DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS News for Alumni and Friends
FALL 2012 INSIDE
It is my pleasure to congratulate Terry Warfield, PwC Professor in Accounting, on his new position as the chair of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. Terry is already familiar to many of you because of his service to the department and the Wisconsin School of Business since signing on in 1989. He was promoted to full professor in 2011. Like many of the faculty in the department, Terry’s research is well known in the area of financial reporting. He is actively engaged in professional accounting issues through his service as the academic fellow at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the advisory council of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Terry is an educational leader in the school. He received the Erwin A. Gaumnitz Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 2012 in recognition of his contributions to learning that included leading the Department of Accounting and Information Systems’ Ethics and Professionalism initiative; running the writing skills program; leading the introductory accounting course, which each year included teaching more that 700 students and overseeing 17 teaching assistants; and co-teaching an innovative introduction to accounting course for non-business students. I welcome Terry to my leadership team as we work to move our vision for the school forward, building upon our focused research, premium learning experiences, and exemplary knowledge enterprises. Terry and his colleagues continue to advance in these areas of expertise, which helps support the mission of the Wisconsin School of Business. On, Wisconsin!
François Ortalo-Magné Albert O. Nicholas Dean Wisconsin School of Business
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Letter from the Chair
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Arthur Anderson Center Activities
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MAcc Student Farewell and Welcome
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Beta Alpha Psi
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Ethics and Professionalism Program
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FASB Post-Graduate Technical Assistants
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Ph.D. Program Updates
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Student Competitions
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Awards Banquet
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Alumni News
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Faculty News
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Letter From the Chair
Welcome to the 2012 issue of The Badger Account! We have lots of news to report and I hope that you’ll enjoy catching up on what we’ve been doing. As referenced in his welcome note, Dean François Ortalo-Magné is working with faculty and staff to develop a strategy to enhance our programs through the themes of knowledge, doing, being, inspiring, and networking (KDBIN). In many ways, our programs reflect execution on these elements: the curriculum (knowing), co-curricular activities like case analyses and internships (doing, being, and networking), our active student groups (being and networking), and active engagement with our alumni (networking). However, there is always room for improvement. In accounting, we are exploring the introduction of a fifth-year course in leadership and are rethinking the mix of topics addressed in our systems and auditing course sequence. In addition, we’ve made some changes in the admissions process for the IMacc program to serve more of our accounting majors. We have had some transitions in the department this past year: • J on Davis left to become chair of the accounting program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We thank Jon for his leadership of the department for the past six years and wish him well in his new position. •P rofessors Qiang Cheng (Ph.D. ‘02) and Xia Chen left to take faculty positions at the Singapore Management University. Qiang is serving there as chair of the accounting program. We will miss this husband-and-wife faculty team; they have been great contributors to our financial reporting, research, and teaching missions. • T o help us in the financial reporting curriculum, Tony Grieg has joined us as a senior lecturer. He comes from a similar position at Purdue University, and he will be teaching intermediate and advanced accounting courses. •P rofessor Larry Rittenberg began his first year of retirement by reprising his teaching role in the three-week professional issues course. (In 1999, Larry co-taught the inaugural offering of the course with Professor Jerry Weygandt.) The spring 2012 course focused on auditor skepticism, risk management, and contemporary accounting and tax topics. Larry will teach the class again in 2013. In addition to transitions, we have some notable accomplishments to report: • T he department continues to do well in the rankings of accounting programs, including a third-place position in CPA exam pass rates and a second-place ranking (behind BYU and ahead of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) in a Wall Street Journal survey of about 470 corporate recruiters. •W e did well in student competitions last year, with a first-place finish in the U.S. finals of the KPMG International Case Competition. •W e also continue to place post-graduate interns at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). This past year, Dave Kersey and Tom Skoglund served at the FASB, continuing our strong tradition of service to the board.
