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BABbLe (Build-A-Bottom-Line) is an interactive web-based interface that builds financial
statements and ratios from a trial balance. The most basic goal of the application, and one
that makes it a valuable asset for accounting classes, is to help students learn the proper
accounting techniques for transactions and to learn how the financial statements fit together
through an interactive learning experience.This interactive nature of the application provides a method for the students to internalize the extent to which subjectivity in estimates drives the reported amounts in financial statements – a concept that requires demonstration beyond the abilities of a textbook. The transactions, in this case, are ones for which the accounts that are increased and decreased are straightforward, but the amounts that are recorded to each account require significant judgment. The students can see the multitude of estimates/choices involved in accounting (it is not a strictly black and white dichotomy) and that those judgments can have a significant impact on the reported amounts.