Rochester World of Accounting Event a Big Hit

By Harry Howe, Rochester Chapter Member

The Rochester Chapter hosted a group of Monroe County high school students for a field trip to the offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers at the Bausch and Lomb building on Dec. 3.

The students had expressed an interest in learning about careers in accounting. The field trip, the second World of Accounting event the chapter has organized, provided many opportunities for students to talk informally with accounting professionals, members of the New York State Society of CPAs, college students and professors.

Students assembled in the second-floor training room at the Bausch and Lomb building in downtown Rochester for short presentations about careers in accounting.

Former Chapter President William Dresnack and High School Task Force Chairman Kenneth Hall welcomed the students. The other speakers included Rochester Chapter Executive Board Member Michelle Cohen, audit manager with Rotenberg & Company LLP; Brian D’Ambrosia, CFO of Rochester Sports Group; and James Root, an excise tax specialist at the Syracuse office of the Internal Revenue Service.

Each speaker talked about the challenges and rewards of a career in accounting. They stressed the wide range of opportunities and career tracks available to accounting majors, and conveyed a vivid sense of how rewarding and satisfying they found their jobs.

Following the presentations and a question-and-answer session, students convened for a tour of the Rochester office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where staff members answered questions about “what accountants do all day.”

The students then enjoyed an NYSSCPA-sponsored lunch, followed by a panel discussion featuring professors and college students from the Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY-Brockport and SUNY-Geneseo. Panelists fielded questions about the 150-hour rule to sit for the CPA exam, courses of study in accounting and other related topics.

Strong interest in the second World of Accounting event led to a greater number of students than unfortunately could be accommodated. The chapter, consequently, is planning a similar event for the spring. It is now clear that there is a considerable amount of interest in the program. The chapter plans to hold one or two of these events annually.

In keeping with the theme that being a CPA opens many doors and creates a foundation for a wide variety of careers, World of Accounting organizers are particularly interested in hearing from chapter members who might be willing to share their career experiences at future events. Rochester Chapter Vice President Steven Morse (smmvfa@rit.edu), chapter member Rick Gifford (gifford@geneseo.edu) and the author would love to hear from you.

Harry Howe is a professor at SUNY-Geneseo. He can be reached at howeh@geneseo.edu.