Peer Review

Accounting Monopoly

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Apr 20, 2006 by Business

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This module uses the classic game, Monopoly, as a basis for teaching basic bookkeeping and accounting. Students perform bookkeeping functions such as writing checks, completing deposit slips, recording transactions, and posting operations for a sole proprietorship. Contents include: game rules, teacher instructions, and forms and worksheets to implement
the activity.
Type of Material:: Simulation combined with drill and practice.
Recommended Uses:: The author of this module recommends that it be used during class. Given the
amount of materials currently included in the first accounting class at
the college level, it might be more appropriate as an out-of-class assignment.
Students could also benefit from playing the game in teams.
Technical Requirements:: All of the documents are available in both Word and PDF format. Any browser
will allow access.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: After completing the game students should have an understanding
for how business transactions give rise to document processing and how those
same transactions lead to worksheets and basic financial statements. Students should be able to organize a set of books, record journal entries, post to the general ledger and prepare a simple set of financial statements.
Target Student Population:: College level introductory accounting course, or high school bookkeeping course
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Students need only some knowledge of debits and credits and the
accounting processes related to the complete accounting cycle. Professors only need knowledge to modify the templates in MS Office if they so
choose.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Accounting Monopoly demonstrates core concepts grounded in the accounting discipline. Content is accurate, current and relevant, summarizes and integrates concepts well, and includes an adequate amount of material. It is a clever implementation of the board game. The templates provided by the author can be adapted to easily correct any of the weaknesses noted below.

Concerns:

In the General Ledger, the Capital and Drawing accounts both have the same chart of account number, 310.
Instead of gaining experience in keeping a checkbook as the instruction imply, students actually post cash transactions to the cash account in the general ledger, which is not quite the same as maintaining a checkbook.
The Accounting Monopoly Rules intended for the students indicate only the income statement and the balance sheet are to be prepared. However, the teacher instructions indicate that the monopoly finance forms also include the statement of changes in owners equity. The forms do indeed include a space for the statement of changes in owner's equity.
The point of including the worksheet with adjustments (the working worksheet document) and the worksheet forms document is not entirely clear. The intent probably is to provide flexibility to users. In reality, however, the working worksheet would probably be most useful, as it does not include adjusting entries.
Rather than placing both taxes and fines in the same miscellaneous expense
account, it would be better to have two separate accounts.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: All materials needed (except the actual monopoly game board) are included. Learning objectives and prerequisite knowledge are identified. Concepts are reinforced progressively, build on prior concepts, and demonstrate relationships between them experientially by having students complete the accounting cycle.
The fact that forms are already developed makes this a ready to pick up and use assignment. Forms appear in both Word and PDF formats which means modifications can be made quite easily. The working worksheet template in MS Office has the formulas embedded for student use.
Concerns:: Two potential problems exists. With the number of international students increasing on a regular basis, everyone in class may not already know how to play Monopoly. Secondly, how effective playing the game in only a single class meeting is questionable. The point about efficiency (learning a lot in a short time) depends on the instructors limits on the amount of time allotted to playing the game. Is it one 50 minute class session or longer? Does the time frame include stopping and starting again when documents are prepared, or are students supposed to take brief notes and come back later with the forms prepared?

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Anyone with a knowledge of Monopoly can use this simulation. The process is an interactive and engaging example of how to implement experiential learning in an accounting course. None of the concerns noted would preclude use of the main components of the module. Concerns are merely discussed to minimize questions that the first time user might experience.
Concerns:: Financial statement PDF forms were not full size, rendering them very difficult to read and use. The lack of instructions for the bank reconciliation process is somewhat confusing. What kind of details were given to students that allowed them to do the sample bank reconciliation that had the October dates? The directory file listing includes a file called Monopoly Bank Statement, but it did not appear to trace to the forms for the bank reconciliation template.

Other Issues and Comments:: Accounting Monopoly is very easy to use. The forms, in Word format, can be easily modified and accounts added, deleted, etc. Faculty users will, however, have to provide monopoly game boards for the class.
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