Modeling Economic Environments in Business Simulations: Some Comparisons and Recommendations Experiential Learning and TQM Principles: Teaching Behavioral Science in a Business School The Use of Poster Presentations as a Final Project in the Business Policy Course The Device Business: A Management Simulation for Strategy Formulation The Advantages of Experiential learning in the Auditing curriculum A Framework for the Identification of Moderated and Mediated Performance consequences of Pedagogical Alternatives Simulating Qualitative Research Relating to Values and Lifestyle Segmentation A New Market Demand Model for Business Simulators Interactive Optimization Using the Method of Relative Improvement Preferences: Methodology and Empirical Evaluation The Service Trainer Simulation Benefits of Internet Computer Networks for ABSEL Members How Should We Measure Experiential Learning? An Assessment of Simulation Usage in Management Accounting Courses The Influence of Myers-Briggs Type and Group Dynamics on Simulation Performance Effective Leadership Behavior in the Desert Storm Arena: An Application of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model Installing and Consolidating Work-Team Values: The Effects of a Multicultural Outdoors Experiential Program Key Determinants and Decision performance in a Business Simulations and Experiential Learning environment Multi-Cultural Experiential Learning: A Computer Simulation in Indonesia Attitudes Toward and Emotions Related to Women as Managers: A Replication and Beyond Scenario Approach to Simulating Consumer Expenditures: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Insights into Ethical Decision making Activities and Organizational Performance: A Management Simulation Analysis of College Students and Managers Evaluating a Business Simulation Program for Joint Venture Negotiation and Management Teaching Business Interviewing Strategies with an Experiential Approach Cooperative Learning Across the Business Curriculum Modeling Total Quality Elements into a Strategy-Oriented Simulation Teaching Business Decision making using a Simulator Extending the Educational Utility of a Simulated Competition within the Confines of an Established Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum Expert Systems Versus Traditional Methods for Teaching Accounting Issues Confidence Extremes Diminish Quality Performance in a Total Enterprise Simulation Can Ethics Be Taught? A Simulation Tests a Traditional Ethics Pedagogy Through The Looking Glass, Inc.: Organizational Climate Research as Experiential Pedagogy The use of Cluster Analysis for Business Game Performance Analysis Power and Ethnicity: An Experiential Learning Exercise (How to Sensitize Students to Diversity) Directed Development of Critical and Creative Thinking Skills for Case Analysis Implementing Total Quality Management in a Computerized Business Simulation Product Quality in Business Simulations Use of Simulation for Ethics Education in Management Satisfying the University's Customers through Total Quality Management Instruction: A Case Study Personality Characteristics and Group Performance in Total Enterprise Simulations Concepts of Interval Estimation and Quality Control Charts via Computer Simulated Sampling An Examination of the Effect of Team Cohesion, Player Attitude, and Performance Expectations on Simulation Performance Results The Effectiveness of Inventory Management and Production Scheduling Training in a Total Quality Management Environment Peer Group Indicators of the External Validity of Business Games: A five-year Longitudinal Study Political Strategies and Personal Actions Does Practice make Perfect? Observations on Simulation Trial The Use of A Non-Business Computer Simulation to Teach Marketing Management BankPro Commercial Bank Simulation The Production Game Pursuing Excellence: Work Strengths, Assets and relevant Values (An Exercise) Test of a Short Outward Bound Experience for College Students What is it that we want Student To Learn? Using Two TQM Philosophies when Playing Blackjack The Lagged Effects of Decision Variables on Financial Performance Measures Used in Two business Simulations The Development of an Experiential Exercise for Career Planning and Effective Job search Performance Measuring Quality in Management of Business Pedagogy Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement: Using and Experiential Process Toward a Generalized Architecture for Intelligent Reactive Management Systems The Quality Game TQX: Using Expert Systems to Improve Training in Total Quality Management A Simulation of the Effect of the Medicaid Payment Lag on the Financial Position of Community Pharmacies The Use of a Board of Directors to Evaluate and Validate Decisions in a Competitive Graduate Management Simulation Course The Impact of Academic Dishonesty on Business Simulations and Experiential Learning Activities Picture Project: An Experience of Icebreaking and/or Decision-Making An Effective Role-playing Exercise for Teaching Requisite TQM Supervisory Attitudes/Behavior Computerized Management Simulations and Some Correlates of Students' Satisfaction The Timing and Stability of Reactions to Market Structure in a Single Player Simulation Environment A Graphics Application Extension for a Simulated Decision Support System Environment Aspects of a Group Project Utilizing Actual Business data and a Computerized Accounting System The Role of Universities' Extended Learning Department in Assisting Organizations Implement Total Quality Management A three-dimensional Learning Experience to Develop Total Quality Management Skills Estimating Quality Costs by Computer Simulation Applications and Examples of Quality Control Software Assessing Business Pedagogy A Demonstration of an Experiential Process for Exploring Quality and Productivity Improvement Processes An Action-Ethics Dilemma: A Demonstration Org Sim Jr.: A 2-3 Hour Version of the 2-Day Blanchard/Murrell Organization Simulation Building Buildings: An Experiential Exercise in Organizational Structure, Communication, Leadership and Group Dynamics Expert Systems for Organization Design: A Demonstration A Demonstration of Product Quality in a Business Simulation: Version 2 of CEO Two Revolutions, Total Quality Leadership, and the Baldy: The Story of Milliken Total Quality after the Award - The Xerox Story Building a Competitive Advantage through Customer Satisfaction and Reengineering Human Resource Planning: Managing the Only Renewable Resource for a Competitive Advantage Using Simulations to Teach International Issues: An analysis of the Multinational Management Game's Learning Environment Quality Function Deployment: A Tutorial Care and Nurturing of Teams Making a Good Thing Better: Adding TQM to Participative management Empowering Organizations to Redesign and Transform Themselves - Eastman Chemical Using Simulations in Field Management Development of an International Life Insurance Company Reinforcing the TQ Environment via Simulation Transforming a Business College into a Total Quality College