Graduate students in Kevin Den Adel's advanced auditing class at the
Thirty-eight students, part of the the University of Iowa's College of Business' Master of Accounting program, are taking part in a collaboration examining financial policies and procedures with the city of Iowa City's Finance Department in what Den Adel, who has coordinated similar projects in recent years, calls a win-win for both parties.
"It's a win for our students because they gets hands-on experience, not only in the accounting-related aspects, but also working with a client and trying to deliver items that will help them," Den Adel, a lecturer and director of the undergraduate accounting program, told thePress-Citizen. "It's also a win for the organizations we work with, because they've been able to identify projects our students can work on and obviously there are no invoices to the entities."
UI students typically earn their undergraduate degree in accounting before spending a year in the master's program, often working at a summer internship before their year of graduate school, according to Den Adel. The advanced auditing class project looks to offer students a chance to further sharpen their skills with a real-world application.
This semester's end result will be a report with recommendations for written policies in a number of different areas from the students.
"Not only do we have the opportunity to give back to our community, but we also get to apply the knowledge we gained in the classroom to real-world situations," Eddy told thePress-Citizen. "Additionally, we get the opportunity to hear about our classmates' experiences; through this, we get a comprehensive vision of how City Hall functions."
"Seeing as most of us have little, if any, on-hands experience at this point in our careers, this project has provided a great opportunity for us to see the consulting side of the accounting practice," Genson explained to thePost-Citizen. "The project also allows us to use our cumulative knowledge and see how we are able to apply it in a practical, real-life setting."
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