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Our doctoral program garnered some distinctions this year, with the recruitment of two accounting doctoral scholars (ADS) from a national pool of 30. This program, sponsored by several public accounting firms and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), provides support for students leaving public accounting to pursue careers as auditing or tax professors. We currently have six ADS candidates in our program (out of a total of 14). In addition, throughout the past year, several of our Ph.D. students had roles as presenters and discussion participants at American Accounting Association research conferences. We continue to make progress on our strategic priorities. In prior newsletters, we have noted that our highest priority was to increase enrollment in the undergraduate and master’s programs. This year, I’m happy to report that we have 441 upper-division accounting majors— almost a 40 percent increase in the number of majors relative to two years ago. The quality of our incoming students has remained constant. As a result, we have the largest pledge class in Beta Alpha Psi and the highest number of admissions to our MAcc programs ever. Looking forward, we aim to continue the trend of increasing enrollment and diversity in the student population. Given this growth, a key priority going forward is recruiting tenure-track faculty to provide depth in research and teaching. Finally, I’d like to highlight a distinguishing feature of the accounting program at the Wisconsin School of Business: our emphasis on ethics and professionalism. As you’ll note in this year’s newsletter, we continue this tradition because of a generous endowment provided by retired Ernst & Young Partner Howard Carver. I am very proud of our outstanding students and our accomplishments over the past year. I hope you are as excited as I am about the future. Our success is due in large part to the contributions of our alumni and friends, and our future depends on your continued support. If you place value on your experience at Wisconsin, and you feel that you have benefited from your experience here, I hope you will consider making a contribution to the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at bus.wisc.edu/aisgift.
Arthur Andersen Center Activities The Arthur Andersen Center, endowed by active and retired partners of Arthur Andersen, continues to support a wide range of activities in support of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. The center backs “The Future is Now,” an innovative two-day program to help inform students about accounting career paths and to begin engaging them in the professionalism and ethics components of the MAcc degree programs. Attendees of the program had the following comments:
“Great insights into the future to know what to expect.” “Great overall sources of information that show all industries in accounting.” “Really enjoyed panels where students could ask questions.” In addition, the center sponsors the weekly research workshop for faculty and doctoral students and facilitates case competitions and the writing initiative.
Thank you! Terry Warfield PwC Professor in Accounting Department of Accounting and Information Systems Chair Wisconsin School of Business
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Student and Program Highlights
MAcc Student Farewell and Welcome As we say farewell to the MAcc class of 2012, we are excited to welcome the class of 2013! On Saturday, May 19, 2012, 105 MAcc students celebrated their accomplishments with friends and family. The commencement ceremony was held at the Kohl Center and was followed by a gathering at the Memorial Union hosted by the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. Several faculty members were in attendance (including a visit from Wisconsin School of Business Dean François Ortalo-Magné) to wish the graduates well as they move on to their professional careers. We welcome 94 IMAcc students to campus this fall as they begin their 30-credit MAcc degree. These students gained valuable, real-world experience in the spring of 2012 during their IMAcc internships and are excited to use these experiences as a springboard for their graduate studies. This fall, 10 students joined the department to begin their studies in the two-year Graduate-Only Master of Accountancy (GMAcc) program, which is designed for students with little or no background in accounting. The GMAcc class of 2014 brings together a diverse set of experiences, with undergraduate coursework in law, economics, English, art history, international studies, journalism, and more.
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The department is excited to announce the Accelerated Integrated Master of Accountancy (AIMAcc) program, offering current Wisconsin School of Business accounting students who have accumulated sufficient credits the opportunity to complete the Integrated Master of Accountancy (IMAcc) program in less than five years. Students will develop strong technical and professional accounting skills that lay the foundation for success in today’s business world. The inaugural class of nine AIMAcc students was admitted in the fall of 2012. Students from our degree programs continue to perform well on the CPA exam. The University of Wisconsin-Madison ranked third for the top overall pass rates for first-time candidates without an advanced degree and ninth for top overall pass rates for first-time candidates with an advanced degree.
Beta Alpha Psi Organization Beta Alpha Psi is an honorary accounting organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Highlights from the 20112012 academic year include participation in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program by completing nearly 500 returns for people who need help preparing their own tax returns, and participation in various community events such as the Relay for Life and Polar Plunge. Students completed more than 2,000 hours of community service and became a nationally distinguished chapter. The organization hosted professional meetings with Ernst & Young, KPMG, Walgreens, and BDO. Members had the opportunity to take a professional trip to Milwaukee and tour several firms. Beta also hosted their inaugural Microsoft® Excel workshop to give members practical Excel knowledge focused on finance and accounting functions. Every two years, Beta hosts an auction to raise funds that support the professional activities of the chapter. In May 2012, Beta members organized a successful auction event that raised almost $15,000! The UW-Madison Beta chapter was represented by Ryan Zielinski, Jesse Sternad, and Scott Papez at the 2012 Beta Alpha Psi conference in Baltimore, who gave a speech on “Successful Fundraising Strategies for Large Chapters.” Planning for fall 2012 activities and meetings is well under way for the group. Professional meetings are scheduled with PwC, Deloitte, Baird, and Wipfli, as well as a professional trip to Minneapolis.
