W&M's Jim Smith–Winningest coach in Tax Challenge history

The Steelers' Mike Tomlin isn't the only nationally-regarded coach W&M has produced.

Jim Smith, the John S. Quinn Professor of Accounting and 39-year faculty veteran at the College, is the nation's leading Tax Challenge coach. Under Smith's guidance, an unequaled number of teams have achieved spots at the national level of the prestigious Deloitte Tax Case Study National Competition. Over the past 15 years, Prof. Smith has led an Undergraduate team to the finals every year and a Graduate team to the finals for 10 of those years.

Moreover, the Undergraduate teams he has coached have taken first place 10 of the years they participated - twice as many times as any other school in the country. Their most recent win was in November 2008, when the team won the finals in Orlando, Florida. The Graduate team also placed this year, taking home a sixth Honorable Mention.

What is his technique to get his teams of four through hours of grueling research and writing? Pacing. "I never let them know they're eating an elephant," Smith says.

His one-forkful-at-a-time method has served him well. A believer in the "5 Ts" of Tax Foundation, Tax Research Abilities, Teamwork, Time Management and a "Taxlete" mentality, Smith stresses with each team that a solid education in tax law and the ability to quickly identify the relevant tax issues in a scenario are just half of the skills necessary to win a challenge as big as the Deloitte Tax Case Study Competition. Just as crucial, he says, is the recognition that there is no room for a "lone ranger" nor for poor use of time. The consistent application of these principles, he says, makes the students into true "Taxletes" - a term coined by former team member Krystal Keeley (BBA '07, MAcc '08).

When Deloitte took the competition over eight years ago from originating firm Arthur Andersen, the number of hours allotted to each team to complete its case dropped from seven to five. The increased time pressure made team work "absolutely crucial," Smith says. It also opened up the possibility of more schools competing than ever before because there was no longer a chance of one star student leading a group through the entire challenge. With the need to produce a professional quality Tax memo in just five hours about a case that could be as much as 80 pages long and cover any number of tax topics, any team that is going to win is going to have to divide the work, frankly assess each individual's strengths and then play hard to those talents.

Smith spends the fall semester every year training students on how to most efficiently discern what the key issues are in any tax case and then in how to work together to write a well-crafted memo. Wednesday night cram sessions give way to simulated competitions toward the end of the semester, complete with time clock and pizza delivery. Smith's wife, Nora, also known as the Assistant Coach for Nutrition and Motivation, supplies brownies.

"I have never had anyone come back and tell me it wasn't worth the effort," Smith says with pride. Behind him, a large bulletin board is covered in thank-you cards, photos and other fond mementos from former Taxletes.

Colleagues from around the country have taken notice of Smith's success as well. Each year, admirers send Smith words of congratulations or simply express their amazement at the annual awards brunch. But they don't ask for tips: they know better.

"The first year W&M made the finals, I was really excited," Smith says. "I called my long-time friend and co-author Gene (Willis) at Illinois because he had some success, you know, and I wanted to see what advice he might have for me." But, Smith laughs, ....

"Jim," he said to me, "this is serious business. We don't give trade secrets."

Happily for W&M, Prof. Smith has managed to figure it out on his own.