Buster Marine Specialties: Exploring the Role of Transaction Detail and Contractual Agreement in the Preparation of Financial Statements

• In Event: Emerging Research Session II: Case Discussions and Communication

Abstract

Buster Marine Services (BMS) is a flexible set of modules that explore topics from Intermediate Financial Accounting in significantly greater detail than typical end-of chapter material. The project is designed to familiarize students with many accounting dimensions of a middle market company, to provide experience with data files, legal documents and other business communications and records, and to guide the student through the many linkages that connect various aspects of the accounting process.

At the start of the project students are given general material that relates to all the modules: a brief history of the company and description of its operations and reference material on topics that are mentioned in most Intermediate textbooks but not typically explored in great detail. Each module contains a set of communications, contracts and data. Students need to evaluate this material, in some cases to tease out key relationships, in other cases to parse data or create a chain of calculations, and to prepare a set of journal entries. The project concludes with the calculation of a tax provision and the preparation of financial statements.

Author

• Harry Howe, SUNY, Geneseo