https://www.dropbox.com/s/36gun27scfgghjn/Monopoly%20-%20Instructions.docx?dl=0
Advance to the nearest color-coded property you own Monopoly Project Acctg 330 Instructor: Jason Porter Instructions One of the most important aspects of accounting is the flow of information from transactions in the journals to the ledgers, and then from the ledgers to the financial statements. Unfortunately, most accounting courses do not provide an opportunity for students to follow this process. Many students also feel that they don’t have the opportunity to practice creating journal entries from scratch, another essential aspect of accounting. In order to give you the opportunity to improve your understanding of these important aspects of accounting, I would like to invite you to play a game of Monopoly. That’s right, Monopoly. (You didn’t think I could apply accounting to something fun like Monopoly, did you?) The game of Monopoly is perfect for a review of accounting concepts. With the initial receipt of cash, you create your own little company, which then performs numerous transactions with the intent to make as much money as possible. Sound familiar? It should. When you play a game of Monopoly, you are acting just like any other business, and I would like you to track a Monopoly business through its first ‘year’ of life. We’ll be playing the game in class, finishing up the last 10 weeks of the fiscal year. This means, that you’ll need to pick up where the original players left off. Make sure you read through all of this packet and the Excel file before you come to class! Many of the rules have been changed and you’ll want to be ready to go when class starts! To get started, follow the instructions below. As you play, make the appropriate journal entry for each of your transactions (not anyone else’s, just yours). You need to have transactions for a full 50 weeks, or turns, so you’ll need to move quickly enough to make sure that each member of the group gets 10 turns. Once you have finished playing and recording the journal entries for these last few turns, use the information in your journal and ledger to create all of the necessary accounting forms for your company. Your final submission must consist of one (1) Excel document that will be submitted using the Monopoly Project Dropbox on Blackboard. Your file should mirror the Excel template, although you are welcome to make minor formatting changes as long as they do not change the formal nature of your reports. DO NOT include your general ledger as part of your submission. To speed up the grading process, please make sure that you follow these formatting instructions: 1. Make sure that your final submission is saved while you are working on the Information Page worksheet. This will ensure that your document opens correctly for grading. 2. Keep your spreadsheets in the same order as they originally appear in the Excel template. 3. Follow the same formatting for your transactions as you see in the entries already prepared for you. 4. Use Ariel 10, or an equivalent size, font to make your work easy to read. Also, make sure that your pages are set to 100% zoom to speed up the grading process. I will take off points for any formatting mistakes, so make sure you follow these instructions carefully. Have fun! Playing the Game Special Game Rules and Steps for Completing the Project 1. READ ALL OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS: Part of your grade on this project is how well you follow the instructions. You will lose points if you use regular Monopoly Rules instead of the rules given here (see Step #3). Also, certain transactions will be easier to record if you already know the processes explained here. Please plan on reading through these instructions before class begins on the first day of the project. 2. DOWNLOAD THE FORMS AND SET UP THE BOARD: In the Monopoly folder of the Other Projects and Cases folder on Blackboard, you’ll find an Excel template and Ledger for four players (A, B, C, and D). Each member of your team should pick a letter, then download the two files for that player. At the beginning of the Ledger file, you’ll find a list of the properties owned, the houses owned and where they are placed, and the debts that have been taken out. You’ll find any other details you need to know on the final tab of the Excel template file (the status report). 3. FORM THE COMPANY: Pick a name for your company and put it on the title page. You’ll need the name of the company for the financial statements that you’ll create later. Also, record the name of each person playing with you. 4. SET UP THE GAME BOARD: Set up the board and divide up the cards according to the details in the Ledger files. 