KPMG Sponsors College Auditing Competition

Teams of accounting students from 22 colleges have accepted an invitation to participate in the inaugural KPMG National Audit Case Competition.

Sponsored by KPMG International’s Global Services Centre and the KPMG Foundation, the pilot program was designed with a focus on creating a concept that would allow students to engage in a challenging team dynamic that gets as close as possible to a real-world audit experience.

“Our long-term goal is to develop a semester-long, fifth-year accounting and auditing capstone case that will be made available at no cost to faculty worldwide,” said Henry Keizer, vice chair of audit for KPMG LLP, in a statement.

The student teams will use a Web-based application designed by the global center that simulates a series of interactions between a KPMG audit partner and members of the student audit team. Partner mentor videos, audio, PowerPoint slides and simulated emails will be used to provide background information and instructions for required audit activities. 

Five finalist teams will be invited to New York City on April 16 to make presentations and answer questions posed by a panel of judges that will include scholars, audit committee members and KPMG partners. The accounting departments of the first-, second- and third-place schools will receive $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000, respectively.

Each member of the five finalist teams will receive $2,500, and all students participating and completing the modules will receive $500.

The six-week competition begins Jan. 29, and KPMG hopes to open the pilot competition to more schools in the future.

The schools participating in the inaugural round include:

  • The University of Arizona;
  • The University of Arkansas;
  • Bentley College;
  • Boston College;
  • Brigham Young University;
  • The University of Florida;
  • The University of Georgia;
  • Georgia State University;
  • Howard University;
  • The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
  • Indiana University;
  • North Carolina A&T State University;
  • North Carolina State University;
  • The University of Notre Dame;
  • Ohio State University;
  • Penn State University;
  • The University of Southern California;
  • The University of Tennessee;
  • The University of Texas at Austin;
  • Texas A&M University;
  • The University of Virginia; and,
  • The University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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