The Student CPA: For Every Aspiring Accountant to Discover

A Group of Accounting Firms That Deserves More Publicity

Narcisse Dansou — Sun, 22 May 2011 22:13:44 +0000

Most people interested in a career in public accounting have heard about the Big 4 firms, the National firms, and the Super Regional firms. In the public accounting industry and in most other industries, the notoriety of a company is more often than not a function of its size. Therefore, the largest accounting firms tend to command a great deal of attention not only within the accounting profession but also within the world of academia. However, the world of public accounting goes beyond the largest accounting firms. There are many boutique style accounting firms that get little to no publicity but that provide their services to clients with very particular characteristics. To be more specific, I am referring to the group of accounting firms that almost exclusively assist non U.S. middle-market companies with their foreign direct investments in the USA. In most cases, the boutique accounting firms in question

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An Anecdotal Career Fair Experience

Narcisse Dansou — Sat, 14 May 2011 02:39:50 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I attended my very first accounting career fair in a very long time. I had every intent to make the most out of the event. While I was very well aware of some of the customary things that I needed to do in order to make a good impression on recruiters, I kept looking for some out of the box tips for effectively working a career fair. As such, I turned to Google Search to see if I could find a single tip that appeared to have the potential to help me stand out from other job seekers. As I kept digging through the search results, it came to my attention that using a 30 second job search elevator pitch when first meeting with recruiters is an excellent attention getter. Although I don’t like the idea of speaking from a script, I nevertheless went

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Two Global Trends That Generation Y Can’t Afford to Overlook

Narcisse Dansou — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:54:40 +0000

In my opinion, the various effects of most of the global trends unfolding before our eyes will be fully materialized in about 20-25 years. By that time, most members of Generation Y will be in the thick of their professional lives. I thought appropriate to speculate on how some of those global trends will affect the professional lives of the members of Generation Y. In doing so, I am going to focus primarily on two of those global trends: the world’s growing middle class and the increased life expectancy of the world’s population. English has been the preferred language for conducting business around the world for many years now. That had to do primarily with the fact that the United States had been the capital of the world economy for so long thanks in part to its large middle class. However, the U.S. middle class has been steadily shrinking

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A Good GMAT Score Warrants a Rigorous and Focused Review Program

Narcisse Dansou — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:25:07 +0000

If you are planning on enrolling into a Master of Accounting (MAcc) program this coming fall or at any time in the foreseeable future, then you ought to already know that you will most likely have to submit a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) score as part of your application for admission to a MAcc program. Depending on the quality, prestige, or rigor of the MAcc program you are considering applying to, you might have to obtain a GMAT score that is above a certain threshold to ensure that your application for admission receives the highest level of consideration from a given admission committee. While your GMAT score is only one of several factors that usually determine the fate of your MAcc application, there are a variety of MAcc programs that award graduate assistantship appointments based solely on a GMAT score but provided that the applicant meets all other

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Mergers and Acquisitions Fever Takes Hold of Regional Accounting Firms

Narcisse Dansou — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 06:04:52 +0000

There have been a string of notable merger and acquisition deals involving a number of regional accounting firms since 2009. You know what they say, if you can’t grow organically fast enough, find yourself a merger or an acquisition candidate. In a chronological order sort of, here are some of the M&A deals within the public accounting industry that have caught my eye: Year 2009: -Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (Chicago, IL) acquires Beers + Cutler (Vienna, VA): prior to the tie up, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP was ranked the 17th accounting firm with $215M in annual revenues whereas Beers + Cutler was ranked 42nd with annual turnover of $60M. As of 2010, the combined firms are ranked 13th with annual revenues of $250M. This acquisition enables Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, a public accounting firm that primarily did business in the Midwest, to expand its geographical footprint

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The Best Accounting Firms for Women

Narcisse Dansou — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:59:20 +0000

I recently stumbled on a very interesting ranking of the 10 best accounting firms for women. It was published in 2010 as part of the first edition of the annual Accounting/MOVE Project which is co-sponsored by the American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA) and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants (AWSCPA), supported by launch partners Moss Adams LLP and BDO, and managed by Wilson-Taylor Associates, Inc. The Accounting/Move Project is a national survey research effort to measure and advance women at public accounting firms and corporate accounting employers. The project is based on the MOVE methodology, developed by research partner Wilson-Taylor Associates, Inc. to capture the factors proven essential to women’s career success: M – Money: fair pay practices O – Opportunity: advancement and leadership development V – Vital supports: work-life programs that remove barriers E – Entrepreneurship: operating experience for managing or business ownership According to

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Public Accounting Career Spotlight: Transaction Advisory

Narcisse Dansou — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:37:32 +0000

Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and business exits are critical and strategic business transactions that companies will find themselves either exploring or undertaking throughout their existence. However, before initiating those business deals, management has a fiduciary duty to conduct due diligence to gain a reasonable assurance that the contemplated business deal does make sense prior to kicking off any form of negotiations. So what is due diligence? Generally, due diligence refers to the care a reasonable person should take before entering into an agreement or a transaction with another party. Through the due diligence process, management can gather vital information about the other party that will help minimize the risks while maximizing the value of a potential deal. In most cases, large corporations secure the expertise of an investment banking company that provides transaction advisory services to help them navigate through the troubled waters of the Mergers and Acquisition (M&A) process. For a very

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Rationalizing the Coverage of IFRS on the CPA Exam

Narcisse Dansou — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 07:14:37 +0000

This past winter break, I found myself perusing several CPA exam candidates personal blogs as well as a number of community forums for CPA exam candidates and I could sense there was quite a bit of apprehension among future examinees vis a vis the incorporation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) in the candidate’s body of knowledge for the CPA exam (As of January 1st, 2011). Prior to these recent changes, the national average CPA exam pass rate was more or less 48%, it is therefore understandable that many current CPA exam candidates have grown even more anxious because of the additional and considerable amount of study time that is going to be required of them to successfully pass the two sections of the CPA exam that include IFRS related test questions: Financial Accounting Reporting (FAR) and Audit (AUD). I have been studying in preparation to take the CPA

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Where Are Those Entry Level Accountant Jobs?

Narcisse Dansou — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:01:07 +0000

When I published my last post, I never anticipated it would take me more than three months to write another one. I really wish I could write more often than I have been over the past six months. I am hoping to get much better production out of my blogging activities throughout the upcoming year. Now let’s put the niceties aside and let’s talk about current trends in accounting job opportunities requiring zero to three years of experience. While I haven’t been active in the job market, I nonetheless have been paying very close attention to current trends in accounting related job listings. There has been a surge in entry level accountant job listings since about September 2010. In fact, there has been a substantial number of accounting internships and entry level accounting job opportunities being advertised online. Many large and medium sized corporations as well as the majority

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Passing the CPA Exam: A Review Strategy Based on Self Confidence and Frugality!

Narcisse Dansou — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:35:50 +0000

After careful thought, I decided to start the process of laying the necessary groundwork that will enable me to be in the the best position to successfully pass all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination in the year 2011. Therefore, for the next 15 months or so, I am going to be seriously tied up studying to pass the CPA exam all while completing my Masters of Accounting curriculum as a full time student. Because I like to keep under wrap the details of the personal projects I work on, it’s very unlikely that I will be writing any blog post to update you on the ongoing progress of my preparation for the CPA exam. It is a given that reviewing for the CPA Exam requires an unprecedented level of time commitment but what about the financial aspects of this endeavor? Most individuals taking the CPA exam opt

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