Monday 20 June 2016 10:58am
The 'Compete for Cash Cow' competition required students to complete online challenges every three days involving a farm’s daily operations and its financial data.
AccountingPod co-founder Judith Cambridge presents Matthew with his second-place prize.
Otago Accounting student Matthew Morrison has been named runner-up in AccountingPod’s nationwide dairy farm simulation competition, ‘Compete for Cash Cow’, that saw him run a virtual dairy farm for 22 days.
Competing against 300 students spread across all eight New Zealand universities, Matthew managed his virtual dairy farm using the Xero accounting platform and AccountingPod.com’s learning portal.
The competition required students to complete online challenges every three days involving a farm’s daily operations and its financial data. Finalists were then required to present their farm’s third-quarter financial report and an ‘Adding Value to Milk Idea’ to an experienced judging panel.
Panel member Kirsten Patterson, New Zealand Country Head of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), commented on the high quality of Matthew’s presentation during the final judging round.
“Matthew impressed the judging panel with his use of the competition software, his business insight and attention to detail, plus his innovative scrambled eggs in a bottle new product idea. Matthew has a very promising business career ahead of him and we wish him well.”
Matthew, a second-year Accounting student who does not have a background in dairy farming, believes the competition opened his eyes to the world of online accounting tools and also to the wider dairy industry.
“I have certainly learnt a lot about the dairy industry and New Zealand economy, using Xero accounting software, and interpreting financial information from a dairy farm.
“I really enjoyed being involved in this competition, and was excited to learn I had placed second,” says Matthew.
The overall competition winner was Rebecca Matthews from Victoria University of Wellington, and third place went to AUT student Samson Cheng.
The competition was designed to expose students to the world of digital business tools and to learn more about the New Zealand business environment. AccountingPod co-founder, Judith Cambridge believes this was achieved.
“Our aim was to move the needle on students’ practical knowledge of digital business tools in a fun and engaging way. The dairy industry in New Zealand is a really interesting case study for any business student, not just agri-students, so we were very pleased with the level of student engagement.
“The dairy industry is rich in data from the milking shed, pasture and supply company, to its global market. Capable business students are needed in this industry, and needed in the digital economy interpreting that data and supporting business success,” says Ms Cambridge.
Competition sponsors included; CA ANZ, Xero, ASB and Farmright. AccountingPod technology challenged, tracked and marked student activity across a range of business software tools during the competition, and this software will be launched across several New Zealand universities over the coming months.
