Ypsilanti entrepreneur Merrill Guerra has a growing business
with RealKidz Clothing. And a growing need for accounting
help as the company, which makes and sells a line of stylish
plus-size clothes for girls age 5-12, gains momentum.
But, like many small business owners, she's wedged between
getting the right help and keeping costs down. And that's
where Howard Bunsis, an Eastern Michigan University accounting
professor, and his graduate students come in.
 |
BALANCING THE BOOKS: Merrill Guerra (center),
owner of Realkidz Clothing in
Ypsilanti, looks over
accounting documents for
her business that were
generated by Eastern Michigan
University MBA
students (above, left) Deepti Manjeshwar,
of Ann
Arbor, and
Helen Riley of Canton. The students, part
of
an Accounting 696 class involved with Academic
Service-Learning projects, are working with Guerra
to standardize her accounting and find ways to
better
manage her inventory and books.
|
Three of Bunsis's graduate students are working with Guerra
to standardize her accounting and find ways to better manage
her inventory and books. It's one of nine Academic Service-Learning
projects underway with students from Bunsis's fall/winter
Accounting 696 class, and an opportunity for accounting
students to fill a real need in the community.
"I always tell students there's a simple goal — that the
student is better off for having the real-world experience
and that they make the organization of the firm better
off because of their involvement," said Bunsis, who has
been running service-learning projects since he came to
EMU 11 years ago.
Bunsis tries to select projects that represent a range
of nonprofit, for-profit and university clients, and said
the best projects are the ones that help organizations
that are just starting out to set up a stable accounting
system.
A capstone class, the experience nudges students into
a world where not everyone keeps computerized records,
not everyone knows how to use their accounting software,
and where starting from scratch sometimes involves cleaning
up someone else's mess first.
"I'm always pretty amazed at the way small businesses
just kind of lumber along and do the best they can," said
Helen Riley, a returning student who was an accountant
for a direct marketing agency in Chicago before she started
her family.
"It's hard to decide how they can really get (more
accounting) expertise. It's expensive to go to a CPA or
a tax guy, and (the work) doesn't necessarily require that
level of expertise, but it takes more than maybe you want
to ask of a bookkeeper," Riley said. "This is the middle
ground that I think they often can't afford, and that's
why this is such a great service."
Along with classmates Deepti Manjeshwar and Robyn Fuller,
Riley has helped Guerra establish some procedures so she
can close out the books at the end of the month. The students
also are looking at inventory management systems that are
better able to grow with the business.
"Merrill's a great role model for women who have their
own business," said Riley, who also has a daughter. "She
is one of the new young entrepreneurs in Michigan, trying
to make her way in a very challenging time."
Guerra said the EMU students fill a gap in Michigan's
support (or lack thereof) of start-up consumer product
businesses.
"The relationship with EMU has been incredibly helpful
to my business (the students) have been wonderful to work
with and I have very much appreciated their work and contribution
to my small start-up company," Guerra said.
Here's a look at some of the other service learning projects
Bunsis is overseeing:
Project to Educate All Cyclists (PEAC): PEAC,
an Ypsilanti-based nonprofit, brings cycling into the lives
of people with cognitive, physical and emotional disabilities.
The group is made up of dedicated volunteers who are very
good at what they do. They aren't, however, so good at
accounting.
That led Executive Director John Waterman to lament the
state of PEAC's books to Bunsis, who has two children involved
in PEAC programs. Bunsis sent students Mary Reineke, Sharon
Goodrich and Thomas Wawrzaszek to the rescue, to create
a program and set of procedures that will keep PEAC's books
consistent no matter who's conducting the bookkeeping.
"We're hoping to get a product that allows our organization
to streamline and run better," Waterman said. "And I think
the students are seeing the need for our program, and seeing
they have a chance to help a great program."
North American Society for the Sociology of Sport
(NASSS): When Brenda Reimer, a professor in
EMU's School of Health Promotion and Human Performance,
took over as NASSS treasurer recently, she inherited
the group's neglected books and the responsibility for
making sense of them.
