Measuring Student’s Understanding of Accounting Classification with the Engagement of Real Business Operator

Accounting knowledge is undoubtedly important in assisting businesses in managing financial matters more effectively. University students are required to enroll in introductory accounting courses to equip themselves with the knowledge necessary to handle challenges in the real world after graduation. The students are still experiencing difficulties, though, because of the technicalities in preparing financial statements. On that account, real business operators from the industry were invited to engage directly with the students and share their real-world experiences while applying their basic accounting knowledge in preparing complete financial statements. Hence, this study examines the understanding of accounting classification among the students which comprised of assets, liabilities, owner’s equity, revenue, and expenses after the involvement with the expert from the real business operator. A total of 252 undergraduate students were responded to a self-administered questionnaire. The findings revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between student’s basic accounting knowledge and student’s understanding of financial statement elements including assets, liabilities, owner’s equity, revenues, and expenses when industry participant was involved. The results indicated that the level of understanding on accounting classification is still relatively moderate and low in certain aspects due to its technical difficulties. However, the interaction with real business operators from the industry enhanced the student’s comprehension relative to what they have already learned in the classroom. This in turn, is expected to provide useful information to the university in terms of student academic development, with the goal of exposing students to a perfect application of explicit teaching with industry.