A national competition run by the Institute of Chartered Accounts in Australia  has seen two accounting students from Charles Sturt University (CSU) come up trumps.

 

The CSU team of Ms Andrea Rosanes and Ms Katy Luo have been awarded first prize for Best Participation  – one of three categories in the Chartered Accountants Student Challenge.

 

In the inaugural year of the Challenge, university accountancy students were asked to formulate seven performance indicators for the Australian section of the world’s leading independent medical-humanitarian aid organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières Australia.

 

Filling the role of Chartered Accountants, the students developed performance indicators in the areas of cost effectiveness, human resources, awaress and independence and ethics.

 

“In winning this prize, Andrea and Katy have shown the very skills which are being sought each year by regional and national employers,” said Mr Matthew Dyki, a lecturer with the CSU School of Commerce.

 

“This is indicative of the quality of accounting students CSU is producing, having not only the technical accounting knowledge needed by the accounting profession, but more importantly the broader graduate skills employers are now demanding,” said Mr Dyki.

 

In congratulating the students, the Institute’s Riverna Group President Mr Stuart Heine said, “Chartered Accountants pride themselves on their diligence and ethical standards. It is great to see two CSU students display the qualities required to become a Chartered Accountant.”

 

The two members of CSU team, ‘Account on us‘, each won an Apple iPodTouch valued at almost $500. Ms Rosanes from Cobar and Ms Luo from Tumut in NSW are studying for accounting degrees on CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus.

 

As part of its role as an educator of the professionals for inland Australia, CSU offers accounting degrees on its campuses in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga, on-campus fulltime or part-time, as well as via distance education. There are also students studying accounting at the CSU Study Centres in Sydney and Melbourne.

 

CSU research in 2007 highlighted concern about an accountants’ shortage. The study found the numbers of accounting graduates finishing tertiary studies will not be enough to meet the demands of Australian business and communities, particularly in inland Australia. Read more.