PBL Milestone 3: Final Innovation Fair Demo
Today is presentation day. Your team will deliver a polished 4-5 minute demo of your Month-End Wizard, submit your final workbook, and reflect on what you learned about automation, controls, and usability. Bring your Lesson 09 workbook and your speaking notes.
In Lesson 09, your team completed the full evidence chain, wrote a defensible recommendation, ran peer critique, and rehearsed your demo. Today you present the final product.
What you are doing today: delivering a professional presentation to an audience that may include classmates, teachers, and potentially external reviewers. Your workbook should be polished, your speaking notes should be clear, and your recommendation should be backed by specific numbers from your analysis.
What changes from Lesson 09: you move from rehearsal and revision into final delivery and submission. This is the culmination of the entire Unit 02 project arc.
- Deliver a clear, confident presentation of your month-end close analysis
- Communicate your recommendation with specific workbook evidence
- Acknowledge limitations and defend your conclusion professionally
- Demonstrate how automation or controls improved accuracy or efficiency
- Respond to audience questions with reference to your workbook
- Submit final workbook with all seven sheets complete and error-free
- Include polished recommendation with claim, 3+ cited numbers, risk, and defense
- Update Assumptions sheet with final decisions and revision history
- Complete individual reflection on speed, accuracy, and learning
- Ensure file naming follows the Lesson 10 convention
Group 1
TechStart Solutions — Q4 close with prepaid insurance adjustment
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g1.csvGroup 2
GreenLeaf Consulting — Year-end with accrued revenue recognition
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g2.csvGroup 3
BlueWave Manufacturing — Month-end with depreciation and supplies
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g3.csvGroup 4
Summit Retail Corp — Period close with unearned revenue deferral
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g4.csvGroup 5
NorthStar Services — Month-end with accrued wages and prepaid rent
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g5.csvGroup 6
Apex Digital Agency — Year-end with bad debt and depreciation
Download unit02-pbl-month-end-wizard-g6.csvYour project workbook uses the exact same sheet structure as the Lesson 07 rehearsal workbook. Each sheet below should be complete from Lesson 09. Today you do a final polish pass—check formatting, verify cross-references, and ensure every number is accurate.
Data
Should be complete from Lesson 09Raw transaction and adjustment data for your group's month-end close
Proves: The source numbers that every other sheet depends on
Adjustments
Should be complete from Lesson 09All adjusting entries—accruals, deferrals, depreciation, supplies used
Proves: That every recurring month-end adjustment has been identified and recorded
Trial Balance
Should be complete from Lesson 09Unadjusted and adjusted trial balance with debit/credit verification
Proves: That debits equal credits after adjustments (accounting integrity)
Financial Statements
Should be complete from Lesson 09Income statement, statement of retained earnings, and balance sheet
Proves: That the adjusted numbers produce a complete and accurate financial picture
Closing Entries
Should be complete from Lesson 09Revenue, expense, and dividend closing entries with Income Summary
Proves: That temporary accounts are reset to zero for the next period
Recommendation
Polish from Lesson 09 → final recommendation with clean citationsFinal recommendation statement with supporting evidence and risk acknowledgment
Proves: That the workbook tells a clear business story backed by numbers
Assumptions
Update with final decisions and revision historyDate/version, scenario drivers, and notes about data sources
Proves: That the workbook is auditable—someone else can understand how it was built
Update your workbook filename for final submission:
Unit02_Lesson10_Group[Number]_[ShortScenarioName].xlsxExample: Unit02_Lesson10_Group3_BlueWaveManufacturing.xlsx
Lost your Lesson 09 workbook? Re-download your group's CSV file from the dataset section above and rebuild from your notes. Document what you had to reconstruct on the Assumptions sheet.
Your demo should follow this structure. Every team member should have a clear role and know their part. Practice the transitions between speakers.
