It’s a Tax Life For Me

Hi there!

Thank you for checking in on my journey through the Jenkins MAC program. It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the first semester!  In this post, I will share insights on the required tax class for all MAC candidates and one of the elective tax courses.

ACC 530 – Core Tax Class

ACC 530, Advanced Income Tax, is a requirement for all MAC students in the on campus and online programs. The course covers topics including, but not limited to the organization of corporations, earnings and distributions, flow-through entities and multinational taxation. The course promotes teamwork by working in groups for the projects and weekly assignments.

Our first project was to complete a tax return for a corporate “client.”  The assignment entailed completing a Form 1120 and related schedules for our “client” and providing tax planning guidance in a memorandum.  So far, this project has been my favorite part of the course.  I enjoyed learning the mechanics of a return and obtaining a small glimpse into what life will be like as a tax associate at PwC. At the end of the semester we will complete a data analytics assignment. Stay tuned to the student blog posts to learn how that goes! As a student in the online MAC program I am getting so much out of this class.

The combination of being an aspiring tax associate and taking tax courses during an election year has prompted a desire to gain an understanding of each candidate’s tax proposal. I was extremely excited to learn that our professor, Dr. Nathan Goldman, has arranged an opportunity for us to learn more about the potential changes.  Later this month we will be hearing from Dr. Goldman and other tax professionals regarding the different tax plans and their potential effects.

BUS 590 – Elective Tax Course

Corporate Tax Matters (BUS 590) is one of the elective courses in the MAC Program. Jennifer Dirienzo, a retired managing director from Deloitte, is the professor for BUS 590. Jennie introduced me to tax during my undergraduate degree, and is a major contributor of why I chose to pursue a career in tax. Her experience provides a wealth of knowledge in the classroom.

The course focuses on tax accounting methods during the first half of the semester and ASC 740, Accounting for Income Taxes during the second portion. To deepen our knowledge and understanding of ASC 740, we  are working in teams to complete a semester long case throughout the rest of the semester. We will prepare an audit committee presentation on the important tax issues and tax planning strategies for the client at the end of the semester. Our audience will be composed of professionals from the accounting industry. The class recently finished the first assignment of the case, a tax provision. The assignment proved to be a challenge, but I am so thankful for the learning experience. Again, as a student in the online program, it has been amazing to see this all come together and run seamlessly virtually!

Before we embarked on our journey of ASC 740, Jennie brought in Brian Donovan (Jenkins MAC ’18), senior tax associate at RSM to encourage the class. He ensured the difficulty of the course and learning the tax “lingo” will prove beneficial. Brian shared how applicable the topics covered in BUS 590 are daily to the public accounting profession.

Whether you are pursuing tax or not, I hope you were able to gain an understanding of the types of projects we work on in the MAC program. Although this post focused on tax courses, almost every class has an element of application through projects.

Click here to learn more about the tax strategy concentration and related courses.

Best,

Sarah Petersen