Orenburg state university

OSU students took the third prize in the international competition of auditors

Through February 1–28, St. Petersburg State University of Economics held the VI International Student Competition «Do You know IFRS?» (International Financial Reporting Standards). The event was initiated by the Russian audit and consulting group of companies «BDO Unicon».

12 teams from leading Russian universities and 4 universities from Germany, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Uzbekistan competed in the contest.

— One of the main requirements for companies to enter international exchanges (listing) is their financial statements in the IFRS format and audit in English, — says Elena Satalkina, scientific consultant for the OSU team, Associate Professor of the Department of Accountancy, Analysis and Audit.

OSU has been participated in the competition for many years.

Every year Russia holds two IFRS competitions, supported by the «Big Four» — the four largest audit companies. In October the competition’s assignment are formulated by university theorists and takes place offline, while in February the competition is online and its tasks are case studies from real international companies. The February competition is considered to be more prestigious as it welcomes international teams that often win.

IFRS specialists are ones of a kind. To get a job in the audit companies of the «Big Four» is difficult and prestigious. Employment is preceded by four to eight internal examinations to select the best. But the winners of the competition get into the personnel reserve automatically.

Teams from Orenburg State University have been participating in these competitions for many years. And this is the third victory of our team. Before that, in 2017, OSU students took the second place and got into the list of the personnel reserve for the international audit company Ernst & Young.

Four-year bachelor students majoring in Accounting and Audit Ulyana Zubkova, Daria Kichatova, Arina Druzhchenko, Zhanargul Kuzhabekova have made the OSU team this year.

Staff members from two international audit companies (KPMG, BDO Unicon), Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, St. Petersburg State University and local businesses acted as the expert jury. They evaluated each task according to a number of criteria: the correctness of the case solution, the reasoning of the decision, the knowledge of the IFRS terminology and the design of the assignment submitted.

As a result, the first place went to the team from Kazan Federal University and St. Petersburg State University.

The second place went to the students from Stavropol State Agrarian University. The third prize was shared by two teams — from Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University and Orenburg State University.