The Commerce Times

Ryerson students ahead of the GAAP

Ryerson University’s accounting students placed first in the 2nd annual 2010 ACHIEVE case competition, which took place Feb. 12 at the Ted Rogers School of Management.The event gave Ryerson students a chance to put their professional skills to work in front of fellow students and industry professionals. Hosted by the student executives of Ryerson University Accounting Society (RUAS), the event allowed participants to interact and network during the award ceremony with representatives from reputable corporations, such as Deloitte, Ernest & Young and KPMG.

“RUAS has created various opportunities for the thousands of accounting students at Ryerson,” said Asmaa Shahsamand, president of RUAS.

The event’s competitive and motivational nature helped expose both RUAS and the Ted Rogers School of Management’s students’ potentials to participants from eight different universities across Ontario, including Schulich, Guelph, and Wilfred Laurier University.

“It’s the best we’ve had so far,” said Shahsamand.

Overall, the team was happy with what they accomplished at the competition, but there was one challenge that may have hindered their success.

“Lack of experience in doing models together, it was always hard getting everyone together [for preparation purposes] and other than that, everybody has their own point of view and it’s hard to find the right solution. You have to have nerves of steel, and a connection between members,” said Masad.

The structure of the competition included two days of actual challenges and one day of networking and socializing.

“Thursday night there was a lot of socializing, and also it was a trading Shahsamand believes that RUAS events are setting standards for Ryerson’s accounting program and that student participation in them is beneficial.

“Students thatparticipate in these events have a higher chance of being employed once they graduate,” he said.

To further increase networking and employment opportunities, RUAS also hosts annual designation information sessions, industry nights and an Alumni Gala which accounting students can attend to learn about internship opportunities, and get information about post graduate studies.

The winning team took home $1,500, provided by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, as well as a plaque of recognition. In order to avoid any possible partiality, instead of faculty personnel or RUAS executives, the competition’s judging panel consisted of eight industry professionals from the event’s
corporate sponsors. The competition was based on the study of one accounting case; the concepts in the case were analyzed by each team and then presented to the judging panel as well as the other participants.

Renu Shah, a fourth-year accounting major and competition coordinator, believes that this event is only the beginning of RUAS’ achievements.

“For the past two years, it’s only been a day-long competition,” said Shah.

“We want to eventually turn this into a two or three day conference, to make this event bigger and better.”