A DePaul University student team has won first place in a national accounting case competition for Hispanic students, beating 29 other college teams in a grueling four-month-long audit contest.

Geovannie Concepcion, Christina Huizar, Diana Rodriguez, Aaron Van Osdol and Guadalupe Villagomez earned $700 each and a team trophy when they captured first place in the KPMG-Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA) Case Competition held in Fort Worth, Texas. Aug. 7. It was the third time in five years that students from DePaul’s chapter of the Midwest Association of Hispanic Accountants (MAHA) took the top prize in the annual auditing showdown. DePaul’s was one of eight college teams that moved to the finals after winning regional contests in the spring.

“We’re extremely proud of our students, who worked very hard to take first place,” said Beth Murphy, an associate professor at DePaul’s School of Accountancy & Management Information Systems and the MAHA team’s faculty advisor. “The fact that DePaul teams do so well in this competition reflects the excellent work ethic of our students, the high quality of our accounting program and the strong support the students received from DePaul alumni.”

Each team was asked to tackle a unique accounting problem by assuming the role of an auditing team presenting their findings to an audit committee. The students outlined their solutions during 20-minute presentations before a panel of judges consisting of KPMG partners and ALPFA members. The judges then grilled the students during a question and answer period.

The DePaul team’s regional competition case was especially challenging because it asked them to value the financial statements of merging companies. This was senior-level material that the students – then only sophomores – had not covered yet at DePaul’s College of Commerce. Murphy gave them a crash course in accounting rules for consolidations and the students successfully used what they learned to win the round. In the finals, the team’s case involved auditing revenues and expenses for a firm that provided technical customer support via telephone for another company’s clients.

“These cases were very complex, requiring sophisticated analyses and excellent presentation skills,” Murphy said. “The students had to know more than just the rules and how to apply them. They had to become familiar with the customer service support industry, understand the business implications of their recommendations, and integrate international reporting and tax implications.”

The five students met most Wednesdays and every weekend for more than eight months to prepare for the regional and final competitions. “The fact that we had a very dedicated group, committed to supporting one another, was key to our success,” said student Christina Huizar, who traveled from far-north Waukegan to Chicago to meet with her teammates. “It was especially hard during the summer because we all were working full-time internships, but our morale was high and we helped each other get through it. We also received a lot of support from our faculty advisor, KPMG, and MAHA alumni and board members.”

In addition to Murphy’s coaching, the students received advice from DePaul accounting school alumni and friends, who offered technical support and presentation tips. They included Susan Guthrie, Terry Kenney, Ed Wiertel, Daniel Cervantes, Kellie Miller, Aalok Virmani from the accounting firm KPMG and Sam Delgado from Abbott Labs.

The seven other teams who competed in the finals were: Southern Methodist University, Pace University, Colorado State University, University of Southern California, Georgia State University, University of Texas-Austin and University of Texas-Pan American.

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Photo Caption: Members of DePaul University’s chapter of the Midwest Association of Hispanic Accountants took first place at the KPMG-Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting Case Competition held in Fort Worth, Texas. Aug. 7. Left to Right: Students Christina Huizar, Guadalupe Villagomez, Diana Rodriguez, Geovannie Concepcion, Aaron Van Osdol and Susan Guthrie, with their faculty advisor Beth Murphy