BPA and Knowledge Matters are pleased to present the 2025 BPA Virtual Business Challenge (VBC). This challenge is open to all BPA high school members. The BPA Virtual Business Challenge is an online competitive event and consists of two tracks, VBC Accounting and VBC Entrepreneurship. BPA members are eligible to participate in one or both of these tracks. Each track encourages BPA members to test their skills within its particular Virtual Business environment – individually or as a team of up to 3 members.
Click here to view a video on how to register for the BPA Virtual Business Challenge:
The BPA VBC Accounting event encourages BPA members to test their accounting skills while managing their own service business. Participants will analyze source documents such as bank statements, pay records and time sheets, as well as accounting documents such as T Accounts, the general ledger, and worksheets in order to make sound business decisions. They will strategically set service prices and wage rates, rearrange the production floor and buy advertising. BPA members will be challenged to earn as high of a profit as possible for their business and they will be scored based on their cumulative profit after managing the business for one simulated year.
The BPA VBC Entrepreneurship event encourages BPA members to test their entrepreneurial skills. Participants will spot opportunities, conduct market research, and open their business. They will raise finances, build a team, acquire resources, organize workflow, determine risks, and develop marketing strategies. The competitors will analyze market data, interpret financial reports, and apply critical thinking and decision making skills in order to make their entrepreneurial venture as successful as possible. BPA members will be challenged to earn as high of a net worth as possible while running the simulation for a specified period of time.
Awards
The first through third place nationally ranked teams will win the following awards. Award money will be distributed at the National Leadership Conference.
- 1st Place: $1,000/team
- 2nd Place: $750/team
- 3rd Place: $500/team
Recent Competition Winners
Personal Finance Winners:
First Place – Trevor A., Waubonsie Valley High School, IL
Second Place – Peter S. and Jerry Y., Ann Arbor Huron High School, MI
Third Place – Jailyn L., Samuel K., and Gage S., Riverside HS/Ohio Hi Point Career Center, OH
Entrepreneurship Winners:
First Place – Dhruvi G. and Sravyasri L., Carroll High School – Black, TX
Second Place – Vivek T., Bradley S., and Anirudh V., Ann Arbor Huron High School, MI
Third Place – Jonathan J., Andy L., and Ketan T., Carroll High School – Green, TX
Dates & Details
This competition is completely web-based and there is one round for each track of the event. Participants will utilize limited function online competition versions of our Virtual Business Accounting and Virtual Business Entrepreneurship simulations. BPA members will manage a combination of concepts found within the simulation, but they will not be able to control every concept found under the Actions menu. Concepts that have been disabled will be set adequately and controlled for the teams. Assignments explaining goals and objectives will be available within the competition file.
Students who are currently using, or who have previously used one of our online simulations (Entrepreneurship, Accounting, Hotel, Restaurant, Personal Finance, Retailing, Management or Sports and Entertainment) may use their existing accounts to participate. Students who have not used our online simulations will be given the opportunity to create a new account free of charge.
Team registration for this event will begin on Tuesday, January 21, 2025. The competition will begin on Monday, February 3, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time and it will end on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Rules
ELIGIBILITY: High school members of BPA chapters are eligible to participate. All participants must have current dues on file at BPA prior to the submission of any VBC files to Knowledge Matters. A BPA chapter may have as many teams as it can support according to the team membership rules. All membership questions will be handled by BPA.
TEAM MEMBERSHIP: Teams must consist of one to three BPA members. All rankings and awards are based on the team and not the individual. A team member cannot be on more than one team at a time. No additional team members may be added once a team has registered. If a team member drops off a team or a team is to be dissolved, an e-mail from the team’s BPA advisor acknowledging the removal must be sent to VBCCentral@KnowledgeMatters.com stating the team name and the team member(s) to be removed. An acknowledgment from Knowledge Matters confirming the team member update will be sent back to the BPA advisor. If this acknowledgment is not received, it will be the responsibility of the team to resubmit the request via the advisor of the team. Once the acknowledgment is received, the individual is free to register a new team. All maintenance and compliance monitoring of the teams will be the responsibility of the team’s BPA Advisor. Team names must generally adhere to BPA’s code of ethics. Team names deemed inappropriate according to National BPA will be renamed with the name of their local chapter without notice. National BPA will have the ultimate authority to resolve team membership & name disputes.
CODE OF CONDUCT: Participants agree to compete by the Rules of Competition listed on this page. Participants further agree that all work submitted is work done by the participant or the participant’s registered teammates. Participants understand that any attempt to hack or cheat the simulation is grounds for removal from the competition and possible further actions. The use of external applications, browser extensions or built-in browser tools within our competition simulations is strictly forbidden. If we detect this has occurred, there will be immediate disqualification. Participants agree to refer any questions on what may constitute a cheat to Knowledge Matters for a decision. Inquiries must be submitted through the Knowledge Matters’ support system, and must contain “Official Ruling Requested” within the title of the inquiry.
All participants agree to be bound by the following Honor Code: I pledge that all work submitted is that of me or my teammates, solely. I have received no outside help with the challenge. I pledge not to hack or cheat in any way and agree to report others that I am aware of who hack or cheat.
Additionally, because the VBCs are interstate competitions for prize money, participants who hack or cheat may be subject to penalties under federal, state or local cybercrime or anti-hacking laws.
SCORES: A team’s actual numeric score will not be posted on the rankings page. Bars symbolizing a team’s score will be posted instead. Numeric amounts will not be released during the Challenge rounds. In the event of a tie, the team with the earliest file submission will rank higher, so it is important to get your files ranked early in the Challenge.
Support
Due to the high volume of teams participating in the VBC, all questions regarding the VBC should be submitted via email. Please fill out this form and submit it to Knowledge Matters, Inc. Emails will be answered in the order in which they are received during Knowledge Matters, Inc. business hours which are Mon-Fri from 8:30AM-5:00PM Eastern Time.
Disclaimer
Each team and its members are responsible for having read all the guidelines. National BPA and Knowledge Matters, Inc. are not responsible for an entry that is late, lost, misdirected, or not received. Only entries that are received by Knowledge Matters, Inc. will be eligible for scoring and ranking. All technical issues should be directed to our support team as soon as possible for resolution. Because of the wide variation in computer systems, Knowledge Matters, Inc. assumes no responsibility for the performance of its software on participants’ computers. It is the team members’ responsibility to check this page for late breaking news or updates.
Contact
Technical Support Questions
Chapter Participation Questions
Jonathan Smith, Director of Strategic Programs & Experiences
614-895-7277
http://www.bpa.org/