Loyola Marymount Accounting Students Win Deloitte Innovation Challenge

Accounting students of Loyola Marymount University have taken first place in Deloitte’s seventh annual Audit Innovation Campus Challenge (AICC).

Hosted by Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance business, the AICC is a nationwide program which accelerates innovation in education by helping institutions of higher learning keep pace with the rapidly changing marketplace and evolving technologies impacting the audit profession. The program engages students and faculty from campuses across the country, providing an educational experience designed to help students develop skills for success in professional services and sharing the culture of innovation at Deloitte with academia and potential future professionals.

This year’s challenge statement asked teams to consider the role of the accounting profession in driving rigor and discipline with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and how to accelerate higher quality and timely ESG information to the capital markets. Each team had four weeks to respond and were supported by Deloitte professionals and a faculty advisor. Submissions were judged by an evaluation panel comprised of Deloitte & Touche LLP Audit & Assurance partners and managing directors.

“Over the past few years, sustainability and climate-related information has risen to the top of many investor and regulator agendas. Disclosure of this information is rapidly moving from voluntary to mandatory, based on recent developments from global regulators. The accounting profession continues to play an important role in promoting trust and confidence in sustainability disclosures. Deloitte is proud to host this competition, where students have the opportunity to present creative solutions about how the accounting profession can continue to enhance the reliability, completeness and accuracy of sustainability disclosure,” said Tricia Montague, Audit & Assurance managing director, sustainability and ESG services, Deloitte & Touche LLP. “The creative problem solving displayed by all our participants during this year’s challenge is truly inspiring. It gives me great confidence that the next generation of auditors tasked with navigating the ever-changing business environment is up to the challenge.”

The Loyola Marymount University team won for their concept, “Artemis” an AI driven, smart platform that would contain thousands of ESG reports and relevant data that would empower professionals with audit and assurance tools to help navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory environment of ESG reporting. This tool would draw from and expand upon systems that Deloitte already utilizes; however, it would allow professionals who perform audit and assurance services the ability to provide the system with feedback which the AI utilizes to produce more relevant reporting. The team consisted of Kate Cereghini, Aidan Fitzpatrick, Massimo Oedekoven Pomponi, Estelle Potdevin and Sam Sprute.

“This has been such a great experience and the students put in so much work. I’m so thrilled for these students because they are really seeing what life is like beyond the classroom,” said Anthony Menendez, professor of accounting at Loyola Marymount University and faculty advisor for the winning team. “They can really see the potential for this profession. I think most students, especially early on in their college careers, don’t understand the vast opportunities in the accounting profession. Opportunities like this really give them a chance to see what the broader profession is all about. They can really show their innovative ideas, creativity and understand how important teamwork is to the profession.”

More than 60 university teams from across the country participated in a competition in the fall of 2021, with 12 teams advancing to the 2021-2022 National Competition of the Audit Innovation Campus Challenge at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. Finalists included:

Baylor University, Texas

James Madison University, Virginia

Louisiana State University, Louisiana

Loyola Marymount University, California

Morehouse College, Georgia

Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania

The Ohio State University, Ohio

Trinity University, Texas

University of Kansas, Kansas

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska

University of Southern California, California

Villanova University, Pennsylvania