The Competition
The 2022 University of Waterloo Accounting Conference (UWAC) was held at Hagey Hall on Saturday, November 19, 2022, and included a case competition, workshops, and networking, providing 160 first-year School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) students with the opportunity to apply their in course knowledge, develop crucial soft skills, and grow professionally. With key sponsors such as EY, KPMG, Deloitte, Scotiabank, RSM, MNP, and many more, as well as a cumulative prize pool of $3,000, UWAC truly lived up to its title of Canada's Leading Undergraduate Accounting Conference and provided significant value to first year SAF students.
One of the main features of the conference was the case competition, with a top prize of $1,500. The UWAC team, in collaboration with the faculty, designed a comprehensive business case study designed specifically with the skill level and background knowledge of first-year SAF students in mind. Participating students, in teams of 4, had one week to prepare their 10 minute case analysis presentation. On the day of the conference, 40 teams presented their solutions in front of panels of upper year students, acting as judges, for the preliminary round, and representatives from sponsoring firms for the semi-final round. The top 4 groups from the semi-finals had the opportunity to present to our finalist judges, Rob Durcharme (faculty liaison) and Zehanna Visram (Investment Banking Analyst at BMO and former co-chair of UWAC). All students who participated in the competition were able to gain valuable experience by applying their course knowledge to the case, and further developing their soft skills during the presentations and Q&A sessions.
