Thinking Outside the Box

There’s an old joke CPAs like to tell, and it goes like this: “Why did the auditor cross the road?” “Because he did it last year.”

Even now the joke gets a laugh, but the fact that it’s still around is reason enough to publish a special student edition of The Trusted Professional—a monthly news and feature publication of the New York State Society of CPAs. The truth of the matter is the joke no longer is relevant to the CPA. Long gone are the days of the green visor-wearing, back-office number cruncher and in its stead is a front-office trusted business advisor capable of providing a wide array of traditional and non-traditional financial services.

As one practitioner recently noted, the future of accounting will be a very prosperous one if more CPAs begin to realize the professional possibilities their chosen career affords them. “We should think outside of the box with respect to the breadth of services that we can offer our clients,” observed Susan Schoenfeld, chair of the Society’s Estate Planning Committee and vice president with Bessemer Trust Company in New York City. “CPAs need to grow into their roles as trusted professionals.”

Several months back, amid myriad discussions about 150-hour rules, declining enrollment, and better marketing of the CPA brand, the staff of The Trusted Professional decided to think outside of the box, too, by putting together a special issue that caters to college students currently enrolled or thinking about enrolling in their schools’ public accounting program. After all, our readers, the majority of whom are the Society’s 30,000 members, are well aware of the dynamic and rewarding experience that an accounting career can offer, but they are not the future of the profession. You are and it’s important that you have an accurate understanding of what it means to be a CPA today.

Through this issue, we hope you will learn more about the Society and consider joining through associate membership, but, more importantly, we want to impress upon you—for those who don’t already know—the intellectual, economic and personal value of pursuing an accounting degree.

Over the last several years, there has been a great deal made about a possible decline in the profession and an inability to recruit new CPAs. Despite the fact that accounting has never been considered a particularly sexy profession, its profile is steadily improving as more firms and practitioners are expanding their practices and skill sets. And while many of the CPAs who we spoke to acknowledge the need to change the general public’s antiquated perception of the accountant, they are all certain that accounting will remain a blue chip profession.

Professions go through cycles and accounting is no different, and any sort of doom and gloom prognostication seems a tad premature, to say the least.

As Charles Toder, a member of the Society’s Not-For-Profit Organizations Committee and a retired CPA who worked in industry, simply put it: “In my experience, if you create a good job, you can find people to fill it.”

And that point cannot be overstated. Accounting presents a wide range of interesting professional opportunities, including working in sports and entertainment, the legal arena, apparel and textile, non-profit, estate planning, employee benefits and small business. The list goes on and on.

Interestingly, despite the near year-long downturn in the economy, CPAs have fared pretty well, all things considered. Between April and June, accountant job postings increased by 27 percent nationwide, with steep spikes in some cities, according to Headhunter.net.

“Everyone has to be more concerned about (their company’s) bottom line, and they need the people who are going to understand that,” said a spokesperson for Headhunter. “And even when companies are downsizing, the accountants are the last to go.”

Make no mistake, though, despite the usually high demand for CPAs, the real draw and inherent strength behind accounting is the discipline’s ability to continually teach. As students, you will or already have begun to learn a number of new skills that will be useful in a variety of situations. However, once you enter the field, you will be faced with new challenges and will be forced, though most would say inspired, to learn additional skills. As NYSSCPA Higher Education Committee member and accounting professor Robert A. Semenza of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., states, “Being a CPA is a lifelong pursuit of learning.”

We hope that this issue will be of some benefit and interest to you, helping to convey the full scope of the accounting profession and affirming your reasons for wanting to become a CPA. If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to contact the Society at (800) NYSSCPA (697-7272).

Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you in the future.