Accounting Expedition 2018: Experience the Expertise!

February 28, time has come for the Accounting Expedition of 2018 to kick off. For months the committee worked their fingers through the bone in order create a successful event. The hotel was booked, the students were overloaded with the well-known AccEx-tea and the participating companies could not wait to open their doors for the participants.

Students gathered on a Wednesday afternoon at 15:30. With a brief welcoming message and introduction the expedition got underway. Then it was time to go to the station and catch the train to Eindhoven. So far everything went smoothly: We were half an hour ahead of schedule and had lost no one. Once arrived in Eindhoven we checked in at Hotel Glow, put all of our luggage in our rooms and had time for a cup of coffee in the lounge of the hotel. Around 19:45 we left for Eetcafé Spijker to have dinner together in order to get to know one another. With a few drinks after dinner a friendship was established. With the thought in mind that we had two long days ahead of us we left at a reasonable hour in order to get some necessary shut-eye.

“We had an interactive case about internal processes, risk and control measures of a real customer.”

The first alarm clocks went off around 6:30 that Thursday morning. The shower was turned on, the business casual outfit was laid out and at 7:15 the first participants trickled into Vascobelo to enjoy a lovely breakfast. Everything was still going smoothly until someone lost their bag at the cafe. He sprinted back to fetch it and with the whole group still together we left in time to the next company: Joanknecht. Against all odds we defied cold and harsh weather conditions due to strong eastern winds from Russia and were happy to arrive at the office to warm up. Here at Joanknecht, we received a word of welcome from one of the partners, played a quiz and the winner was rewarded with the Joanknecht-Mini for a week. After this small introduction it was time for more serious business: An interactive case about internal processes, risk and control measures of a real customer of Joanknecht. Time flew by and before we knew it we were already having lunch at Plein 4.

After the delicious lunch it was time for our next visit to EY and the program was opened in their panorama bar with a spectacular view of the skyline of Eindhoven. We continued the program with an interactive quiz after having asked all sorts of questions to the partner and (senior) staff. Who would have thought the quiz would end in a tie with 3 teams, it all came down to which team came closest to guessing the correct circumference of the earth. Team ‘Plein 4’ came closest and left the two losing teams ‘Bij twijfel C’ and ‘EWives’ in their wake. In the meantime everyone had gotten hungry again and together with some of the staff from EY we left for Plein 4, where we have now become regular visitors. After an enjoyable dinner it was time to call it a day but not without having a drink in our favourite pub Spijker.

“The enthusiastic and driven students in particular made the Accounting Expedition a success.”

On Friday morning we were allowed fifteen minutes of extra sleep and just like yesterday we were well in time to catch the bus to our next firm: Baker Tilly Berk. After being welcomed, receiving a cup of coffee and a tour through their recently refurbished office it was time for a workshop in integrity given by a partner. This broached a completely different subject of the accountancy world which gave us insight into a different aspect of the profession. Subsequently we were treated with a wonderful homemade lunch and because of this we lost track of time and had to hurry to get to the last firm of the expedition. In retrospect, that was not necessary because the bus had a delay. In an overcrowded bus we went to Eindhoven Central to catch the train back to Tilburg. With a few minutes to spare we were all able to get on the train and take a seat in a completely empty compartment. It turned out that the electricity was not working and with that our hopes of warming ourselves up was crushed. Nearly frozen to the bone we arrived in Tilburg and took the bus to BDO and to make matters worse the bus driver never showed up resulting in us arriving 10 minutes late. Nevertheless we were welcomed with open arms, could listen to a partner who enthusiastically told about the company and afterwards left with bus driver Wesley to one of BDO’s more interesting customers: Willem II. At Willem II we were welcomed by the general manager to whom we could ask all our (football-related) questions. After the question round we worked on a client-specific case and ended the day and expedition with a drink in one of the business rooms at Willem II. Unfortunately this time not with the catering from Plein 4 but with a delicacy from Tilburg, namely ‘broodje Jantje’.

And so forth the expedition came to an end. All in all the expedition was educational but above all pleasant. The enthusiastic and driven students in particular made the event a success. During the expedition we did not lose anyone, only arrived late once and everyone learned the ins and outs of the accountancy profession in order to be able to orientate themselves towards their future.

Finally I would like to thank Steven, Daan, Nadia and Kirstin for their hard work within this committee. Of course, an honourable mention goes out to our coordinator Sanne. Through the efforts of everyone we have managed to realize this beautiful event. I can proudly say that the Accounting Expedition 2018 was an overwhelming success!