A group of Marquette accounting students competed at the FanTAXtic National Case Study Competition, sponsored by the Deloitte Foundation. The group traveled to Deloitte University, the company’s training complex in Westlake, Texas, to compete in the contest on Saturday, Jan. 25.
“I am so proud of these students,” said Rachel Detert, the group’s adviser and an assistant professor of practice in accounting. “Their ability to work together and help each other navigate complex tax questions was amazing to watch. It’s unbelievable to me that this was their first experience with tax, and it was an honor working with them and representing Marquette all weekend.”
The team consisted of sophomores Akyra Kay, Pierce Fleming, Connor Kraus, Keira Schwartz and Marco Chakar.
Marquette made it to the final competition by winning their regional competition in the fall. The Marquette team was one of 16 in the last round out of more than 60 that entered the competition.
In the first round, Deloitte gave students an overview of a business and asked students to make a recommendation to a client on an entity type for that business after calculating the tax liability between the possible options. The national round entailed giving more details and updated calculations on that initial case. Students had roughly three hours to complete the assignment each time.
Marquette’s accounting program is focused on ethical, applied learning that prepares students for industry. One of three AACSB-accredited programs in Wisconsin, the program ranks among the top 40 in the country at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
