Students at the University of Texas at Dallas are this year’s American Institute of CPAs Accounting Competition champions, receiving $10,000, with Albion College students taking second and $5,000 and North Carolina State University bringing home $2,500 for third.

This year, teams were challenged to advise a hypothetical presidential candidate on viable solutions to some current economic issues, including Social Security, the national deficit and income tax. Twenty of the student teams that entered initial proposals were chosen for the semi-final round, where they submitted video proposals posted up for a public vote on ThisWayToCPA. Those results and an executive judging panel review determined the final three teams, which traveled to Washington, D.C. to present to and answer questions from a panel of judges.

“CPAs are known for proposing creative and intelligent solutions to complex problems,” said AICPA chairman Richard Caturano, who announced the winners in Washington, D.C. Dec. 18. “I was impressed with the quality of the proposals the finalists presented, as well as their ability to articulate their vision in an engaging and easy to understand manner. The skills they demonstrated will serve them well throughout their careers in the profession.”

The University of Texas at Dallas team’s winning submission addressed their presidential candidate’s tax reform platform and solutions for simplifying the code.

Members of that team, named Working Capitol are:

April Crawford (Captain)

Shahrzad Azimi (Member)

Trey Sweeney (Member)

Samuel Teichelman (Member)

John Barden (Faculty advisor)

More information, and the video submissions, are available at www.thiswaytocpa.com.