Posted on September 22, 2016 by Joanna Carver
kpmg competition
Accounting students at The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business placed second in the ALPFA/KPMG National Case Competition in Grapevine.
Team members were Sheyenne Brubaker, Kendall Mayfield, Brittany Salinas, and Jack Vann . They were advised by Elaine Sanders , associate professor of accounting, and Sara Vargas-Flores , ’14 MACY ’15, audit associate at KPMG.
In preparation for the competition, the team met throughout the summer with their mentors to review competencies for the competition such as team building, presentation skills and report production.
“Our KPMG mentor took a very active part in the process,” said Sanders. “She met with the team every week and had the team present twice during the summer to managers and partners at KPMG.”
Focusing on critical thinking, the teams received the case the day of the competition and had three hours to produce a complete presentation that included making recommendations for improving the financial position of a company. The following day they presented their case solution to the judges.
“Participating in competitions like this are valuable experiences for our students,” said Sanders. “Real accountants frequently have to present the results of their work to clients and their supervisors.”
In addition to being highly-sought after for internships and full-time offers, team members each received a $1,000 cash prize, and UTSA’s student chapter of ALPFA also received $1,000.
The case completion is held annually at the ALPFA National Convention. Seventeen teams competed in this year’s competition including Arizona State University, Drexel University, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin and University of Washington.
Wendy Frost—
Please send your comments to: wendy.frost@utsa.edu
— Joanna Carver
