USU tax teams finalists for national competition
Utah State University’s graduate and undergraduate tax teams were selected as two of the 12 finalists for the Deloitte Tax Case Competition, a national case study competition for tax students. The final round of the competition began Nov. 21 and continued through Nov. 23 in Universal Orlando, Fla.
USU graduate team members are Hal Allen, Heather Allen, Jason Chatterley and Joseph Larsen. Undergraduate team members are Rick Dooley, Thomas Lemon, Tom Marchant, Charity Moore and Mike Seeley.
“It’s a great experience for everyone involved,” said Vance Grange, assistant professor in the USU department of accounting.
Grange serves as adviser to both teams and said, “The preparation by the students at USU teaches them a great deal about taxation and they seem to greatly enjoy working with and getting to know each other.”
Each year team members study individually and as a team. This year’s undergraduate team met almost weekly beginning in June. The graduate team began its group study later in the summer.
Teams from all over the country met at eight regional sites on Oct. 18 to compete for a place at the final competition. Each team of four students was isolated in a classroom with four copies of the Internal Revenue Code, two copies of the related Treasury Regulations, four basic four-function calculators and various office supplies. Students weren’t allowed to use computers, personal calculators, cell phones or any other electronic devices while in the room.
Teams were asked to provide responses to more than a dozen different tax issues related to the case. Grange said one team handed in about 80 pages of written responses and the other handed in almost 70 pages.
“The education comes in the preparation,” Grange said. “The team studies various tax topics together and each team member teaches various topics to the whole team.”
In preparation, the team also simulated the actual competition by solving past cases.
The national finals weren’t new to the USU tax teams. Past graduate teams have attended the national finals for the last three consecutive years. The undergraduate team qualified in 2001 and returned this year.
The two teams will compete against other graduate and undergraduate teams respectively. At each level, teams of up to four students were given five hours to complete a complex, hypothetical case study that required them to analyze information, identify data issues and consider alternative tax treatments for a fictitious client situation and submit the results to a panel of judges. At the national level, team members and their respective universities were rewarded with scholarships, ranging from $250 to $1,000 for students and $2,500 to $10,000 for the institution.
The graduate team competed against BYU, the College of William and Mary, the University of Central Florida, the University of Denver and the University of Texas.
The undergraduate team competed with teams from BYU, the College of William and Mary, the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas.
The winning graduate team was from the University of Central Florida and the winning undergraduate team was from BYU.
Seeley said he thought the team may have taken first or second place if it weren’t for some unforeseen circumstances: Dooley’s wife went into labor just prior to the team’s departure and the team’s alternate member was expecting and unable to accompany the team. Accounting student Jesse Atwood came to the team’s rescue with less than 12 hours notice.
“Rick is probably the strongest member of the team,” Seeley said. “[But] Jesse did a wonderful job, considering; we did really well.”
Seeley said the team was “very, very happy” with the results.
Grange said USU student interest in the competition is high in the department and said he hopes that commitment will translate into a long-term tradition of success.
School of Accountancy Department Head and ATK Thiokol professor Richard Jenson said that USU’s accounting program has a long history of academic excellence and innovation.
While many schools in the United States are only now beginning to design master’s degree programs in accounting to satisfy new national requirements for CPAs, USU has offered a high-quality master’s in accounting program that has met the “new” standards for more than 30 years.
USU’s accounting program has achieved national recognition as one of only 142 schools worldwide to have been awarded special accounting accreditation by the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
-tamber@cc.usu.edu