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| July 1, 2005 | The
Newspaper of the NYSSCPA |
Vol.
8, No.12 |
Graduation Puts Accounting in the Spotlight
By Lois Whitehead, Public Relations Manager
Recent accounting graduates are finding that their chosen vocation, in addition to being professionally rewarding, is also becoming more and more fiscally lucrative due to the demand for qualified CPAs.
In New York state, colleges and universities have all reported an increase in accounting graduates.
Adrian Fitzsimmons, chair of the Department of Accounting and Tax at St. John’s University, said current enrollment is at 705 students, compared to 606 two years ago.
In an informal telephone survey taken by the Society with major statewide colleges and universities, there appeared to be a 10 to 15 percent increase in accounting students compared to last year.
Students who started their studies in other programs are also seeing the advantages of the accounting field. Paul Warner, of Hofstra, says five to 10 students per week are transferring to accounting majors.
“An accounting graduate can start at $50,000 plus a bonus to sign on,” Warner said.
Frank Fusaro, of Forum Personnel, a recruiter for 31 years, said he has never seen as exciting a job market for the accounting profession.
“The marketplace is abundant for new graduates as well as experienced candidates,” he said. “One of the key areas influencing this growth has been the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation and its compliance requirements. There is a hot demand for people with the right skill set.”
At SUNY in Buffalo, Ronald Huefner, chair of the Society’s Higher Education Committee, said that he is seeing a much bigger demand for recent graduates.
“The large firms can’t get enough people,” he said. “This has been one of our most successful years for placements ever.”
Huefner said SUNY-Buffalo’s accounting students are split between two fields, with about 25 percent graduating with a degree in internal auditing and the remainder with a CPA license, often heading directly to industry jobs. In the past, Huefner said the norm was for students to spend two or three years with a smaller CPA firm before moving into industry.
He added that on-campus recruiting has also picked up as companies have come to campus even earlier than usual looking to hire students.
“By last fall, I’d say about 20 percent of the class already had jobs,” he said.