5. PLAY THE GAME: With the following exceptions, no variations are allowed from the normal Monopoly rules. For example, no money can be collected for landing on “free parking” and all fines and penalties are paid to the bank. The following special rules apply (NOTE: if you have any questions regarding these rules, please ask. I will take off points if you do not follow them exactly, so make sure that you do it right from the beginning): LENGTH OF GAME: Each of your turns represents one week of your company’s fiscal year. Make sure you keep track of the week number for each turn as the date in your journal. For the purposes of our little world, we will assume a 50 week fiscal year. THROWING DOUBLES: Because of the limited time we have to play the game in class, please don’t take an extra turn when you throw doubles. The only benefit of doubles in our game will be getting out for free if you throw doubles while in jail. BUYING PROPERTIES: Properties may be purchased when you land on them or as a trade from another player (for land or money, no free rent agreements). No auctions are to be held. BORROWING MONEY: If you need cash, you may borrow money from the bank at 2% simple weekly interest (use simple, not compound, interest to keep the calculations easier). If the bank runs out of money, the banker is instructed to “print” additional money on sheets of paper. If you mortgage a property, you are only charged 1% simple weekly interest since your loan is secured and therefore carries less risk. You may still collect rent on mortgaged properties. Note: There is no limit to the amount of money you can borrow from the bank. Also, do not make a journal entry for the interest accrued each week. Journal entries for interest should only be made when you pay off the loan, (the whole loan and accrued interest must be paid off at the same time) and when making your adjusting entries. Finally, the interest starts to accrue the week after you take out the loan. So, if I take out a $100 loan in week 40, by the end of week 50 I will have accrued $20 of interest (2% of $100 for the weeks 41-50). Hint: Loans are considered to be long-term liabilities because there is no requirement to pay them back by a certain date. JAIL TIME: You are not allowed to waste your time in jail. You must leave jail on your next turn by throwing doubles, using a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, or by paying the $50 fine. (Hint: There is no journal entry for getting a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, just for using it.) CHANCE AND COMMUNITY CHEST CARDS: Leave the chance and community chest cards in the game box. Instead, when you land on a chance or community chest space, use the chart provided below. You will roll each die, one at a time, to find the appropriate set of instructions to use. The first die you roll will indicate the column, and the second die will indicate the row. INCOME TAX SPACE & LUXURY TAX SPACE: If you land on the income tax space or the luxury tax space, ignore the normal instructions. Simply pay $200 (income tax space) or $75 (luxury tax space) to the bank and record the payment as dividends. DO NOT MAKE UP YOUR OWN ACCOUNTS: Use the Chart of Accounts that is included with these instructions. 5. SELECT A BANKER AND DISTRIBUTE FUNDS: Choose one player to act as banker. This player will collect and pay out money for the bank, but no additional accounting is required for the bank. To start the game, the banker distributes the cash each player starts with (from the Ledger file). Each player originally received $1,500. The first $1,000 of this transaction was as an issuance of stock for cash and was recorded as a debit to ‘Cash’ and a credit to ‘Common Stock.’ The other $500 was an unsecured loan and was recorded following the instructions above. You may pay off this initial loan and any accrued interest after you have built your first house. Instructions on recording interest are provided below. 6. PLAY THE GAME: As you play the last few turns of the game, record each transaction in the journal as it occurs. If you have a “week” without any transactions, please put no transaction with an explanation of why into your journal. HINT: Don’t forget to use the proper format for each entry or you will lose points. Also, make sure you leave a one-line space between journal entries to keep the grader happy. Date each entry by turn number: 1, 2, 3, etc. The dates will be important for calculating the amounts in your adjusting entries. Over the course of the game you must do each of the following: 1. Trade at least one piece of property. 2. End up with at least 6 pieces of property (including railroads and utilities). 3. Build one house prior to turn 45. If you do not have a set by that time, you may build one house on a partial set (for example, 2 properties of the same color). In order to do this, you will have to buy a special building permit on week 44 (part of the cost of the house) by paying each of your opponents $100. If you don’t own a full set, you may only build one house and you can only do it on turn 44! Make sure you plan ahead to accomplish these transactions! Some of these events have already been done. Look through your journal before you get started to see what you still need to do. No player may begin a turn until his or her transactions from the previous turn have been recorded. If you aren’t sure how to record an entry, feel free to ask the other members of your group