Beta A game about accounting in Aotearoa
Practice makes partner.
From your last semester at uni to a practice of your own. Code bank feeds, sort the GST, stamp expense claims and keep your clients happy, one week at a time, with real New Zealand rules.
Not an accountant? Good. It's a proper work-sim challenge for any gamer: a clock, an inbox, and people trying it on.
- Free while in beta
- Phone, tablet or laptop
- Nothing to install
- Real NZ rules
Your first years in accounting, one week at a time.
Every choice follows you: your exam mark decides who'll hire you, your work decides your reputation, and how you treat people decides who picks up the phone when you need them.
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01
The last semester
Four weeks at uni walk you through every kind of job. Then the final exam.
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02
The offers
Your mark decides who'll have you. Pick your boss, and with them your difficulty.
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03
Year one
The grad year: an inbox of real work, clients on the phone, and pay day on Friday.
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04
Your own practice
Study, get poached, and one day put your own name on the door.
Who it's for
Real work
The accounting job, turned into a game.
It's the real work a grad does: code the bank feeds, check the claims, close the year. The clients are classic Kiwi characters, and some of them are trying to pull the wool over your eyes.
Take Bryce. His “water heating unit” for the yard is a six-seat spa pool, delivered to his deck. “Don’t need to look at the invoice. It’s just… plumbing. Wet stuff.” Add a few annoying relatives, a boss with opinions and plenty of Kiwi banter, and that’s your first year.
- Spot who's trying it on: red pen, three stamps
- Look up any business on a bank statement
- Feedback that says what you got wrong, and why
Real people
It's not just the numbers.
Your flatmate needs the rent. Your mum does hair from home and wants to know if lunch with a client counts (the client is Nana). The boss emails at 4:58. Ignore people and they notice; reply well and they remember. Every client keeps score of how your work for them has gone.
Your phone has your messages, last week's feedback, your bank balance and a few games for your break. Pay day can't come soon enough.
Meet Bully
He's a bulldog clip.
He's here to help. Mostly.
The first time you see each kind of job, Bully tells you what to do. Tap the yellow ? any time for the rules of the game. He keeps it snappy. He's a clip.
*He also bears no resemblance to any other anthropomorphic stationery helpers.
Ten kinds of job. Zero busywork.
Real junior-accountant work, simplified, never dumbed down. Real NZ rules: GST, IRD, PAYE, provisional tax, the lot.
Cash coding
The right account, and whether GST is claimed.
Bank recs
Match the bank to the ledger. Find what's missing.
Expense claims
Red pen out. Approve, query or reject.
Client queries
The right answer, said kindly.
Receipts
Which invoices did that payment pay?
Worksheets
Read the papers, fill in the boxes.
Deadlines
What's due first, and what costs most if it's late.
Spot the error
Circle what's wrong. Only what's wrong.
Sort it
Asset or expense? Private or business?
Match up
The words you'll use every day.
Try one
Your clients are trying it on. Stamp these.
Four real claims from Year 1, each with its paperwork. Some are fine. Some are not. Approve it, Query it if it's fixable, or Reject it if the business shouldn't pay at all.
In the game you'd circle the problem with a red pen first. Here, just pick a stamp.
- Claimant
- Dom, Torretti’s Lube & Tune
- For
- Staff Christmas BBQ (Entertainment, 50%)
- Amount
- $1,840.00
HOROTIU QUALITY MEATS
Spit roast, seafood, cannoli
Guest list: 42 · Staff: 2
Nonna is in charge.
TOTAL$1,840.00
Choose your boss
Pick your difficulty by picking your boss.
Three practices are hiring grads. Each one wants a certain mark.
- Cooke Books Ltd Relaxed · any mark
- Colin Cooke has never once seen what's funny about the name. No clock, and mistakes cost less.
- Kitty & Co. Standard · 60%+
- Harry Kitty knows how to have fun while also getting down to business: a tidy front of house and biscuits on Fridays. The clock is real.
- Burnham & Out Hard · 75%+
- The best pay in town. Max Burnham bills in six-minute units and notices everything. Everything.
Play anywhere. Pick up anywhere.
Phone on the bus, laptop at home. Sign in with your email (a code, no password) and your desk is just as you left it. The full game is about 11 to 14 hours; there's a short game of about 7 to 9.
For firms and lecturers.
Give your grads a head start before day one, run it as a class exercise, or use it in recruitment: “play our game”. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll be in touch.
Get in touchWant in?
The Practice is in beta testing: it isn't released yet, and it's free while we test. Request to play and you'll get an email when you're let in.
Or leave your details to hear when it opens to everyone. Firms, lecturers and student societies: tell us a little about what you'd like to do.
News
From the practice
Questions
What is The Practice?
A browser game, now in beta, about your first years as an accountant in New Zealand. You start in your last semester at uni, sit the final exam, pick a job offer, then work a week at a time: coding bank feeds, reconciling accounts, sorting GST, checking expense claims and answering clients. The long game is a practice of your own.
Is it free?
It's free while it's in beta testing. The game isn't released yet, so we haven't settled what happens at launch. Request to play the beta, or leave your details to hear first.
Do I need to know accounting?
No. The uni semester walks you through every kind of job, with Bully on hand. Students and juniors will recognise the work; everyone else learns it as they go.
Is it based on real NZ rules?
Yes, simplified: GST at 15%, GST registration, invoice and payments basis, IRD, PAYE, provisional tax and the April to March tax year. It's a game, so it's simplified for play. It isn't tax or accounting advice.
How long does it take?
About 11 to 14 hours for the full game, or 7 to 9 for the short one. You play a week at a time and it saves as you go.
What can I play it on?
Any phone, tablet or computer with a modern browser. Sign in with your email and your game follows you between devices. On a phone, add it to your home screen and it opens like an app.
How do I get access?
Request to play with your email. While the game is being tested, a person lets new accounts in, and you'll get an email when you're in. Already have an account? Sign in.
Can firms or universities use it?
Yes: for grad onboarding, recruitment, or as a class exercise (see for teachers). Leave your details and we'll be in touch.
Your desk is waiting.
The coffee's instant, sniff the milk before you pour, and the printer's always jammed. You'll fit right in.
Request to play