With $3,000 each in their pockets and $15,000 more for the Tull School of Accounting, a team of four University students finished second place in the KPMG National Audit Case Competition in New York last week.

In the first national competition sponsored by the advisory firm KPMG on April 16, accounting majors Doug Fisher, Dan Bennett, Alex Aldworth and Sharlee Floren competed against teams from Brigham Young University, Ohio State University, University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Beginning in January, the students evaluated four modules and created presentations as if they were professional auditors.

“When you take on an auditing case, you have to understand the client’s business,” said Fisher, a senior from Wausau, Wis. “You then look at the risks involved that could affect the business and make suggestions.”

None of the four University students had participated in a national competition before but said it was a valuable experience.

“Accounting classes provide the framework, but the case was detailed,” said Bennett, a senior from Watkinsville. “The case gave me real world practice that the case studies in class don’t.”

Fisher, who will work for KPMG after he graduates in May, said he especially appreciated the chance to meet future co-workers.

“I met a number of partners in the Atlanta office and even the CEO in New York,” he said. “I’m starting in August, so it was valuable to get the exposure. The modules were a real world issue that goes on every day, so it pertained to work I’ll do in the future.”

Floren, a sophomore from Lawrenceville, said although she didn’t have much auditing experience, the opportunity has helped her already.

“It was the greatest opportunity to sit with the mock audit board,” she said. “Most workers can’t sit in unless they’ve been with the firm for five or six years.”

Aldworth, a junior from Roswell, agreed and said he was glad to give positive feedback on the inaugural program.