Institute of Management Accountants The University of Wisconsin-Madison student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) has attracted 90 members with an interest in business and accounting. In addition to hosting speaker events, the IMA has continued their strong community involvement. IMA members volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, answered phones for a Wisconsin Public Television fundraiser, and participated in a University of Wisconsin-Madison campus cleanup last spring. They plan to continue their community involvement this fall by ringing bells for the Salvation Army and making Thanksgiving baskets at the Goodman Center in Madison.
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Student and Program Highlights Ethics and Professionalism Program The Howard Carver Ethics and Professionalism Program continued during the 2011-2012 academic year with several interactive events. Each fall, the semester kicks off with the Fall Ethics Forum, where students gather for an ethics discussion and form the student ethics board for the upcoming year. Students who volunteer to participate on the board have the opportunity to focus on one of several areas, including mentoring, promotion, whistleblowing, review of the code of ethics, and the speaker series. The mentoring subcommittee is actively involved with younger students, hosting a variety of events to cultivate mentoring relationships as students progress through their academic career. The mentors help students as they make decisions about studying abroad, internships, and graduate school. Another subcommittee of the ethics board promotes ethics across the Wisconsin School of Business. This subcommittee put together an Ethics Week event during the week of December 5, 2011. The promotions committee kept a consistent presence in the atrium of Grainger Hall throughout the week, with a colorful display promoting ethics, the goal being to prompt other students to begin thinking about and talking about ethics. As part of Ethics Week 2011, the students sold t-shirts and gave away pens, both designed in Badger red, with the phrase, “Where do you draw the line?� The week was a fun and exciting way to incorporate ethics into daily conversations. Ethics Week 2011 culminated with a talk from Glen Tellock, president and CEO of Manitowoc Company and 2009 Distinguished Alumnus. Award-winner Glen talked to the students about his experiences related to ethics and the rewards of good ethical behavior both for academics and professional careers. The event also included a breakout time for students to discuss various ethical cases. The Ethics and Professionalism Program closed out the academic year with a well-attended talk from Cynthia Cooper, author of Extraordinary Circumstances, which detailed the fraud at WorldCom. She was the internal audit vice president at WorldCom and was instrumental in bringing the fraud to light. Cynthia spent time with the three-week professional issues class, engaging in a discussion on ethics and internal controls. She also addressed a larger audience comprised of all Master of Accountancy students and Wisconsin School of Business faculty and staff on the topic of developing an ethical culture in an organization.
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FASB Post-Graduate Technical Assistants Each year, approximately 10 students are chosen nationally for a post-graduate technical assistant (PTA) internship at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Wisconsin has a long tradition of its accounting students being selected for the prestigious posts. With support from the Arthur Andersen Center, three former FASB PTA interns came back to campus in May 2012 to share their experiences with the professional issues course. Dave Kersey, Troy VanBeek, and Kristi Putnam held a roundtable discussion on setting accounting standards, also providing insights into their time with the FASB and how this experience has impacted their career after the internship. David Kersey recently completed his year of service and Tom Skoglund is currently serving at the FASB.
Professional Issues Course Professor Larry Rittenberg, who officially retired in August 2011 after a successful 35-year tenure with the Wisconsin School of Business, reprised his role with the department to lead the Integrated Master of Accountancy students in their three-week professional issues course. Not missing a beat, Professor Rittenberg treated the students to a full and engaging course that challenged how they approach a variety of topics relevant to the profession. Speaker highlights included: •• The Future of Taxation: Robert Love, partner at PwC •• Managing Tax and Financial Reporting: Chris Yarbro (BBA ‘99, MAcc ‘00), finance director at Promega, Inc. •• Managing a Big Public Accounting Firm: Mike Burwell, CFO of PwC •• The Evolving Role of the CFO: Bob Weber, CFO of Woodward, Inc. •• Ethics and Control: Cynthia Cooper, CEO of The CooperGroup, LLC •• The Challenges of Maintaining Audit Quality in Larger International Public Accounting Firms: Jennifer Burns, partner at Deloitte, and Trent Gazzaway, national audit director at Grant Thornton •• Auditing ERM: Karl Riem and Jason Halfpap, internal audit managers at Wells Fargo •• Developing Meaningful Accounting Standards: Tom Linsmeier (MBA ‘80, Ph.D. ‘85), FASB board member
The course wrapped up with several sessions on career planning where students heard from current Ph.D. students regarding doctoral research, professionals about pursuing multiple career paths [with alumni David Gay (BBA ’96), Dan Kelly (BBA ’84, MBA ‘85), Dan Langer (BBA ’78), Derek Matzke (BBA ’01, MAcc ‘02), and Professor Brian Mayhew (BBA ’89)], and professors from other business disciplines on broadening skill sets. Lastly, the students heard from Ken and Jim Schneider (BBA ’99), investment advisors at Wells Fargo Financial, on the need for financial planning.
