Recruiting

CPAs spend many hours studying accounting and tax rules and become very knowledgeable, with CPE insuring that they are fully conversant with any changes. In the very large firms, the training and education offered has a very interesting mix, as a good deal of it doesn’t deal with technical knowledge but on the softer skills that can actually contribute more to the success of the individual and the firm. This is readily apparent in the structured way mentoring is conducted in these larger firms. Mentors are trained, mentoring processes and procedures are established, the details of the mentoring program are communicated, and staff members participate in a prescribed manner. And why do larger firms spend so much time and money on mentoring? They see the success in the performance of those who complete the program, and are very happy with the ROI. Because of the limited resources of small firms, ROI on spending is extremely important and gets very close scrutiny. The problem is, in new areas like mentoring small firms, because of their lack of familiarity, often overspend and don’t get a good ROI. Small firms therefore need to be creative. I recently came across Mentoring Process for CPA/CAs--Third Edition, by Rex Gatto, that can be helpful in that regard. There is a roadmap to creating structured processes quickly, tools and tips for mentors, and advice for mentees on getting the most from mentoring. The book doesn’t pull any punches, such as when it is pointed out that the mentees’ best role is that of the listener, and warns mentors not to be sidetracked by the mentee who is an analyzer (overanalyzes facts), a whiner (complainer), a rejecter (not me!), a victim (poor me!) or a controller (talks too much). Equally important, the book tells mentees what they should look for when selecting a mentor. “When choosing a mentor, a mentor should be someone:

The American Institute of CPAs has approved the creation of the forensic accounting credential.

While the number of women partners and those in similar leadership positions has risen over the past several years, they still trail significantly when compared to their male counterparts, according to a survey compiled by the Illinois CPA Society Women’s Executive Committee.

The new fingerprinting requirement for the Uniform CPA Exam sparked debate at the American Institute of CPAs’ Spring Council meeting.

KPMG is donating $250,000 to the nonprofit organization First Book to distribute more than 200,000 books this year to needy children.

The Internal Revenue Service is facing a troublesome manpower drain, as a whopping average of 16 percent of its total workforce is now leaving the agency each year.The soaring employee turnover rate has raised eyebrows and concerns among members of the IRS Oversight Board, which warned that the tax service is losing a distressingly large number of talented workers who “possess skills and institutional knowledge that are extremely difficult to replace.”

Senior-level executive CPAs have low expectations of the economy over the coming year, according to a new survey.

The New York State Society of CPAs installed Sharon Sabba Fierstein as its new president.

DeVry University, its Keller School of Management and Becker CPA Review have teamed up on an accelerated program to give accounting students their bachelor's and master's degrees and CPA designations in as little as five years.

Deloitte has formed an International Financial Reporting Standards University Consortium to help bring IFRS into more college classrooms.

The future of your firm shouldn’t be left up to fate. Being armed with a practical plan can prepare you and your firm with how next to succeed. This webinar will explain why you need a strategy in place and what the essentials are to getting there.

A new study has found that women of color are encountering obstacles at many accounting firms and that efforts at encouraging diversity often do not work.

The future of your firm shouldn’t be left up to fate. Being armed with a practical plan can prepare you and your firm with how next to succeed. This webinar will explain why you need a strategy in place and what the essentials are to getting there.

The future of your firm shouldn’t be left up to fate. Being armed with a practical plan can prepare you and your firm with how next to succeed. This webinar will explain why you need a strategy in place and what the essentials are to getting there.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued a draft proposal outlining new content and skill specifications it wants to include in the Uniform CPA Examination, including a greater focus on ethics.

More than 64,000 students graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting in the 2006-2007 school year, the largest number of accounting graduates in at least 36 years, according to a report by the American Institute of CPAs.

“The problem is variously termed as silo thinking, silo vision, silo mentality, or the silo effect. This is evident when directors, departments, managers, teams or staff may be high performers individually, but fail to choreograph their activities to create peak performance for the organization.”

Lynn A. Chiavaro coached one of the first college girls' basketball teams three decades ago and was inducted into the Hall of Fame for her accomplishments in the sport.

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures held a hearing to discuss tax incentives for post-secondary education.

How often do you visit other accounting firms? Many firm associations, when holding a meeting in a city where a firm member is located, often arrange for the attendees to visit that firm’s office in a guided presentation. The Practical Accountant editorial staff also periodically visits accounting firms, and the payoff for us, and also ultimately for our readers, is astounding. The last firm that we visited was Weiser in New York City, and the result was the same.