Monday, October 20, 2008
USI accounting team wins statewide competition fifth straight year
 A four-member team of accounting students from the University of Southern Indiana College of Business has won first place for the fifth consecutive year in the annual Indiana CPA Society (INCPAS) Case Study Competition.The team made an oral presentation in Indianapolis October 17 and was recognized that evening as the winner of the competition at the organization’s CPA Celebration at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis. As first-place winners, each of the USI team members received a $1,000 award from INCPAS. The team from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis finished in second place; the team from Purdue University-Calumet finished in third place. The 2008 USI team included Bradley Greene, senior, of Georgetown, Indiana; Ashley Hancock, junior, of Evansville; Scott Roberts, senior, of Mooresville, Indiana; and David Ubelhor, senior, of Evansville. All four are accounting majors. Greene also was a member of USI’s winning team in 2007. Jeanette Maier-Lytle, USI instructor in accounting, was faculty coach of the accounting team for the fifth year. The USI team qualified as one of six finalists to give an oral presentation after preparing a written case study. Other teams in the finals represented Manchester College, Saint Mary’s College, and Valparaiso University. The case study for this year’s competition called upon the teams to develop a new business model for CPA firms. The students researched areas such as technology, human resources, and billing procedures and then developed the CPA model of the future. They posed as partners in a fictitious accounting firm to deliver their 20-minute presentation in the final round of competition. A 15-minute question-and-answer session followed the presentation. USI team member Greene said, “It was an honor to be chosen for this opportunity to prepare an exhaustive case study which challenged our abilities and pushed us to achieve more than we ever imagined. We gained impressive insight into the structure of the CPA firm and surpassed our own expectations.” Prior to the competition, the USI team practiced for the third consecutive year in a formal setting in front of representatives of Evansville’s Kemper CPA Group. Timothy G. Bryan, partner-in-charge of the Evansville office, attended the competition in Indianapolis. Maier-Lytle said the team’s overall performance was outstanding and that the students handled the question-and-answer session extremely well. “The judges asked eight to 10 questions,” she said. “The team was able to provide answers to all of the questions.” She said the students drilled on potential questions in their practices and benefited from fielding tough questions during the practice at Kemper. The INCPAS case study competition is designed to challenge students with a practical project requiring them to use their knowledge, skills, and judgment. It provides the kind of practical experience they might use as CPAs in today’s business world. Betty Vawter News & Information Services bvawter@usi.edu |
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