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Student and Program Highlights
Ph.D. Program The Ph.D. program is a key contributor to the vibrancy of our research environment. Laura Swenson and Adam Vitalis both graduated from the Ph.D. program in 2012. Laura accepted a faculty position with Georgia State University and Adam accepted a position with Georgia Tech. We wish them both the best of luck in their new positions. With both schools in Atlanta, we will have an expanded Badger influence in Georgia. The department is excited to welcome four new students to the doctoral program in addition to the current roster of 10. In fall 2012, Thach Pham, Ken Rehberger, Amy Tegeler (ADS), and Eric Condie (ADS) started the program.
Current Ph.D. Student Updates Amanda Convery is in her third year in the Ph.D. program. Her research interests concern the relationship between a firm’s regulatory environment and the quality of its internal control and financial reporting systems. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Amanda worked as a lead financial analyst in financial reporting for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. As a CPA, she worked as an auditor for nonprofit firms for Goldenberg Rosenthal, LLP, a regional public accounting firm in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. She received her MBA from Villanova University and her BBA from Temple University. Amanda expects to graduate in the spring of 2015. Abbie Daly earned her BA and MPA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, after which she obtained her CPA license and worked as an auditor at Deloitte in Milwaukee for two years before entering the Ph.D. program. She is now entering her fourth year in the program, with an expected graduation date of May 2014. Abbie is interested in financial reporting questions arising from the global business environment and, more specifically, from the widespread adoption of international financial reporting standards. As a result, her research focuses on international financial reporting questions. Abbie’s dissertation explores the financial reporting impact and capital market consequences of firms with controlling shareholders. Abbie also has a working paper with Holly Skaife that discusses accounting for biological assets under International Accounting Standard 41 Agriculture and investigates whether the accounting measurement of biological assets matters for capital providers.
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Sean Dennis graduated in 2005 from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in accounting and in 2006 with an MS in accountancy. Following graduation, he worked as an auditor in KPMG’s financial services audit practice in Charlotte, North Carolina. During his time at KPMG, he served on the Wachovia Corporation and Wells Fargo and Company audit engagements. He joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. program as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar in the fall of 2010 and expects to graduate in the spring of 2015. He is interested in research that addresses how auditors can preserve and enhance the value they add to the financial reporting process; he actively seeks out research projects that are informative to theory, regulation, and practice. Specifically, he is interested in how auditors make judgments and decisions under uncertainty. He uses research methods based on both archival data and psychology-based experiments. His current research addresses auditor materiality decisions, auditing complex estimates, the auditor’s reporting model, and fraud brainstorming. Sean remains a licensed CPA in the state of North Carolina. He and his wife Stephanie (who is also a CPA) recently celebrated the arrival of their first child, Evan Patrick. Cass Hausserman received her bachelor and master of accountancy degrees from Michigan State University where she specialized in tax. Cass worked in Chicago for KPMG in their federal tax department specializing in financial service clients. She joined the University of WisconsinMadison as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar in the fall of 2010. Cass is pursuing research exploring behavioral taxation topics. She is currently in the early phases of solidifying her dissertation topic and conducting preliminary research. For her dissertation, she hopes to experimentally examine variables items that may affect
how individuals perceive the IRS and taxes in general, which may in turn affect their future tax compliance levels. Cass has an expected graduation date of May 2014. Patrick Hurley graduated from Virginia Tech in 2007 with a dual degree in accounting and finance. Following graduation, he worked as an auditor for KPMG’s governmental audit practice in Washington, DC. He joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. program as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar in the fall of 2010. Patrick is interested in pursuing research using psychology-based judgment and decision-making experiments, as well as experimental economics. Specifically, he is interested in investigating the quality of auditor judgments, auditor fatigue, and alternative structures to enhance the audit market. Patrick expects to graduate in the spring of 2015.
