The Driest Of The Business Topics

I freaking LOVE Accounting and Finance! Love this topic, always have, always will. That said…making accounting fun isn’t always easy. In high school, I was the Accounting student of the Year in 1983—one of my proudest moments in high school. I’ve never found it boring, making accounting fun was easy for me; and I have enjoyed sharing it with students for decades. Accounting is the greatest!!!

Lots…and lots…of kids don’t seem to agree. Okay, not a lot of business teachers really enjoy the subject either. But…it’s one of the best classes students can take, and a course that can lead to an immediate career for students who are not interested in pursuing a postsecondary degree right away.

Looking at it from a CTSO perspective, in my experience, the Finance series in DECA and the Accounting tests and written events in FBLA are among the most under-enrolled events, making them a great choice for students who want that edge to get ahead. 

Benefits of Accounting and Finance Education

One of the most common things I have said all my life is this: I can’t stand math. I really can’t stand it!!! There is a very common misconception that Accounting is math. It isn’t. When you put a dollar sign in front of those numbers, they take on a life of their own. There is a big, big difference.

Many school districts—entire states, actually—have implemented a requirement for Personal Finance for graduation from high school. I applaud this idea, but have huge problems with the way it has been rolled out in some areas. For some school districts, Personal Finance became part of a senior year social studies curriculum, and in others, Personal Finance was offered through the math department. I disagree with both of these options, because a true Accounting or Personal Finance curriculum needs to be taught by someone with a strong background in business. This isn’t just balancing a checkbook, people. 

Importance In CTSOs

As I mentioned above, Accounting and Finance events in both DECA and FBLA are extremely under-enrolled because making it fun isn’t always easy, at least in my state. Those events—and others like them—require significant knowledge and understanding, compared to something like Impromptu Speaking. To succeed in Accounting testing or, even more, role-playing events, the students must have not only advanced accounting and finance knowledge, but they also need those presentation skills often lacking in these types of students. Combining someone who is a strong presenter with the advanced knowledge and skills required in Accounting and Finance will result in a fierce competitor, who could be very successful.

We give a screening test at our school for students to even qualify to go into the Accounting and Finance track. Once enrolled, we monitor students to see who is especially skilled at the curriculum, and they move into the Accounting objective tests in FBLA. A student who has both the objective skills and is a strong presenter would be funneled into the Finance Series events or Business Plan written events in DECA. We have been very successful by doing this .

Projects To Increase Mastery

Back to my opening paragraph…students think Accounting and Finance is boring. In my unsolicited opinion, anything related to money is the opposite of boring, but I’m not a teenager. Over the years, I’ve devised a number of extensive projects for students to do that combine the necessary skills and understanding with creative and innovative instruction. Hopefully, you will find one or more of these ideas interesting enough for you to incorporate in your curriculum!

Careers in Accounting

A very common thing for teachers to assign, I do, indeed, have students investigate different careers. However, I encourage you to broaden the topic to make it more interesting. One year, my project was “Celebrity Accounting” where students had to find a career path in a famous line of work—entertainment, professional athletics, etc. This opened their eyes to a wide variety of “boring” accounting jobs in extremely fun and exciting industries. 

Interview A Professional

In my experience, doing a project with a deliverable that is NOT a written report will always be a hit with students. In this case, have them record and edit a video of them interviewing someone in Accounting and Finance. Zoom and Google meet have made it easier for kids to find and interview professionals. This is a good one for pairs of students to do, as well.

The Accounting Cycle Song

This one comes from my “work wife”, K-Stu, who does this when the Accounting and Finance 1 students finish the accounting cycle. They have to use music and their own written lyrics to teach the steps in the accounting cycle. They do this assignment in pairs, and it is such a hit that many of my graduating seniors, after Accounting and Finance 3, still refer to this as their favorite project in their entire high school career. 

Run Your Own Fictional Business

To open Accounting and Finance 2, I have students run a fictional store for six months. They are given very strict instructions for preparing to open their store, and have to go through a number of steps including a Business Plan. Once they “open”, they are in business for six months, during which different things happen—good and bad—in their company that they need to account for. This is an exciting and fun project that is made that much more interesting by the fact that there is no answer key for this one—from the very first decisions, every pair of students will have different outcomes.  

Run My Student Store

Being in charge of the Student Store on our campus, I have ongoing Accounting and Finance jobs and decisions throughout the year. I simply outsource all of this work to my Accounting and Finance students. Not only do students in my program work in the store, when they are seniors some of them become the store managers, and those students oversee the profitability, risk management and human resources situations as they come up.

VITA/TCE

You’ve come to the granddaddy of my Accounting and finance program. My classroom is a VITA/TCE site for the IRS. That is Volunteer Income Tax/Tax Care for the Elderly site. Seniors and lower income community members make appointments and have their taxes completed and filed in my classroom during my class period. My third year students study for—and 100% pass—the IRS Tax Preparer Certification test prior to February 1. Once they are certified, we see clients throughout the tax season, and complete and file their taxes right from my classroom. It is the most incredible program I’ve ever been a part of, and I love the opportunity it gives my students.

Building Enrollment

If you infuse your curriculum with some of the ideas above, I know word will get around that your Accounting and Finance class is the best and the coolest elective on campus. Doing your best to move outside of the textbook will benefit your students in a number of ways, making them not only more accomplished students, but filling them with confidence about their abilities.

The Accounting and Finance curriculum can offer them some other things that will definitely boost your enrollment if you advertise them. For me:

6 College Credits

Through our articulation agreement with a local college, our students earn 6 credits—transferable anywhere in the country—by successfully completing our three-year program. That is a huge savings on their college tuition bill.

IRS Certification

By earning a completely free IRS Tax Preparer Certification, my students can be hired by any company in the country as a tax preparer at much more than minimum wage. At age 18.

Bookkeeping Certification

Following a year and a half of our curriculum, students sit for the Certiport Bookkeeper Certification exam. Passing this national test will help them get a job in any company in the country, at much higher than minimum wage. They are about 17 years old when they pass this exam.

Told You So…

Hopefully, I have reminded you of the importance—and the absolute FUN—associated with an Accounting and Finance curriculum. 

All you need to do now is advertise the awesomeness.

Comment on here, or email me at ppilatbuono@gmail.com for lesson plans and information for any of the projects listed above—love to help!

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR!!!

Wow, thank you for reading about making accounting fun!

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