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Impact of Liquidation Accounting Exercises on Company Liquidation Accounting Skills among Accounting Education Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Liquidation accounting is an important area of company accounting education that enables students to understand the accounting procedures involved when a company ceases operations and its assets are realized to settle liabilities and distribute any remaining funds to shareholders. Accounting education students require practical skills to prepare liquidation accounts, determine realizable values of assets, account for liquidation expenses, settle secured and unsecured liabilities, calculate liquidators' remuneration, determine the order of distribution of available funds, and prepare relevant statements during the winding-up process. However, conventional approaches to teaching liquidation accounting may emphasize theoretical explanations and routine calculations without providing sufficient opportunities for students to apply accounting principles to realistic company liquidation situations. Liquidation Accounting Exercises provide students with structured opportunities to analyse liquidation transactions, prepare relevant accounts, determine amounts available for distribution, and apply appropriate company liquidation procedures. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of liquidation accounting exercises on company liquidation accounting skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on Experiential Learning Theory, Constructivist Learning Theory, and Mastery Learning Theory. Experiential Learning Theory emphasizes learning through concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, providing a suitable framework for students' engagement with practical liquidation accounting activities. Constructivist Learning Theory emphasizes active participation, problem-solving, prior knowledge, and the construction of knowledge through meaningful learning experiences. Mastery Learning Theory emphasizes repeated practice, formative assessment, corrective feedback, and opportunities for learners to achieve clearly defined competencies. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how liquidation accounting exercises may influence students' company liquidation accounting skills. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise undergraduate accounting education students enrolled in selected public and private universities across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, universities, faculties or departments, levels of study, and eligible accounting education students. Liquidation accounting exercises will be assessed using indicators such as frequency of practical exercises, preparation of statement of affairs, realization of company assets, treatment of secured assets and liabilities, preferential creditors, unsecured creditors, liquidation expenses, liquidators' remuneration, calls on contributories, treatment of shareholders, calculation of deficiency or surplus, distribution of available funds, preparation of liquidator's final statement of account, treatment of uncalled capital, case-based exercises, spreadsheet-based activities, accounting software, lecturer guidance, feedback, and opportunities for repeated practice. Students' company liquidation accounting skills will be assessed using indicators such as accurate preparation of liquidation accounts, determination of realizable asset values, appropriate treatment of liquidation expenses, classification and settlement of liabilities, calculation of liquidators' remuneration, determination of amounts available for distribution, treatment of preferential and unsecured creditors, calculation of calls on contributories, determination of deficiency or surplus, preparation of relevant journal and ledger entries, preparation of the liquidator's final statement of account, interpretation of liquidation information, identification and correction of accounting errors, numerical accuracy, analytical reasoning, and ability to solve unfamiliar company liquidation problems. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized company liquidation accounting skills tests, practical liquidation accounting tasks, company winding-up scenarios, case studies, spreadsheet exercises, competency-based assessment rubrics, observation checklists, and pre-test and post-test assessments where a quasi-experimental design is adopted. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize students' demographic and academic characteristics, liquidation accounting learning experiences, practical exercise exposure, and levels of company liquidation accounting skills. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, paired and independent t-tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of liquidation accounting exercises on students' company liquidation accounting skills. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, company liquidation accounting skill scores before and after exposure to liquidation accounting exercises may be compared with those of a comparison group receiving conventional company accounting instruction to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that liquidation accounting exercises have a significant positive impact on company liquidation accounting skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. Students who regularly engage in structured liquidation accounting exercises are expected to demonstrate stronger abilities to prepare liquidation accounts, determine realizable asset values, classify and settle liabilities, calculate liquidators' remuneration, determine the amount available for distribution, treat calls on contributories, and prepare final liquidation statements than students exposed primarily to conventional lecture-based instruction. Practical exercises may help students understand the relationship between asset realization, liquidation expenses, creditor settlement, shareholders' claims, and the distribution of available funds. Exposure to progressively complex liquidation scenarios may strengthen students' numerical accuracy, analytical reasoning, problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, and professional judgement. Case-based exercises involving secured creditors, preferential creditors, unsecured creditors, uncalled capital, contributories, deficiency, and surplus may improve students' ability to apply company accounting principles to realistic winding-up situations. Spreadsheet-based and computerized accounting activities may further strengthen students' digital accounting competence and ability to organize and process liquidation information efficiently. However, inadequate access to realistic liquidation cases, limited accounting technology, large class sizes, insufficient instructional time, limited lecturer training, and students' difficulty in understanding the order of payment and distribution during liquidation may reduce the effectiveness of liquidation accounting exercises. The study therefore expects structured, practical, progressively challenging, and technology-supported liquidation accounting exercises to contribute significantly to improved company liquidation accounting skills among accounting education students in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on liquidation accounting exercises, company liquidation accounting skills, accounting education, company accounting education, financial accounting education, practical accounting competence, experiential learning, constructivist learning, mastery learning, accounting pedagogy, corporate accounting, and higher education in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the National Universities Commission, universities, accounting education departments, accounting educators, professional accounting bodies, accounting firms, insolvency practitioners, employers, curriculum developers, and policymakers regarding strategies for strengthening practical company accounting education. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for increasing practical liquidation accounting activities, developing realistic Nigerian company winding-up cases, strengthening students' training in asset realization, creditor settlement, liquidators' remuneration, calls on contributories, and final liquidation statements, integrating spreadsheets and accounting software into liquidation exercises, training accounting educators in practical liquidation accounting instruction, using competency-based liquidation accounting assessments, providing continuous corrective feedback, and creating opportunities for accounting education students to develop the practical company liquidation accounting skills required for effective accounting and financial reporting practice in Nigeria.

Keywords: Liquidation accounting exercises, company liquidation accounting skills, accounting education students, company accounting, liquidation accounts, asset realization, creditors' settlement, liquidators' remuneration, contributories, practical accounting competence, Nigerian universities, Nigeria.