Four University of Portland accounting students took first place in the KPMG Accounting Competition held April 5-6 at Seattle University. The students—Jessie Robinson, Mariana Karami, Erika Schlotfeldt, and Caitlin Deutch—beat out competitors from University of Washington, Oregon State University, University of Oregon, Seattle University, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Western Washington, and others. They will share a $3,000 prize for their efforts.The UP accounting program has participated in the annual competition for the past five years.
Students were given a case on Saturday morning and had three hours to research and prepare a presentation, complete with Powerpoint slides. Each team presented their analysis to four KPMG managers and partners to determine the winners. The case focused on accounting issues and business risk assessments.
This latest UP accounting program victory comes on the heels of a national first place finish for the Competitive Pilots Accountants team. In December 2013, four UP accounting students won the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Accounting Competition in Washington, D.C. Seniors Martin McMahon, Ingrid Nelson, Michelle Siegal, and Tyler Desmarais won $10,000 for their first place finish after being chosen as one of three finalist teams in the annual competition. They will also be honored by the Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) May 7th at their annual Circle of Excellence dinner.
For more information on the University of Portland accounting program and competitive accounting teams, contact team advisor Ellen Lippman, business administration, at 7268 or lippman@up.edu.