Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

A Deep Dive into an AI Start-Up Company in the Pandemic

• In Event: Break and Research Exhibition 1
  In Paper Session: Room 2

Abstract

Abstract: This case will take you on a roller-coaster ride through the second quarter of 2020, as you help a CEO of a high-tech start-up company cut costs and increase sales to weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a past budget report, you will provide managerial accounting insights to the CEO to make decisions as the company changes its business model in response to the pandemic. You will analyze historic salary data to compute the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan dollar amount, revise the budget, and predict cash runway under different scenarios. Discussion topics will include budgeting, breakeven analysis, data analytics, cash burn, cash runway, discretionary costs, fixed costs, PPP loans, EIDL loans, and company compliance.

Authors

• Li Zhang, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

• Austin Kewei Chen, New York University