Accounting ace goes to Spain
Paul Michael De Petrillo, a Concordia accounting student, along with his teammates from McGill, has won the 2013 KPMG National Ace the Case competition at the beginning of March, beating out teams from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
Ace the Case is a two-day workshop and competition organized by accounting firm KPMG. It is open to business students who have a interest in pursuing a professional accounting designation, and is designed to help students improve their analytical, case-writing and presentation skills. The competition portion of the program consists of three stages: local, national and global.
“It was an unforgettable experience,” says De Petrillo. “The KPMG office in Montreal was extremely helpful with coaching and provided us with great feedback.”
Because of their victory at the nationals, De Petrillo’s team earned the right to represent Canada at the global level at KPMG’s International Case Competition (KICC) in Madrid, Spain, at the beginning of April.
At the international competition, teams were provided with case studies based on a realistic business scenario and were asked to identify key business issues, analyze them and develop a compelling set of recommendations to present to a panel of KPMG partners.
Though the Canadian team did not win the competition (the winner was the team from Australia), the event provided De Petrillo with an invaluable international networking opportunity and gave him the chance to meet KPMG professionals and executives from around the world. “I met people from 23 different countries,” he says. “It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
De Petrillo expects to graduate in December. “I am planning on joining the KPMG team as of this summer,” he says, “and hope to build a strong career with the firm.”
Related links:
• John Molson School of Business
• KPMG Ace the Case announcement of the winners