Tax Analytics
Big Data
Excel Functions
MSA-681
Miscellaneous
100

Define "Tax analytics"

The combination of tax technical knowledge, big data, and technology tools to evaluate performance and make strategic decisions.

100

Which University is affiliated with the WRDS research database?

UPenn - Wharton

100

What function would you use to add all the numbers in a range of cells?

SUM

100

When you have a question about an assignment, who should you email?

BOTH Prof. Parsons AND Prof. Orenstein

100

What's worth more: $1 tax deduction or $1 tax credit?

Tax credit

200

Name two Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) focused on tax management.

- Tax Cost

- Tax Risk

- Tax Efficiency and Effectiveness

- Tax Sustainability

- Permanent Book-Tax Differences

200

What is the name of the SEC database that houses all public company filings?

EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system)

200

What function would you use to find the biggest number in a range of cells?

MAX

200

How can you schedule office hours with Prof. Parsons? (two answers)

By going to calendly.com or by emailing her

200
What's the current corporate tax rate?

21%

300

Give two examples of "big data" that can be used in tax analytics.

- IRS data: tax returns; reportable financial transactions (W-2s, 1099s, K-1s); social media posts; credit reports; etc.

- SEC filing data: 10-Ks, 10-Qs, etc.

300

What is the most recent year for which you can obtain IRS SOI data for corporations?

300

What feature in Excel allows you to extract data from a large set and summarize, analyze, explore, and present summary data?

PivotTables
300

What are the last four digits of Prof. Orenstein's phone number?

8175

300

What Big 4 firm did Prof. Parsons work at before returning to academia?

PwC

400

The task of tax departments to minimize taxes paid in the future is called:

Tax planning

400

What percentage of forms 1040 filed for tax year 2019 took the standard deduction?

Decrease an asset & decrease a liability.

400

What function would you use to find the arithmetic mean for only those cells specified by a given condition or criterion. 

AVERAGEIF

400

When is your final exam?

June 18
400

What is Prof. Orenstein's tax technical area of expertise?

International tax

500

What type of analysis would you perform to test the impact of various alternative input data on an expected output (ex. taxable income or tax paid)?

What-if scenario analysis

500

How many forms 1040 with positive AGI were filed in the state of Connecticut in 2019?

500

What function looks for a match to the value in the left-hand column of a table then returns the contents of the cell corresponding to the indicated column?

VLOOKUP

500

Where can you go to find Excel and Power Query tutorial videos? (Be specific)

Appendix A in the Syllabus

500

What comedian joked that 

"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death [...] This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy"

Jerry Seinfeld

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