Earlier this month, a team of four COBE accountancy students won second place at the annual KPMG/Seattle University Financial Accounting Case Competition. Ten universities competed in this year’s event, and our team edged out several large schools, including the University of Washington and the University of Oregon, on its way to winning second place. Team members are Vinny Gwinn, Jessika Rouse, Jakub Bollant and Abbie Belthoff.
In its eighth year, this two-day event brings four-person student teams together from universities across the northwest region. The teams are given a financial accounting case and, in three hours, must research the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and other sources, determine a solution, and develop a PowerPoint presentation. The topic of this year’s case involved issues related to lease accounting and the associated deferred tax consequences.
“Our students were amazing, and they did a wonderful job presenting their solution,” said faculty advisor Troy Hyatt. “I heard a judge comment to another judge that our team ‘knocked it out of the park!’”
“Having the opportunity to travel to Seattle and compete against some of the best business schools in the northwest was a real honor for all of us,” Abbie Belthoff said. “We enjoyed the unique opportunity of being able to apply concepts we’ve learned here at Boise State to a real-world situation. It was a fast-paced, high-pressure situation, but our team rose to the occasion and we are so proud of our second place finish.”