Matt Kaufman is a second-year Ph.D. student with an interest in operational reporting and the intersection of managerial and financial accounting. With a background in public accounting and corporate finance, he hopes to bring accounting practice into the classroom through applied research. He received an MBA from the University of Oregon and a BA from George Fox University. Matt expects to graduate in the spring of 2016.
Qing Liao joined the Ph.D. program in fall 2008 and is expected to graduate in May 2013. Her dissertation examines interest rate risk management and disclosures in bank holding companies. She is also interested in financial reporting in insurance entities as well as in international financial reporting issues. Her paper, “The Cross Country Comparability of IFRS Earnings and Book Values: Evidence of France and Germany,” has been published in the International Journal of Accounting Research. Qing has taught Introductory Financial Accounting and served as a Ph.D. coordinator for this course. She is also a volunteer referee for American Accounting Association Annual meeting paper submissions and a paper discussant at the meetings.
Rachel Martin received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in accounting from the University of ArkansasFayetteville. After graduating, she took a position with the Walmart home office in their strategy and finance division. Her experience at Walmart consisted mainly of market and product analysis and strategic planning. After several years with Walmart, she moved to Madison to pursue her goal of earning her Ph.D. in accounting. Her research interests fall within managerial accounting with a focus on evaluation and compensation decisions and the employee and market behaviors resulting from those decisions. She expects to graduate in the spring of 2015. Kara Obermire began the Ph.D. program in 2011 as an Accounting Doctoral Scholar. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and her Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Montana. Kara then went on to work for Deloitte as an auditor in Seattle, after which she spent two years as an adjunct instructor and a lecturer of managerial and financial accounting at the Ohio State University. Kara expects to complete the Ph.D. program in 2016. Her research interests are in audit using experimental and archival methods. Xiao Xiao earned her BA in finance and MA in economics from Peking University in China. She joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison Ph.D. program in fall 2011 and is expected to graduate in 2016. Xiao is the recipient of a two-year university fellowship and the Chancellor’s Opportunity Award. She is interested in empirical financial accounting studies.
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Student and Program Highlights
KPMG International Case Competition After the inaugural debut of the KPMG International Case Competition (KICC) in 2010, KICC was back in November 2011 with twice the participation. A total of 17 student teams competed in the business case competition, having only 48 hours to prepare a presentation to a panel of judges. The winning team, Bucky on Equity—comprised of Jordan Heginbottom, Andrea Nichols, Hannah Sugars, and Matthew Zimdars—advanced to the Western Region Semi-Finals in San Francisco. Having just three hours to analyze a complex business case and present recommendations to a panel of KPMG partners, Bucky on Equity secured a victory in San Francisco. Bucky on Equity continued their impressive performance in the case competition by emerging as the winner in the U.S. finals in New York, beating out teams from Penn State, Wake Forest, and Miami University of Ohio. The team advanced to the international component of this case competition in April 2012 in Hong Kong to represent the United States while competing against 25 other teams from around the world. While a team representing Hong Kong came away with a victory in their home city, Bucky on Equity represented the United States well in the global competition. The students enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime experience and enhanced their analytical and agile-thinking skills, an experience that will benefit them as they enter the professional world after graduation.
Deloitte Case Study Competition
PwC Extreme Tax
On Friday, November 18, 2011, Deloitte hosted a case competition in which 18 accounting students presented the results of their research and analysis of Deloitte Trueblood Cases. A Deloitte professional and a faculty member advised each student group. A judging panel comprised of Deloitte partners Kevin Ringel and Brian Mallaro and Professor Larry Rittenberg selected a group consisting of students Xiaolin Bi, Kan Dong, Mengwen Jiang, DaeHo Shin, and Zhenyi Xia as the winning team. Each member of the group won a flip camera.
Led by Senior Lecturer Al Talarczyk, 25 students competed in PwC’s Extreme Tax (xTAX) competition. Competing in teams of five, students were presented with an actual tax issue and had to use teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving skills to develop a solution. Teams presented their solution via video to local judges, who then send a local winner to a competition at the national level. Despite already earning three national championship titles, the University of Wisconsin-Madison was not selected as a representative in the 2012 national competition. Al is excited to bring students together again this fall and bring the trophy back to Wisconsin!
