Four Year 10 students represented QAHS in the finals of the 2026 QUT Accounting Challenge, held at QUT Gardens Point on Friday 5 June.
William Fraser, Vyan Prabhu, Taylan Yener and Joseph Zenas qualified for the finals after preparing a six-slide response to The Hive: A Co-Working Business Challenge. The case centred on Zoe, an aspiring business owner seeking to establish a modern co-working space in Brisbane. Students were required to advise her on whether to lease or buy a property, how the business could generate revenue, its likely monthly cash requirements, and whether an additional investment should be structured through debt or equity financing.
At the finals, the team delivered a 10-minute presentation and responded to questions from a panel of academic and industry professionals. They finished second in their preliminary group and gained valuable insight from watching the approaches taken by other teams.
Reflecting on the experience, Joseph said:
“Participating in the QUT Accounting Challenge provided me with an invaluable opportunity to apply accounting concepts to a realistic business scenario, while also working closely with my peers. As part of the team, I contributed to researching the costs required to start a business and working around a budget that suits it.
“Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding of how accounting supports business decision-making and the importance of effective communication when presenting financial information. One challenge I faced was finding a way to balance my academics while also completing the PowerPoint in time for the competition.
“By collaborating closely with my peers, and allocating the tasks efficiently, I was able to overcome this challenge. This experience strengthened my teamwork, problem-solving, and presentation skills, while also helping me grow into a better person. It reminded me of Alex Morgan's quote that 'Winning and losing isn't everything. Sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome'."
Vyan reflected on both the team's performance and the lessons that could be carried into future competitions:
“The journey I had during the QUT Accounting Challenge had me learn a few things. We started the Accounting Challenge after being unable to get into the BlueShift Business Competition, to still learn how business works, and accounting is a major element of any successful business.
“The group did well, but we missed out on getting to the finals of the finals due to a mediocre project design, not considering non-financial aspects of the challenge, and the lack of a profit and loss statement. Communication was also lacklustre to some extent, as there were times we could not focus that well, so simply focusing better is another thing I have learned.
“After the challenge, I was told this would be similar to Australian Business Week, so whatever I've learned above, I'll try and carry it forward when it's ABW time."
William said the competition provided several important lessons that would influence his learning throughout the IB and beyond:
“During this challenge, our team of Vyan, Taylan, Joseph and I created a pitch, supported by a presentation, for our proposal to Zoe, a new business owner of an indoor venue called The Hive, on the financial details of its establishment.
“This included an in-depth explanation on whether the owner should lease or buy, how the business will make money through its services, the monthly cash expenditures through expenses such as buying and marketing the business, and finally, the organisation of the repayment of an investor's money through debt financing.
“Through our many meetings and juggling of schoolwork and this competition, we learned something invaluable in working as a team to put together a respectable presentation which took us to the finals. By working together, we leaned on each other for ideas and inspiration to maximise the effectiveness of our speeches and presentation.
“When it came to the day to present, we faced our fears of presenting in front of total strangers and were quite successful in our presentation, supposedly coming second in our group, making it even more worth it in the end.
“By also watching the other extraordinary speeches, we got to further understand what we could have done to improve, with an emphasis on touching on the social aspect of running a business, and inspire us for Australian Business Week.
“To conclude, this experience is a crucial milestone in the IB journey and gives us many skills required to succeed after school. This is from the three-step voyage of our production phase, the actual competition and the learnings and reflection of our work."
Taylan was particularly impressed by the creativity demonstrated by other teams:
“When other groups were presenting, I was surprised at how creative some of their presentations were. Every group received the same criteria, time and questions to answer, but some groups went beyond the questions.
“While our presentation was informative and had quite a few creative aspects, like the QR codes and charts, to keep audience engagement, some groups also did 3D digital models of the given floor plan and introduced several ways to build income, like a café and even a daycare.
“We did give a few of these ideas in our presentation, but the way others had presented it had provided their audience with a clear visualisation of the work environment of The Hive.
“It was cool listening to the CEO of Illumin8, Andrew Van De Beek, and his speech about how rigorous the process of starting a business can be. After this year's attempt at the challenge, the next year we attempt the challenge will be better than the last, as we understand what we are going up against, as well as how we learnt better terminology for accounting concepts from other teams."
The QUT Accounting Challenge gave the students an opportunity to apply accounting and business concepts under pressure while strengthening their teamwork, financial reasoning, problem-solving and presentation skills. Their thoughtful reflections also show a willingness to evaluate their work honestly and use the experience to improve in future opportunities. A special mention and thank you to Mrs Betty Zenas, for mentoring the team in the lead up and during the Finals in Brisbane.
Well done team!
Dion Obst
HOD Enrichment