Bauer ACCY Student Team D.C. Bound for National PwC Finals

UH Bauer Team One of Five Finalists Set to Vie
For Top Spot in National PwC xTAX Competition

Another UH Bauer student team is headed to the national level of a competition. Pictured left to right: Simon Tait, Nick Larralde, Katherine Welch, Derek Hughes, Benjamin Cohen-Kurzrock, Michael Newman, Jonathan Cohen-Kurzrock, Brian Yarborough, Ron Lazer and Paul Peacock. Debbie Sandoval (not pictured), Simon Tait, Brian Yarborough and Paul Peacock served as Judges for the local PwC. Ron Lazer and Michael Newman served as faculty advisors.

The Department of Accountancy & Taxation at the University of Houston C. T. Bauer College of Business wrapped up another stellar semester with news that a student team has advanced to the national level of a case competition.

Benjamin Cohen-Kurzrock, Jonathan Cohen-Kurzrock, Derek Hughes, Nick Larralde and Katherine Welch will travel to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27 and 28 to compete at the national level in the PricewaterhouseCoopers xTAX case competition.

The team, dubbed “Integrated Commerce Solutions,” competed against 38 other schools across the nation to be named as one of the five finalists in the competition, which challenged students to find creative solutions to tax issues pertaining to e-commerce.

Students were given only two weeks to craft a 12-minute presentation and executive summary to submit to a judging panel from PwC. Under the guidance of professors Michael Newman and Ron Lazer, 16 teams participated at UH, including the Integrated Commerce Solutions team.

“The PwC xTAX Competition is highly competitive, a lot of work and a lot of fun,” said Paul Peacock (‘81), PwC partner and judge. “The winning team should be very proud of being selected as one of five participants to advance to the national level of competition.”

The UH Bauer team will compete against Brigham Young University, Bryant University, UC Berkeley and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We are very excited for the finalist team. This is an outstanding achievement and great opportunity for the students to continue to showcase the critical thinking and presentation skills they have learned during their tenure at University of Houston,” said Melanie Collins, a recruiter with PwC.

The news caps off a year of extraordinary accomplishments for the Department of Accountancy & Taxation, with several other teams also advancing to the national level of various case competitions. Teams participating in case study competitions sponsored by KPMG advanced from the regional level of the competition to compete at the national level. Members of the Deloitte audit case competition will also be representing UH nationally next April.

By Sarayu Sundar