The QUT Accounting Challenge is a case study competition for Year 9 and 10 high school students in Queensland and northern NSW.
For the challenge students take on the role of an Accountant and work in small groups of three to four to tackle a client’s real-world business problem.
Groups must prepare a proposal in the form of a presentation for their client (this task can be completed in class or given as additional work). Your team will need to prepare and submit a 4-slide PowerPoint in response to the tasks given, and then submit to QUT’s School of Accountancy for judging.
Teams with the best proposals are then selected to present their approach at the QUT Accounting Challenge finals to a panel of judges including representatives from the QUT School of Accountancy, our industry partner, and accounting professional bodies (CPA and CAANZ). The finals are held in Brisbane at QUT’s Gardens Point campus on Friday 5th June 2026.
How to enter
On completion of student proposals, submissions are to be emailed to acsc@qut.edu.au with the subject heading ‘QUT Accounting Challenge 2026’.
Signed image consent and permission forms will be required by finalists (to be provided).
Key dates
| The accounting challenge is released | 16th January 2026 |
| Register your interest for the accounting challenge | 6th March 2026 |
| Optional: Q&A Zoom Session 1 | 13th March 2026 |
| Accounting challenge submissions close | 1st May 2026 |
| Finalists notified | 8th May 2026 |
| Optional: Q&A Zoom Session 2 | 22nd May 2026 |
| Finals: Presentations and judging held at Gardens Point Campus | 5th June 2026 |
Meet our industry partner, Andrew Van De Beek, illumin8.
Prize Sponsors
Expression of interest for 2026 challenge
If your school is interested in participating in the 2026 competition, or if you are a business that would like to partner with us in a case study, please register your interest here.
Resources
See our resources for students and teachers.