Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/30/2012 -- As Singapore gears up to become an accounting hub by 2020, more career opportunities will be growing in the accounting sector. To inspire young people to consider a career in accountancy, ACCA and Nanyang Polytechnic are taking the lead to prepare young talents for this opportunity through the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge, now in its second year. This fun and interactive competition is designed to showcase the dynamic aspects of the accountancy profession. Accountants today do more than just keeping the books or crunching numbers as they play an integral part in any organisation. Accounting professionals can work in public practice such as the Big 4 or other accounting firms and the work ranges from auditing to tax to consulting work. In commercial organisations, accountants’ roles include internal auditors, management accountants, financial controllers and chief financial officers.

66 teams or 198 students from 34 secondary schools participated in the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge held on 27 March 2012. The contesting teams had to go through an elimination stage – a qualifying round which saw only the best five teams making it to the finals.

The finalists went through three different stages in the final round in a form of a game show, with short business related cases, quick response answers and round robin questions but with a little twist. Each team was able to redirect the questions, without any penalty, to other finalists if they were unable to answer. The other team to which the question was redirected would gain points if they answered correctly but would suffer a penalty if they were to give a wrong answer. In order to promote interactivity, the audience were able to join in the challenge together with the finalists through an audience participation segment. This game show format covered widely on areas such as financial accounting, management accounting, audit, tax, business environment and finance.

After displaying excellent cooperation and quick strategic thinking, Team A from Ngee Ann Secondary School obtained the highest scores to emerge as champion. The champion team won $800 in cash and a commemorative trophy. Team B from Temasek Secondary School took home the 1st Runner-up position and received $500 while Team B from Beatty Secondary School took the 2nd Runner-up position and a cheque of $300. The other two finalists, Team B from Yishun Town Secondary School and Team B from St Gabriel’s Secondary School took home $100 in cash per team.

“Accountants today are no longer number crunchers but are essentially business strategists. Accountants play a really important role in any organisation and we aimed to demonstrate this through the challenge,” said Darryl Wee, country head of ACCA Singapore.

Darryl added, “As the accountancy sector in Singapore sets to grow, we should continue to see a demand for a career in accounting and finance. ACCA will continue to do its part to promote interest in the profession and nurture tomorrow’s accountants.”

“With Singapore aiming to be an accountancy hub by 2020, the NYP-ACCA Accounting Challenge will be a good platform for students to know more about the profession and to consider it as their career choice. I wish to thank all the teams for their participation,” said Chiang K K, Director of NYP, School of Business Management. “I hope they have learnt more about accounting through this competition and at the same time, enjoyed themselves. We look forward to their strong support again next year.”