After a year of research the AIPCA has released their findings from a yearlong initiative to examine what's on the horizon (up to 2025) for CPAs and the accounting profession in general. The research included getting insight from over 75,000 comments from CPA's in all professions.
The results showed that there is a bright future for CPAs everywhere, accounting opportunities are expected to be on the rise along with some needed changes in regulation. Some of the findings included:
-"CPAs overwhelmingly agreed that the profession's core purpose, "Making sense of a changing and complex world". remains relevant today and for the future"
-The profession's core values remained substantially unchanged
-The profession's core competencies evolved to reflect the 21st century.
-The services provided by CPAs have become so varied and diverse that the concept ofcore services is no longer representative of the profession. "
(How they were able to get an unbiased sample is beyond me, and their comments may have been skewed because of the inability to create a double-blind test.)
Then the article provides a list of 10 insights and directions which I won't get into here. Reading over this I can't help but feel very speculative of their findings because there was no job market statistical analysis and projections. This was all based on anecdotal evidence from a variety of accountants. The validity of this test is definitely in question but as for the results, they didn't seem to be unreasonable.
Although some people may believe that accoutnatnts will soon be replaced by machines, I feel that it can never happen. Humans provide a control that artificial intelligence can't compete with. In the near future I can definitely see the profession expanding and Accounting becoming a bigger job market. Because of this expansion however, I could definitely see the regulations loosening and the Certification necessary to become a CPA tighten.
The future looks good for CPA's and Accountants, let's make sure it stays that way.
Works Cited:
"CPA Horizons 2025: A Road Map for the Future." Journal of Accountancy. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/20114688.htm>.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Fraud Examination, Is It The Job For You?
Given the increased amount of attention placed upon Wall Street lately, the need for Fraud Examiners is ever increasing. This is not your average accounting job, where you'll audit clients or help them complete their SEC compliance.
A forensic accountant is a career path not many students take coming out of school, but it's an exciting field that's growing every day. In forensic accounting you can work as a data analyzer, where you can look through documents and see if any patterns arise that are indicative of fraud. Others may take the more active path where you can undergo CIA training in Langley with the SEC. The amount of activity may very but some of the careers with the SEC can involve secretly filming con-men laundering money. All of this can be extremely dangerous and challenge the stereotype that all accounting jobs are boring 'desk jobs'.
Whether your in audit, tax, or any other accounting profession try the following quiz out and see how well your fraud IQ is. Because I've had extensive fraud training, I scored pretty well, but try it and see how it goes.
Test Your Fraud IQ!
Site Sources
Taylor, Dawn, and Andi McNeal. "What's Your Fraud IQ?" Journal of Accountancy. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2011/Nov/20114391.htm>.
A forensic accountant is a career path not many students take coming out of school, but it's an exciting field that's growing every day. In forensic accounting you can work as a data analyzer, where you can look through documents and see if any patterns arise that are indicative of fraud. Others may take the more active path where you can undergo CIA training in Langley with the SEC. The amount of activity may very but some of the careers with the SEC can involve secretly filming con-men laundering money. All of this can be extremely dangerous and challenge the stereotype that all accounting jobs are boring 'desk jobs'.
Whether your in audit, tax, or any other accounting profession try the following quiz out and see how well your fraud IQ is. Because I've had extensive fraud training, I scored pretty well, but try it and see how it goes.
Test Your Fraud IQ!
Site Sources
Taylor, Dawn, and Andi McNeal. "What's Your Fraud IQ?" Journal of Accountancy. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2011/Nov/20114391.htm>.
New AICPA Chairman, Greg Anton
A new chairman just got elected to the AICPA. Gregory J. Anton, CPA, the co-founder of a small accounting firm in Denver called Anton Collins Mitchell LLP. His organization was recognized for its fast growth and desirable work environment. Although his accounting firm was a success I find it strange that an AICPA chairman came from such a small accounting firm. I had imagined that the AICPA board members would be mostly composed of managing partners from the largest public accounting firms.
This is a one-year post that Greg was happy to receive. Becoming a chairman of the AICPA is a great honor that any accountant would like to receive. During his speech he said:
"As CPAs, we can decipher, disseminate and manage knowledge, this is what a computer or smartphone cannot do"
This was great because this is a time where accountants are truly needed. The Dodd-Frank rule just passed this year so there is even more need to stay vigilant over financial institutions. The time is now for most accounting firms to expand and take advantage of the opportunity.
Sources:
AICPA. "Greg Anton Elected Chairman of AICPA." Welcome to the AICPA. AICPA. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.aicpa.org/Press/PressReleases/2011/Pages/Greg-Anton-Elected-Chairman-of-AICPA.aspx>.
This is a one-year post that Greg was happy to receive. Becoming a chairman of the AICPA is a great honor that any accountant would like to receive. During his speech he said:
"As CPAs, we can decipher, disseminate and manage knowledge, this is what a computer or smartphone cannot do"
This was great because this is a time where accountants are truly needed. The Dodd-Frank rule just passed this year so there is even more need to stay vigilant over financial institutions. The time is now for most accounting firms to expand and take advantage of the opportunity.
Sources:
AICPA. "Greg Anton Elected Chairman of AICPA." Welcome to the AICPA. AICPA. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.aicpa.org/Press/PressReleases/2011/Pages/Greg-Anton-Elected-Chairman-of-AICPA.aspx>.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)