Open with the business problem your scenario presented (15 seconds)
State your recommendation clearly before showing the numbers (30 seconds)
Walk through the evidence chain: Data → Adjustments → Trial Balance → Financial Statements (2 minutes)
Show at least three specific numbers from your workbook that support your claim (1 minute)
Acknowledge one risk or limitation and explain why your recommendation still holds (30 seconds)
Close with what automation or controls made the biggest difference (30 seconds)
Leave 30-60 seconds for audience questions
Before Presentations (10 min)
- Final workbook polish and error check
- Speaking notes review and role assignment
- Quick run-through of transitions between speakers
- Confirm file naming and submission readiness
Presentations (30-35 min)
- Each team delivers 4-5 minute demo
- 30-60 seconds for audience questions per team
- Audience members take notes on strengths and questions
- Teacher evaluates against rubric criteria
Submission (5 min)
- Submit final workbook file
- Confirm all team members are listed
- Verify file opens correctly on submission
Reflection (10 min)
- Individual reflection on project experience
- Team discussion of what worked and what didn't
- Complete reflection prompts below
Before you submit, verify every item below. Your teacher will check your submission against this list.
- Final workbook saved with correct naming convention (Unit02_Lesson10_Group[Number]_[Scenario].xlsx)
- All seven sheets completed, cross-referenced, and free of errors
- Trial Balance balances (debits = credits)
- Financial statements produce a coherent and accurate business story
- Closing entries reset all temporary accounts to zero
- Recommendation sheet has polished claim + 3+ cited numbers + 1 risk + defense
- Assumptions sheet updated with final decisions and revision history
- Speaking notes prepared for all team members
- Demo rehearsed and timed to 4-5 minutes
Your presentation and workbook will be evaluated on the following criteria. Use this as a final self-check before you present.
Correctness of Entries (40%)
All adjusting and closing entries comply with GAAP and balance perfectly. No errors in automation logic or formula references.
Automation Efficiency (25%)
Macro or automation reduces close time consistently. Handles your scenario's complexity without manual intervention.
Demo Clarity and Engagement (15%)
Compelling presentation clearly explains business value. Engages audience effectively. All team members contribute.
UX Design and Usability (10%)
Interface is intuitive and professional. Named ranges well-organized. Documentation clear and complete.
Post-Fair Improvements (10%)
Implements meaningful improvements based on peer feedback. Shows iterative design thinking and responsiveness.
When you are not presenting, you are an active audience member. Take notes on each team's presentation using these prompts:
What to Note
- One clear strength in their presentation or analysis
- One question you have about their recommendation or numbers
- Whether their evidence chain was easy to follow
- How well they handled audience questions
Questions to Ask
- What was the hardest adjustment entry to get right?
- How did you verify your trial balance was correct?
- What would change if the scenario had more complexity?
- Which automation feature saved the most time?
After your team presents and submits the final workbook, complete this individual reflection. This is not a group product—each team member writes their own response.
Question 1
What was the hardest part of completing your month-end close workbook?
Think about specific technical challenges—adjusting entries, trial balance errors, or tying the statements together.
Question 2
How did your team balance speed with accuracy during this project?
Did you rush and make errors? Did you go too slow and run out of time? What would you do differently?
Question 3
Which automation or control feature made the biggest difference in your workbook's reliability?
Consider named ranges, validation rules, error flags, formula structure, or macro automation.
Question 4
What did peer feedback help you improve that you would not have caught on your own?
Be specific about the feedback and the revision you made as a result.
Question 5
If you had to do this project again with a different company's data, what would you do faster or better?
Think about process improvements, not just content. What workflow changes would help?
Congratulations on completing Unit 02! You have built a complete month-end close workbook, automated key procedures, and defended a recommendation with real evidence. In Unit 03, you will apply these skills to a new challenge: building a three-statement financial model that tells the story of a growing business.
What carries forward: your understanding of adjusting entries, closing entries, trial balance discipline, and the connection between the income statement and balance sheet. These are the foundation of every financial model you will build.
What changes: Unit 03 introduces forecasting, scenario analysis, and multi-period modeling. You will work with projected data instead of historical transactions, and your models will need to handle "what if" questions.