This is the eighth year that the Andersen Center has worked with Deloitte on this program, and it is a unique opportunity for applied learning, providing students the chance to work on real-world accounting issues with accounting professionals. Thank you to all who participated in this case competition, including faculty advisors Gary Hecht, Kristen Fuhremann (BBA ’99, MAcc ‘00), Brian Mayhew (BBA ’89), and R.D. Nair, as well as Deloitte advisors Teddy Wegner (BBA ’05, MAcc ‘06), Adam Christianson, Kevin Scheibel (BBA ’05, MAcc ‘06), Kyle Bab, and Linards Strauss.
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Awards Banquet On October 4, 2012, the Department of Accounting and Information Systems, along with the Sigma chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, held its annual awards banquet at the Concourse Hotel in downtown Madison. Scholarship recipients, teaching assistants, and seniors for the 2012-2013 school year were honored. Recognition was also given to the organizations and individuals that support the accounting program and its students. The 2012 honoree for Distinguished Accounting Alumnus was Tom Tefft. In August 2009, Tom was named senior vice president and president of the neuromodulation business at Medtronic. In his role, he oversees the research, development, operations, and product sales and marketing for a variety of the company’s products and therapies. Tom joined Medtronic in 1992 as the assistant corporate controller. During his tenure with the company, he has served in a variety of roles, most recently leading the corporate controller function as its vice president. He has also served as vice president of finance for the cardiac rhythm management business and as vice president and controller for Medtronic’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations. Before coming to Medtronic, Tom spent 10 years at Price Waterhouse in Minneapolis, where he managed the audits of several large multi-national companies. Tom serves as a board member of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking at the Wisconsin School of Business. He also serves as a board member of the Medtronic Foundation. In 1982, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Alumni News Badgers in the Spotlight On August 4, 2012, former Badger accounting student Gwen Jorgensen (BBA ’08, MAcc ’09) competed in the women’s triathlon event at the 2012 Olympic games in London. She was a strong competitor in the event, but the medal podium was elusive after a flat tire in the biking portion of the event. She kept her supporters involved with regular updates on Twitter, writing the day after her race, “Not my day yesterday. Wish I could do it over but can’t. Instead using that internal motivation going forward. Thankful for the opportunity.” Gwen was able to pursue the opportunity in part because of the strong support and flexibility of her employer, Ernst & Young, where she is a tax accountant. Fitting in hours of practice and international travel for competitions while working has been challenging, and she credits Ernst & Young with the support and flexibility throughout the process. Brad Nortman (BBA ’12) was admitted to the IMAcc program in the spring of 2011. After successfully interviewing with several accounting firms, he had accepted an internship in the Chicago office of Deloitte for the winter of 2012. Brad was a four-year starter for the Badger football team and, after completing his final season last spring, his NFL “stock” started to rise. He was faced with the decision of forgoing his internship with Deloitte to focus on the NFL, not a decision he took lightly. Showing true flexibility and support of their employees (or future employees), Deloitte postponed Brad’s internship and agreed to keep the door open for future opportunities. In April 2012, he was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers and recently secured a spot on their roster as the punter. We wish Brad all the best in his future endeavors, both in the NFL and in his pursuit of a CPA.
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Karen Monfre (BBA ’86) was named to the board of directors for the Wisconsin Alumni Association. Mark Landschulz (BBA ’87) graduated in 1987 and spent a year at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in their postgraduate internship program before entering the mortgage business, where he has been ever since. He is currently an executive vice president in the Capital Markets Group of Quicken Loans in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to joining Quicken Loans in 2009, he was the EVP of portfolio management for Origen Financial, a publicly traded mortgage REIT. He worked for GE Capital Mortgage from 1990 to 1996 after selling them a start-up mortgage business. Mark believes his education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his accounting degree, and the diverse people at the university have been incredibly valuable as his career and life have progressed. He and his wife (who also graduated from UW-Madison in 1987 with an occupational therapy degree), have three children, one of whom (Justine) is entering her senior year at UW-Madison, where she is a marketing major in the Wisconsin School of Business. Their son, a sophomore at the University of Michigan, plays on the varsity soccer team. Their younger daughter is a junior in high school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where they live. Kent Kirchstein (BBA ’88) accepted the position of energy solutions sales director for Schneider Electric, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, in May 2012. Schneider Electric is focused on providing performance-guaranteed energy conservation measures for building retrofits and energy-related services, including power management and demand-side services. In 2011, Kurt Sowle (BBA ’90) started a new business called KS Essential Services LLC, which brokers telecom and energy services including phone, video phone, wireless, television, security, computer support, electricity, and natural gas in 23 countries. Kurt works directly with the world’s largest direct seller of these services, CAN, selling services and building an organization. He is really excited about this incredible networkmarketing model the co-founders have put together. He says, “It’s the best of the network-marketing models!” Brian Falbo (BBA ’95) recently moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to start a new job as manager of HFM Business Systems. He is currently living in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and enjoying the biking trails and all that Minnesota has to offer, but he will forever be a Badger and Packer fan.
