UBC Faculty of Management students Cat Bootle, Michael Bitcon and Brad Curtiss won $2,000 and the first-place title at the CPABC Case Competition.
Delivering what the customer needs, not wants, has earned UBC’s Faculty of Management students top honours at a provincial competition for accounting.
The annual Chartered Professional Accountants of BC (CPABC) Case Competition finals were held March 12. Three teams from UBC’s Faculty of Management were among the eight finalists vying for the grand prize. After an intensive day of presentations, UBC students Cat Bootle, Michael Bitcon and Brad Curtiss (Team BAM) won the title and a $2,000 cash prize.
“Faculty of Management students went against the grain at the CPABC Case Competition, taking a practical approach to deliver what the business needed. Acting on sound principles is critical to becoming a successful leader in today’s management environment,” says Roger Sugden, dean of the Faculty of Management.
The challenge presented to the students included the case of Polar Sports Inc., a fictional ski manufacturing company looking to change from seasonal production to year-round operations.
While most teams focused on leveling out the production process, Team BAM took a closer look at Polar Sports’ cash flow—choosing instead to recommend their client reduce its accounts receivable process to 30 days by offering early payment discounts to customers.
“We did take it in a different direction. There were no marks for technical accounting, but the analysis showed it was the best direction for the client,” says Bootle, a third-year Management student.
A second group from UBC’s Faculty of Management also won prizes. Team ROOKS (Sten Korver, Eunice Punzalan, Andrew Upton and Berin Brand) captured two Twitter Challenges, creating the most engagement and most creative photo.
Team LAD Consulting of Alex Little, Jesse Huang and Della Vanhoughten also represented UBC’s Faculty of Management in the final round.
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