Today's NCEA exams: Accounting

By DITA DE BONI

"Satisfaction" and "pleasure" may not be the emotions most people associate with accounting, but for just over 9000 Year 11 students today, a balanced balance sheet might bring a little bit of those feelings.

Accounting is today's first NCEA exam. Its popularity continues to grow despite the subject being over-subscribed at university level and in the job market.

On the other hand, says Burnside High School's assistant head of commerce, Ian McGregor, employers now expect basic accounting skills.



Five major topics are covered in the NCEA external accounting exam - topics which have not changed much in the switch from School Certificate, but which were revised three years ago to embrace a modern corporate age.

The first area, and one in which students have the most trouble, according to Mr McGregor, is the "conceptual basis of accounting", which seeks to define exactly what it is, what entities are, and how partners differ from sole proprietors.

Other areas include the study of processing financial information, manually and by computers, how cash is controlled in the form of back reconciliations, preparing financial statements and analysing an entity's financial performance.

Students also study how club accounts work, which Mr McGregor says is very relevant to many students' lives.

He says wording has also changed greatly in the modern era - balance sheets are now "statements of financial position".

"Accounting had no curriculum until three years ago - it basically used to be set as 'whatever the last exam was'," he says.

"Now it has been brought up to date. I don't know whether it's 'sexy', but it is satisfying and students get pleasure out of getting things to balance."

He says about 50 per cent of Year 11 accounting students study the subject right though school.

This afternoon's NCEA exam is French ( roughly 2530 candidates), and Te Reo Rangatira, or traditional Maori (almost 200).

Today's University bursary exams are graphics, taken by 1778 students, and history of art (2519).

Richie Grimmond, head of economics and accounting at Tauhara College in Taupo, said his students had been "delighted" with yesterday's NCEA economics exam.

Too delighted, perhaps. "It reminded me a little of the new Economics School Certificate exam we had about 10 years ago which was very easy, but then everyone was scaled down," he says.

"Of course, they can't scale down NCEA but I am a bit suspicious - it seemed a bit too straightforward. Maybe they're trying to give NCEA a good name."

However, all his students except one had stayed in for the full three hours answering questions.