Beginning this fall, the university’s Patterson School of Accountancy will offer two new graduate degrees: the Master of Accountancy and Data Analytics (MADA) and the Master of Taxation and Data Analytics (MTDA). The programs are an advancement in the school’s professional partnership with KPMG LLP, the nationally ranked “Big Four” audit, tax and advisory firm.
The MADA program is an award-winning curriculum developed in 2016 by KPMG and the Ohio State University’s Max M. Fisher College of Business and the Villanova School of Business.
The Patterson School acquired the programming a year later and will be the only university nationwide to offer a degree in the field of taxation and data analytics (D&A).
“I think it’s exactly what (the school) needs to be doing – taking what we have in our current master’s programs and adding on a layer of technologies and new courses,” said Mark Wilder, the Patterson School’s dean and university’s KPMG chair of accountancy. “It’s right in line with what the profession is looking for, and it’s exciting.”
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning’s board of trustees approved planning for three new courses in conjunction with the degrees as well as approving makeovers of existing courses to cater to the data analytics environment. The programs will require the completion of 30 hours of graduate coursework and are the only ones currently offered in the state of Mississippi.
Senior Drew Fowler, a current Patterson School undergraduate, was selected to participate in the MTDA taxation program this past fall and will fulfill his obligations in KPMG’s Houston office. He said he believes this opportunity will help him develop the critical thinking skills needed to understand the growing relationship between data analytics and accounting.
“There’s really no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to tackling a multinational company’s tax savings problem, so learning how to look at things in a different way and incorporating technology into that is exciting to me,” Fowler said. “By becoming more informed in different (technology) interfaces, we’ll be better able to answer more complex questions for clients of KPMG.”
According to the Ole Miss news site, the Patterson School will include 30 of the 135 participants in the nationwide class and will equip them with the tools needed to handle challenges associated with technology growth in the accountancy sector. The selected students will receive a specialized internship in the KPMG audit or tax sector, funding that matches the full cost of attendance and a full-time, advanced entry to the firm upon graduation.
“Technology is changing every industry at an exponential rate,” said Hayden Poer, Patterson undergraduate and future MADA student and KPMG New York office participant. “As a student looking to pursue a career in the field of taxation, I saw it necessary to do what I could to get ahead of the technology curve. This is a great opportunity to do just that.”
During the selection process, prospective students were required to apply for an internship within KPMG in addition to writing four essays. After reviewing the applications, the firm chose a number of individuals to advance to the interview round. As the program develops, the Patterson School will be looking to incorporate a broader range of students from around the United States.
Senior Rachel Lee Prestwood, a Patterson School undergraduate and future MTDA participant, was selected for the KPMG Los Angeles office. She recalls how the rigor of the application process will pay off in the amount of expertise students gain in their chosen fields.
“This is a wonderful program for the Patterson School,” Prestwood said. “Although I think it will be difficult, it really shows how much (the university) is respected and valued as an accounting school among the large firms and accounting community.”
Research in data analytics is considered to be one of the fastest-growing fields in accountancy as well a becoming one of the greatest challenges faced by modern audit and tax professionals. By supporting a program that merges technology with high accounting standards, the Patterson School has the potential to become even more visible on the national scale.
“(The program) is in line with what the firm is trying to do, which is to move the educational process forward for the profession, because they know the profession needs these kinds of talented individuals,” Wilder said. “If you can have a professional that knows the accounting and tax practices but also has the IT skills, it’s a great combination to have.”
This article was submitted to The Daily Mississippian from an advanced reporting class.
