The five-week competition, sponsored by KPMG International’s Global Services Centre and the KPMG Foundation, is designed to provide students with an educational experience that tests their knowledge, professional judgment and decision making skills in multisided, complex situations typical of today’s professional auditing demands.

“The contest is a rigorous and stimulating exercise that stretches students in a way that sharpens critical skills they will need in the professional working environment – from research, to analyzing technical issues to working as a team,” said Henry Keizer, Vice Chair - Audit, of KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm and Global Head of Audit, KPMG International. “This competition is also a strong reflection of KPMG’s ongoing commitment to supporting audit education. We're pleased that once again so many students from top college and university programs are participating in this event.”

Five finalist teams will be invited to New York City to make presentations and answer questions posed by a panel of judges that will include scholars, audit committee members and KPMG partners on April 14. Over $50,000 will be awarded to the schools of these top five teams, including a first place prize of $25,000 to the winning school. Additionally, each member of the five finalist teams will receive $3,000, and all other students who complete the case will receive $500.  Last year, a team from the University of Virginia won the inaugural competition in which 22 schools participated.

The student teams will use a Web-based application designed by KPMG International’s Global Services Centre that will simulate a series of interactions between a KPMG audit partner and members of the student audit team. Partner videos and simulated emails will be used to provide background information and instructions for required audit activities. 

“The National Audit Case Competition provides an excellent learning opportunity for students to hone their critical thinking and communication skills while building meaningful relationships with others in the accounting profession. We believe it goes a long way toward helping students become young professionals and future leaders of the profession,” said Tim Bell, GSC’s director of academic research and a former accounting professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

The National Audit Case Competition is one of many educational events sponsored by KPMG each year. Others include case study competitions sponsored in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), as well as the Future Diversity Leaders and Fast Forward leadership development programs conducted each summer.

KPMG International’s Global Services Centre brings together professionals from around the world to develop and deploy enhancements for KPMG’s global audit and advisory-service methodologies and supporting technology tools.