Bissett Insider

Bissett Accounting Student Society hosts successful BASS Case Competition

Bass Case Competition1
BASS Competitors and Judges, Fall 2015
Bass Case Competition2
From left to right: Krishna Gandi, Suncor Energy; Sara Burton, Richardt Malan, first place winners; Simon Magennis, Accounting faculty MRU; Paula Overguard, ARC Resources.

The BASS Financial Case Competition was held on Friday, November 20, 2015 with eight teams of two students competing for a total of $2000 in prize money. Aspiring accountants use the competition to display their developing knowledge and apply it to real life situations. This allows the students to use their analytical skills, test their critical thinking, time management and strategic skills in a challenging circumstance. Being judged by industry professionals as well as our own  Bissett faculty members, gives added credibility to the competition.

Rik Smistad, the Chair of Accounting and Finance, explains the case scenario:  “This year, the business case students presented on, involved a company that was a sole distributor for energy supplements, popular with athletes, as they contain no banned substances.  The company was looking for additional bank funding to continue expansion and the bank has asked the company for additional financial information.  A senior manager with little training in accounting drafted financial statements for the bank but they contained errors that put the company in a bad financial light. The case competitors were required to adjust the errors thereby generating correct and useful financial information.  Further, the winning cases went beyond the adjustments and considered financial ratios and analysis to support the company’s case for its ability to manage cash flow, and stay within bank required, current ratio requirements and minimum cash balances.”

Bissett School of Business wishes to congratulate all competitors and organizers:

First place prize winners ($500 each):   Richardt Malan and Sarah Burton
Second place prize winners ($300 each):  Jeff Archibald and Brianne Belenky
Third place prize winners  ($200 each):  Steven Reed and Brendan Layton
Special thanks to:
Judges:  Simon Magennis,  Accounting faculty member;  Krishna Gandhi ,Performance Analyst of major projects Suncor Energy; and Paula Overguard,  Accounting Supervisor, ARC Resources.
Special thanks to BASS executive:
Jon Sliva, Sohail Shakeel, Vikki Khasilev, Mckenzie Schoenthal, Braden Smith, and Trisha Montinola for all the work they did in managing the full day competition.
Special thanks to:  Shiraz Kurji,  Associate Professor, MRU  for the financial accounting business case creation,  Vicky’s Magic Potions Inc. Rik Smistad,
Accounting and Finance Chair, MRU and Cliff Spyker, Associate Professor, MRU.