Nearly 140 University of Nebraska–Lincoln students competed in the inaugural Intermediate Accounting II Case Competition, Sept. 18-19. Acting as junior credit analysts, the students collaborated in groups to prepare a loan analysis and then pitch it in less than eight minutes to win cash prizes totaling $6,000.

"A case competition offers students the chance to engage with a real-world scenario while honing their critical thinking, communication and teamwork skills," said Jill Trucke, associate professor of practice in accountancy. "To benefit the most students, we decided to integrate it into a class as an assignment but also make it a competition."

Divided into 29 groups of four or five, the students worked together for two weeks outside of class time on their analyses. The competition scenario placed them as junior credit analysts for a large, well-known bank in good financial health with a well-diversified portfolio of loans.

"The students were to include the amount, interest rate and term length for a business loan for BJ Wholesale Club Holdings (BJ), Floor and Décor Holding (FND) or Spotify (SPOT). To do this, they had to assess the creditworthiness of the publicly traded companies and evaluate their ability to repay loans, which involves analyzing financial statements, market conditions and other relevant data. They also needed to ensure the bank has a good return on their investment through these loans," Trucke shared.

All teams presented during the first round of the competition to accounting faculty judges. The top five teams returned the next day to present to the School of Accountancy (SoA) Junior Advisory Board. Winners of the $6,000 in cash prizes, sponsored in part by Deloitte, were announced during the school's annual Celebration of Excellence event that evening.

"Through the competition, I learned a great deal about bank loans, interest rates and covenants, which was all new to me. It was fascinating to see how the ratios we discussed in class, like the quick ratio and interest coverage ratio, are applied in real-world scenarios. We used these ratios to assess various aspects of each company, which played a crucial role in our decision-making process," said Nikolas Mancio, a senior accounting and finance major from Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Mancio — along with Sophia Gagnon, junior accounting major from Lakewood, Colorado; Brooke Hester, accounting major from La Vista, Nebraska; and Harry Hueners, senior accounting and finance major from Sioux Falls, South Dakota — captured first place in the competition and took home $3,000.

"The hardest part of the competition was trying to pull everyone's ideas together. We also tried to figure out what questions they were going to ask us in the second round of the competition. We had a lot of accounting minds in the same room and having them analyze your product from a professional standpoint while staying in the role of a junior analyst was something we tried really hard to do," said Jackson Harvey, junior accounting and finance major from Underwood, Iowa. "I want to thank the alumni and donors who help provide the awards. They gave us a chance to put the knowledge that we learned in the classroom to the test, and it helped us in so many ways."

Harvey and his team included Rachel Grant, senior accounting and music major from Goddard, Kansas; Bree Havlat, senior accounting major from Lincoln, Nebraska; Brayden McPhail, junior finance and accounting major from Lincoln; and Khanh Do Van Nguyen, junior finance major from Thu Duc, Vietnam. They won second place and received $2,000.

"Speaking in public definitely is not something I enjoy. This competition took me way outside my comfort zone," said Camden Midgett, a junior accounting and finance major from Lincoln.

Midgett and team included Daniel Cutler, junior accounting major from Plattsmouth, Nebraska; Willem Larson, junior accounting major from Leawood, Kansas; and Xavier Roy, junior accounting major from Elkhorn, Nebraska. They took third place and won $1,000.

"I believe case studies are one of the best ways for students to learn. Having participated in a few, I found it very rewarding to see the results after all the hard work my team and I put in. Even when we didn’t win, the learning experiences from these competitions were invaluable," Mancio said. "The university should continue to offer these opportunities, as they provide essential skills and insights beyond the classroom. It really enhances our education and prepares us for real-world challenges."