To help her get there, accounting students Esther DeBlacam,
Rula Sa and Ara Cho are putting together a spreadsheet
of the organization's past bank statements. They're also
developing a budget for the NASSS conference, which never
had one before, putting together information needed to
apply for tax-exempt status and setting up a user-friendly
system so Reimer can keep the funds in order.
EMU Athletic Department: Two
students have been developing inventory control sheets
and cash control policies to lay the accounting groundwork
for the EMU apparel store at the Convocation Center. The
athletic department took over management of the store this
fall after the contract with an outside vendor expired.
Gabe Burdette and Dan Torres were given the goal of having
a system in place by the beginning of basketball season.
The first home game is Nov. 14.
"The couple of times I met with them they seemed pretty
much on pace and had a good idea of what they were going
to do," said Associate Athletic Director Mike Malach. "I
know they had already called a couple of (Mid-American
Conference) schools to see what they were selling and that
kind of thing."
Think Local First: The Ann Arbor nonprofit
was looking for a way to streamline its cumbersome accounting
system, improve communication and make its finances more
transparent. EMU students Tom Wilson and Bryan Bannick
recommended and helped set up an online system that will
cut down on duplicate paperwork and give that organization's
board of directors the ability to sign in and check the
books.
"I think EMU students are a wonderful resource," said
Think Local First Executive Director Ingrid Ault. "I think
we got lucky in that the students who selected our project
came with a lot of experience and had tackled projects
like this before. I know Tom has over 10 years of experience
doing just this kind of work."
Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley: Habitat
for Humanity of Huron Valley has a staff and a well-developed
accounting system, but the job of assembling a detailed
accounting manual has long fell to the bottom of the pile
at the busy nonprofit. EMU students Christie Mathis and
Dan Parrish will develop a manual of accounting policies
and procedures to replace the current guidelines, which
are about four years old and not very thorough, finance
director John Hock said.
Depot Town Community Development Corporation: Patrick
Diegel and Ted Rhine are helping the Depot Town Community
Development Corporation transition into a new role as the
overseer of Riverside and Frog Island parks.
The changeover, initiated by a contract with the City
of Ypsilanti in May, involves an audit, a change in bookkeeping
systems, and a lot of sorting of paperwork from one big
catch-all box into the new accounting system.
Diegel and Rhine have spent a lot of time preparing information
for the audit, said Eric Dotzauer, executive director of
the Depot Town Community Development Corporation. Dotzauer
says he'd love to get their input on ways the organization
can strengthen its accounting practices.
"Honestly, it brings in an expertise that's really nice," he
said. "The previous person who kept our books was a mortgage
broker, so she was well-versed in bookkeeping practices,
but we had to train her on QuickBooks. We really didn't
have a fit where they had the skill set we needed to implement
what we were trying to do."
EMU GEAR UP: GEAR UP (Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is
a federal program that helps youths from low-income communities
prepare for and get into college. Approximately 800 ninth-graders
at Ypsilanti, Willow Run and Wayne Memorial high schools
have been with GEAR UP since seventh grade. The program
will keep providing guidance and support through 2012.
College financial aid applications require parents to file
IRS records, so EMU accounting students Lauren Nelson,
Kristi Lin and Anjali Asthana will help them resolve past
problems with the IRS and get the program's finances in
order.
Davies House in Georgetown Bed & Breakfast: Owner
and innkeeper Jan Davies McDermott had always kept paper
records for her Ann Arbor bed and breakfast. So, when she
started preparing to sell the business about nine months
ago, she turned to Malik Anthony, Jessica Pelleran and
Sarah Ward to help her convert to an electronic system
that will be easier for potential buyers and their accountants
to analyze. A previous EMU student created the system,
and a crew of three will help McDermott enter old data
into the new system.
"It's been a rewarding experience," "said McDermott, who
connected with Bunsis through the Michigan Small Business
and Technology Development Center. "It's an ongoing project,
though I only have them for a semester and their schedules
are limited. They've helped me solve some problems so far.
Every semester that I get them, I get a little more accomplished.
Someday, I'll get it all done."
