FMIPA UI Students Achieve Achievements at the 24th Indonesia Accounting Fair Business Case Competition

Adawia Ananda, a student from the Statistics Study Program, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia (FMIPA UI), together with her teammates from other faculties at UI, namely Pascal Nicholas (Accounting 2021), and Ayesha Kalila Yushiputeri (Industrial Engineering 2021) won an achievement in the 24th Indonesia Accounting Fair organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia. The three of them won 3rd place in the event which collaborated with PwC and Deloitte.

The Indonesia Accounting Fair is divided into Business Case Competition and Accounting Competition, where PwC and Deloitte are case collaborators. Adawia and her team participated in the BCC competition, where the competition was quite tight, there were more than 50 teams participating with each consisting of 3 members. In each competition category (Accounting and BCC) there were 3 champions and the best presenter.

The three of them joined a team called "Hana's Lovers". Uniquely, they named the team because they were mentored directly by a senior named Rohananda Devi (Management 2020) who has won many awards in various Business Case Competitions.

In the Indonesia Accounting Fair (IAF), the competition scheme consists of three stages. In the Preliminary stage, participants make a proposal from a case. In the Semifinal stage (Top 15), participants are given a new case compiled by case collaborators and create a pitch deck and make a presentation in front of the jury. While in the Final stage (Top 5), the case used is the same as the semifinal stage, but on the final day, participants get additional information and are given 2 hours to adjust and enrich the strategy that has been made previously, then make an offline presentation in front of the jury.

The case study given is a problem faced by an agribusiness company engaged in the palm oil sector. Participants were asked to create a strategy so that the company could reduce carbon emissions and achieve zero emissions by 2030.

"In an effort to achieve this goal, my friends and I proposed a strategy consisting of three main components. First, we proposed the implementation of Nature-Based Solution (NBS) to utilize nature's capacity to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, adapt to the impacts of climate change, and achieve sustainable development goals. Second, we proposed Climate Risks Adaptation to reduce the vulnerability of human and natural systems to the impacts of climate change. Finally, we emphasized the importance of Responsible Sourcing to ensure that the products and services we use are produced and provided ethically, sustainably, and socially responsible," said Adawia.

Participating in this competition was not without its challenges. The team admitted that they faced quite a challenge that took time and energy. In the short time between the announcement of their qualifications to the final round and the final itself, the participants were required to prepare in a short time, while they also continued to study and fulfill academic obligations.

"In terms of material, the biggest challenge is to create a feasible solution. It may be easy for us to imagine and create a fantastic solution. But to create a feasible solution, we need to think about many things, such as financial aspects, appropriate ROI, and many more,” Adawia replied.

Even so, the challenge is not an obstacle to continue to give the best. Especially because of the strong motivation embedded in Adawia.

“I always gain new knowledge and valuable experience from the competitions I have participated in. Therefore, when Pascal invited me and Ayesha to join this competition, I immediately accepted the challenge without hesitation. The topics raised in this competition, namely Climate Action and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, also match my interests and enthusiasm,” Adawia continued.

At the end of the interview session, the Hana’s Lovers Team shared that there were many benefits they gained from this competition experience, such as training critical thinking skills, expanding knowledge outside the academic curriculum, and building networks. In addition, they also agreed that through this opportunity they also learned from professionals in the industry.

“Joining a competition may seem scary at first, but I realized that the journey matters more than the end result. Late night calls to work on pitch decks, meetings with the mentors to practice pitching, the nerves before going on stage in front of the judges, and finally hearing your name announced as the winner. I will say this again, joining a competition is addictive! So, don’t be afraid to take your first step and start your journey!”

Indonesia Accounting Fair (IAF) is one of the largest and oldest annual international accounting events organized by students in Indonesia. The 24th Indonesia Accounting Fair in 2023 carries the theme "Approaching Net Zero: Counteracting Climate Change to Enforce an Imperishable Impact". The vision of this event is to be a leading international accounting and business learning opportunity for students. Not only attracting students from universities throughout Southeast Asia, but also many professionals from prestigious companies. IAF aims to help accounting students expand their knowledge and insights on current accounting issues.

The timeline for this competition is preliminary submission on January 14, 2023, semifinals on February 28, 2023, and Final & Awarding on March 4, 2023. The semifinal announcements are made via email and Instagram, and the finalist announcements are made offline during a company visit to PwC. While the announcement of the winners is made offline at the awarding night and on Instagram.

Public Relations Contributor FMIPA UI: Arrizqy Nadya Khairunissa (Geography 2019)

News source: https://sci.ui.ac.id/