May 19, 2021
Meet Tai Nguyen and Marcella Moura, the co-winners of the 2020 Senior Level Accounting Case Competition hosted by Langara last fall. They are soon to be graduates of the Post Degree Diploma in Accounting and current presidents of the Langara Accounting Club.
Because accounting is primarily theory-based, Tai emphasized the importance of working cohesively towards a common goal. The competition is a place where students can work collectively and further develop their skills and practice problem-solving. “Accounting students generally lack the opportunity to work in groups, and the great thing about the case competition is that it challenges students to prepare for a real-world work environment”, says Marcella.
"The great thing about the case competition is that it
challenges students to prepare for a real-world work environment"
The competition is an experience where students can think realistically whilst working as a team with diverse strengths. This strong multidisciplinary duo demonstrated just that by winning first-place. Covid-19 has been an unprecedented experience for all students and greatly impacted the norms of this year’s accounting case competition. “We had to adapt virtually and develop video presentation and editing skills for the case competition which was challenging”, says Tai.
Throughout their years at Langara, their contributions and campus involvement have brought amazing career opportunities. Tai is set to work with KPMG after graduation and Marcella has accepted an offer from Deloitte this year.
Meet Anthony Lam and Bryan Diep, the winners of the Junior Level Accounting Case Competition. Anthony is a second-year student in the Associate of Arts program and Bryan is a first-year student of the Bachelor Business Administration. They study full time and work part time.
Anthony’s favourite part of the case competition was the creative freedom. “The beauty of the competition is that there is no right or wrong answer, you can try so many approaches,” says Anthony.
The case competition pushed them to experience something unfamiliar and acquire new knowledge. Through the competition, they learned to find the most effective solution by adapting to the resources offered while accounting for budget and timeliness.
“The beauty of the competition is that there is
no right or wrong answer, you can try so many approaches"
Once again, the pandemic presented several technical challenges. This junior team chose to use it to their advantage – to overcome their fear of competing. The virtual nature of the competition allowed them to feel more comfortable and have a unique learning experience.
Image of the Langara team, third place winner in 2019 CPA BC Finals
Langara first started the accounting case competitions in 2017, driven by instructor Ronald Wong and currently by the new chair Jennifer Duffy. The idea was to help students develop their professional skillset and be better prepared for their careers and the CPA Professional Education Program. They have the opportunity to practice analytical skills for case-based projects and self-directed learning. Students are encouraged to diversify their thought process with a creative approach while improving their verbal presentation and technical skills.
The winners of the Langara case go on to represent the College and compete at the CPA BC Accounting Case Competition with over 60 teams from the province. Ronald added that the students have a fantastic learning experience that helps improve their careers. According to Jennifer, "we shake things up and teach them the process of creative thinking. We want them to engage in divergent thinking and provide the solution that others would have overlooked".