After introducing professional judgment concepts and a framework for decision-making in class, students in Dr. Nagy’s Intermediate Accounting 1 course were assigned a case that ultimately required them to determine an appropriate allowance for uncollectible accounts at the end of a financial reporting period. Students, individually and then in small groups, worked with data in Excel, relevant authoritative literature, and a variety of other information. As the teams were developing their estimates, it was important for them to consider alternatives, practice professional judgment, and substantiate their conclusions.
As a component of the project, each team was provided with the opportunity to participate in a working session with an experienced practitioner. The student teams came to the working session prepared with an analysis and ready to articulate their decisions and rationale. The practitioners reviewed the analysis with the team, asked questions, made suggestions for consideration, and shared relevant experiences from their practice. After the working session, students were given time to reflect, complete their final analysis, and prepare an executive memo and Ignatian reflection. So much learning took place over the course of the project. Special thanks to the experienced practitioners, including many John Carroll alums, from Cohen & Company, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, Progressive, RSM, and Skoda Minotti, for so generously sharing their time, knowledge and experience!