In CapsimInbox: Managerial Accounting, students experience a day in the life as a Senior Accountant at a consulting firm that performs a variety of services and specializes in asset valuation and acquisitions.
Dr. McCalman chose an accounting position that allows for a broad range of activities and interacting with company leaders ranging from CFOs to fellow accountants.
As the firm contemplates a recent significant acquisition, participants must understand and assess the firm’s financial health, costs, and profitability of various product lines. Participants are responsible for managing duties across multiple divisions, and they must report and communicate with several team members across various departments.
After investigating for commonalities across curriculums from experts in the accounting field and their approach to teaching and course design, Dr. McCalman wanted his scenarios to measure in-demand skills, including managerial decision-making, cost concepts, financial statement analysis, budgeting, and business communications. The simulation challenges students to capture and analyze business operations to provide valuable financial insights for profitability.
With assessment at its core, there’s even value in using CapsimInbox as pretest and post-test assessment tools in classrooms.
“You can begin a class knowing where students land in terms of their competencies,” Dr. McCalman began.
Over the quarter or semester, a post-test reveals the progress students made by once again assessing key skills and competencies.