Greg Tierney (BBA ’95) has been appointed to the position of vice president of finance, planning, and analysis and corporate controller at MillerCoors. In this position, he will be responsible for the organization’s accounting, planning/forecasting, and financial services functions, which includes the management and governance of Group Benefits, Treasury, Risk Management, Taxation, Finance Systems, and Shared Services. Greg joined MillerCoors in 1998 as a corporate financial analyst. He then went on to serve in numerous roles across finance—sales financial analyst, internal control manager, financial reporting manager, and corporate sales controller—before heading up the finance function in the Texas model market in Dallas. In 2008, Greg returned to Milwaukee as the performance, planning, and analysis director before moving to Chicago to serve as senior director of strategy and planning. [**Information was provided by his loving wife, Amy Tierney (BBA ’94), who wished to surprise him.] Julie (Preston) Karg (BBA ‘00, MAcc ‘01) and her husband Mike reside in Orange, California, and welcomed their second son, Brandon, on March 18. He joins Justin, who is now three years old. Julie works as a finance manager for The Walt Disney Company in the Theme Parks and Resorts Financial Reporting Department in Anaheim. Derek Matzke (BBA ’01, MAcc ’02) rejoined BDO USA, LLP, as a senior manager in the firm’s new Madison, Wisconsin office in October 2011. Jonathan Krauski (BA ’02, MAcc ’03) and his wife Jessica welcomed their first child, Nola, into the world on February 1, 2012. She was born at St. Catherine’s Medical Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She weighed 7 lbs., 10 ozs. and was 20.5 inches long. Aycha Sirvanci (BBA ’05, MAcc ’06) worked with the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation after graduation as an auditor, eventually moving into public accounting auditing governments and governmental organizations at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause. Aycha is currently the audit manager for the City of Milwaukee. Katherine Miller (BBA ’07, MAcc ’08) was promoted to tax manager at Deloitte in Milwaukee in 2012. Jason Benedict (BBA ’08, MAcc ’09) accepted a secondment opportunity and is working in Australia with KPMG’s Hobart, Tasmania office. Michael Graves (BBA ’09) started as an auditor at KPMG in Minneapolis in November 2009, where he became a CPA. He worked for a year and a half, then made a career change to investment banking. He is currently starting his second year as an investment-banking analyst in the middle market M&A group at Lazard in Minneapolis.
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Faculty News Condolences
Welcome Our most sincere condolences go out to the family of Roy Tuttle. Roy passed away on December 21, 2011. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty of the Wisconsin School of Business in July 1955 and taught in the department of accounting for 37 years. Roy had many accomplishments during his tenure at the University of WisconsinMadison, including co-founding the Consortium for Graduate Study for Management for Minorities. After retiring as a professor emeritus, Roy joined his wife in the antique business.
The department is pleased to welcome Tony Greig as a senior lecturer. He comes to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, where he taught a wide variety of courses in financial and managerial accounting, financial statement analysis, auditing, and taxation. Tony received his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Rochester in New York. He is keeping busy this fall teaching Intermediate Financial Reporting II and Advanced Accounting.
Other Faculty News R. D. Nair serves as the only academic member on the 10-member Private Company Resource Group of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). This group was established in March 2011 to help the FASB’s staff develop a framework for determining whether and in what circumstances to adjust recognition, measurement, disclosure, display (presentation), effective date, or transition requirements for private companies reporting under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The development of a decision-making framework was one of the most important recommendations included in the Blue-Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies’ Report to the Board of Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation, which was issued in January 2011. After a 15-month process, in July 2012 the Resource Group’s deliberations resulted in the issuance of an Invitation to Comment, A Framework for Evaluating Financial Accounting and Reporting Guidance for Private Companies. Karla Johnstone is serving a two-year term as the treasurer of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association. She also recently completed a two-year term as the director (Auditing Section) of the Annual Meeting of the American Accounting Association. Karla serves on the board of directors, the audit committee, and the finance committee of the Center for Advanced Studies in Business (CASB), the nonprofit organization that runs the Fluno Center.
