A training tool
Onboarding before day one. A grad plays the uni weeks and Year 1 and turns up knowing what a bank rec, a GST return and a dodgy expense claim look like. Every answer comes with the rule behind it, and a rulebook they can search.
Beta For firms and accountants
Fake clients. Real practice.
The Practice is a browser game set in a New Zealand practice: bank feeds, recs, GST, expense claims, payroll and year-end, against the clock, with clients who try it on. Use it to train grads before they touch a real file, test what your team knows, or find out if you'd still pass the exam.
- Free while in beta
- Real NZ rules
- Runs in a browser
- Nothing to set up
- working weeks (4 at uni)
- 29
- jobs in the inboxes
- 211
- expense claims to check
- 123
- rulebook pages
- 112
- kinds of job
- 10
Three ways to use it
Train them, test them, or just play.
A test of the basics
The final exam is 20 questions drawn from 48, against the clock. The boss reviews the work every week. Ask a candidate to play the first week and talk you through it: you'll learn more than from a CV.
Just for fun
For your seniors on a Friday afternoon. Take a job at Burnham & Out (hard mode: six-minute units, poker-faced clients) and see who's still got it. Every sneaky claim you let through comes back at the audit.
Recognise anyone?
Clients who try it on. You've met them.
- Bryce claims a “water heating unit” as yard stock. It's a six-seat spa pool, on his deck. “It’s just… plumbing. Wet stuff.”
- Uncle Kev files his GST return. Three cash roofing jobs are in his diary, not his invoices. “Fishing spots, mainly.”
- Dom codes the staff Christmas BBQ at 50%. Forty-two guests, two of them staff. Nonna is in charge.
- Grace claims a stocktake supper for the count team. Her company owns property: there’s no stock to count. It was her 40th.
What it covers
Everything a junior does in their first year.
Each rule arrives in the rulebook when the work needs it, and is used straight away on a client's papers. Real NZ rules, simplified for play.
GST
15% on, 3/23 out. Registered or not, what has no GST in it, overseas subscriptions, and a GST return box by box.
Cash coding
A client's bank feed: the right account and the GST on each line, private or business, with a lookup for every payee.
Bank recs
Match the bank to the ledger, explain timing differences, and spot the difference that divides by 9.
Accruals
March costs belong to March. Accruals excluding GST, prepayments, supplier statements and stock cut-off.
PAYE
The payslip against the timesheet, KiwiSaver at 3.5% and 3.5%, the student loan, and payday filing.
Low-value assets
The $1,000 line, repair or capital, the asset register against the invoice, and depreciation by months owned.
Entertainment
The Christmas party at 50%, gifts of food and drink, free food for the public at 100%, and the GST adjustment.
And more
Expense claims and the $200 rule, receipts against invoices, IRD dates and penalties, provisional tax, the shareholder current account.
We're considering
Team groups and a firm login?
The same idea as class groups for teachers: you set up a group and share a join code, and a firm login shows how each person is going and where they're stuck. A version with your firm's name on it, for recruitment, is on the list too. Nothing's built yet. Would it be worthwhile for you?
Bring The Practice to your practice.
The Practice is in beta: it isn't released yet, and it's free while we test it. Request to play and you'll get an email when you're let in.
Or leave your details: your firm, how many grads you take on, and what you'd use it for. Training, testing, recruitment, or the Friday quiz. We'll be in touch.
Questions
Can our grads use it now?
Yes. Each person requests to play with their own email; while the game is in beta, a person approves new accounts. If you've a few grads starting, leave your details with a note and we'll let them in together.
Is it accurate enough to train with?
It uses real New Zealand rules, simplified for play: GST, PAYE, provisional tax, accruals, the shareholder current account and more. It was directed by a New Zealand accountant, and every answer comes with the rule behind it. It's a game, not tax or accounting advice, and not a substitute for your own training.
Can we see how our people are doing?
Not yet. We're considering team groups (the same idea as class groups for teachers): a firm login that shows each person's progress and where they're stuck. Tell us if you'd use it, or vote on the roadmap if you're signed in.
Does it count as CPD?
No. It's a game, not a CPD course or a professional-body programme. It's good practice, though, and a fair test of whether the basics have stuck.
Could it carry our firm's branding?
Not yet. If a version with your firm's name on it would make it worthwhile for recruitment or onboarding, tell us what you'd need.
What does it cost?
It's free while it's in beta. Pricing for firms hasn't been decided.
Reckon you'd still pass the exam?
Play the first week. Then take the job at Burnham & Out.