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Hollis Skaife’s service on editorial boards of conferences and journals includes 2012 FARS Mid-Year Meeting, 2012 Napa Conference on Financial Management Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Journal of International Accounting Research, and Accounting Horizons.
Ella Mae Matsumura serves as a member of the American Accounting Association (AAA) Publications Committee and also serves as the chair of the AAA Management Accounting Section Publications Committee.
Mark Covaleski was reappointed to another four-year term for the University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Board, serving as co-chair of the finance committee. He also served on the faculty team for Mayo Clinic’s Physician Executive Leadership Development Programs in addition to serving on the faculty team for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ “Alternative Quality Contract” and the National Value Project Steering Group for the Health Care Financial Management Association’s “HFMA Value Project.”
Research Grants, Publications, and Presentations M. Keune (Ph.D. ’10) and K.M. Johnstone. “Materiality Judgments and the Resolution of Detected Misstatements: The Role of Managers, Auditors, and Audit Committees,” The Accounting Review 2012 (September, forthcoming). K.M. Johnstone, C. Li, and S. Luo. “Client Supply Chain Relationships, Audit Firm Selection, and Implications for Audit Quality and Pricing,” presented at the University of Auckland (2011) and the AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting (2012). This paper also won the following award: “American Accounting Association. 2012 AAA Auditing Section Best Paper Award.” H. Skaife, D. Veenman, D. Wangerin (Ph.D. ’10). “Ineffective Internal Control and Managerial Rent Extraction: Evidence from Insider Trading,” Journal of Accounting and Economics (forthcoming). H. Skaife, D. Wangerin (Ph.D. ’10). “Target Financial Reporting Quality and M&A Deals That Go Bust,” Contemporary Accounting Research (forthcoming). H. Skaife and Q. Liao. “The Cross-Country Comparability of IFRS Earnings and Book Values: Evidence from France and Germany,” 2012. Journal of International Accounting Research 11:1, 155-184. H. Skaife. “Challenges and Opportunities in Cross-Country Accounting Research,” Accounting Horizons (forthcoming). G. Hecht, W. Choi, and B. Tayler. “Lost in Translation: An Examination of Surrogation in Strategic Performance Measurement Systems,” 2012. The Accounting Review 87(4): 1135-1163. G. Hecht, I. Tafkov, and K. Towry. “Incentives in a Multi-Task Environment,” 2012. Contemporary Accounting Research 29(2): 563-589. G. Hecht, W. Bailey, and K. Towry. “Dividing the Pie: The Influence of Managerial Discretion Extent on Bonus Pool Allocation,” 2011. Contemporary Accounting Research 28(5): 885-918. Ella Mae Matsumura presented her co-authored paper “Voluntary Disclosures and the Firm-Value Effects of Carbon Emissions” at the Production and Operations Management Society Annual meeting in Chicago in April 2012. (Co-authors: Rachna Prakash and Sandra Vera-Muñoz)
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Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Madison, WI. Permit No. 658 Department of Accounting and Information Systems 4171 Grainger Hall 975 University Avenue Madison, WI 53706-1323
Department of Accounting and Information Systems Advisory Board Members Mike Altschaefl* President and CEO Albany-Chicago Company LLC Brandon Andries* Managing Partner Operations Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP Robert J. Cunningham* Partner Wipfli LLP P.J. DiStefano* Partner Deloitte & Touche LLP Dianne Dubois* COO/CFO Maple Street Associates David Gay* Partner Ernst & Young LLP
Susan Haine* Owner/Managing Partner Susan Haine Business Consulting, LLC Daniel J. Kelly* Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer American Family Insurance Neil Lonergan* Managing Director Grant Thornton LLP Tim Mattke* Vice President - Controller MGIC Investment Corporation Jay Price* Retired Partner Arthur Andersen LLP
LeRoy Schmidt Retired Associate WICPA
Suzanne Wessels* Consultant Certes Financial Pros
Roger Schroeder* Retired Partner KPMG LLP
Ray Wilson Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Todd Watchmaker* Partner KPMG LLP
* Alumni
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