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The Author

I am an accounting professional actively seeking the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) designation. Disclaimer: This blog site is published by and reflects the personal views of Narcisse Dansou, in his individual capacity. It does in no way represent the views of his employer. The author assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused from the use of the information contained herein.

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Taking Stock of this Year's Successes and Failures

| Last updated on July 3rd, 2011 by | Filed under: Words to the Wise | Nobody has commented yet, kick it off...

It’s quite amazing how fast 2009 has gone by. About twelve months ago, most of us were frightened at the idea of witnessing the U.S. economy collapse, dragging us all into the abyss  of an economic depression. Although it is now safe to say that we all have been spared from an economic depression, most of us would admit that the year coming to an end has been uncharacteristically challenging.  In the midst of all the curve balls that the year 2009 has thrown at us thus far, it is important that we take a few hours or days to put 2009 in review to figure out how our accomplishments and our failures can help us improve our level of preparedness as we all get ready to transition into a new year that will bring along its shares of opportunities and challenges. FYI preparedness is defined as “an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes.” In the past 360 or so days, each of us has had his moments of limelight.  As this year comes to an end, I invite you to take a microscopic view of your most meaningful accomplishments. Continue reading Taking Stock of this Year’s Successes and Failures

| First published on December 27th, 2009 by | Filed under: Words to the Wise | Nobody has commented yet, kick it off...

Are All Masters of Accounting Created Equal?

| Last updated on July 3rd, 2011 by | Filed under: Master of Accounting, Words to the Wise | 28 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!

I recently came across two very interesting posts: Are New Graduates Getting Squeezed by the 150 Hour CPA Requirement? by Francine McKenna at re: The auditors and Are We Asking for Future Problems? by Dr. David Albrecht at The Summa. In both articles, the authors spoke about how the 150-hour credit CPA education requirement is somehow pushing new accounting college graduates to seek a Master of Accounting as a mean to fulfill that requirement. Most importantly, they both make a pertinent remark when they point out that new accounting college graduates have little to nothing to gain in rushing to obtain a Master of Accounting. When you stop and think about it, she relatively has a valid point. Of all the business and accounting courses that constitute the required body of knowledge to be prepared for the CPA exam, Corporate and Estate Taxation and occasionally Government and Non Profit Accounting are the only two classes that are not included in the required curriculum of a typical bachelor’s degree in accounting. This entails that the gap between the standard curriculum of a bachelor’s degree in accounting and the CPA’s candidate body of knowledge is no wider than six credit hours of accounting courses.  Anything beyond those six credit hours is inconsequential as it relates to having the proper training to give the CPA exam. Continue reading Are All Masters of Accounting Created Equal?

| First published on December 20th, 2009 by | Filed under: Master of Accounting, Words to the Wise | 28 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!

Careers in Public Accounting: Beyond the Big 4 and Other Biggest CPA Firms

| Last updated on July 3rd, 2011 by | Filed under: Careers in Accounting, Words to the Wise | 14 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!

Most students pursuing an accounting degree aspire to land an entry level public accounting position with one of the members of either the Big 4 (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers) or of the other biggest CPA firms (Grant Thornton, BDO Seidman, McGladrey & Pullen LLP, Crowe Horwath LLP, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C., etc). Although we all are entitled to dream big, the reality is the talent pool far outstrips the recruiting needs of these big accounting firms. To put this in perspective, according to BusinessWeek.com, KPMG has received over 24,000 entry level job applications for the current fiscal year however only 2,100 applicants have been hired so far. The point I am trying to make is you must cast a wider net over the pool of CPA firms you can potentially work for. There are scores of third tier firms that can provide you with a career as challenging and rewarding as the one you would expect from one of the biggest CPA firms. Continue reading Careers in Public Accounting: Beyond the Big 4 and Other Biggest CPA Firms

| First published on December 12th, 2009 by | Filed under: Careers in Accounting, Words to the Wise | 14 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!

Competition Gets Tougher for Entry Level Accounting Jobs

| Last updated on July 3rd, 2011 by | Filed under: Careers in Accounting, Words to the Wise | One comment so far

Long are gone those days when obtaining an accounting degree was enough to get you a decent entry level job in public accounting or in industry accounting. Nowadays, it is not enough to simply earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting, but you also need good grades (over 3.0) and some level of accounting internship experience. You see, in recent years the number of undergraduate business students majoring in accounting has reached unprecedented levels. For instance, at some institutions like Louisiana State University (LSU), the demand is so high that only sophomores averaging 3.0 or better are accepted into the undergraduate accounting concentration. More and more business students have come to realize that an accounting degree offers more versatility than most of the other business related concentrations. As universities confer an ever growing number of accounting degrees, public accounting firms become more selective in their choice of recruits. Continue reading Competition Gets Tougher for Entry Level Accounting Jobs

| First published on November 27th, 2009 by | Filed under: Careers in Accounting, Words to the Wise | One comment so far

Auditing: A gatekeeper like no other!

| Last updated on July 3rd, 2011 by | Filed under: Audit and Assurance | 2 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!

If you think that getting through your tax and financial accounting classes was  challenging, please hold your breath because you ain’t see nuthin yet…pardon my English.  Before walking at your graduation ceremony, you will have to win your battle with the ultimate ceremony’s gatekeeper: Auditing. You will be surprised by the overwhelming number of students that give up pursuing an accounting degree just because they are unable to pass through the funnel that is Auditing. Auditing is really a different animal because it requires a lot of memorization along with a healthy dose of critical thinking. Most accounting students naively overlook the complexity of auditing because there is little mathematical computations involved in it. The lack of math is largely compensated by the fact that you will be dealing with a lot of situational issues. Not only will you have to memorize the rules but you will also need to pare them to the different auditing cases you will be asked to solve during your tests. It is primordial that you allot plenty of study hours for your Auditing class if you wish to earn a passing grade your first time around. There is indeed no easy chapter in the typical Auditing curriculum. You can’t get complacent throughout the whole semester or you will get burned. There are  a few things that one needs to accomplish if he or she desires to position him/herself to jump over Auditing: Continue reading Auditing: A gatekeeper like no other!

| First published on September 19th, 2009 by | Filed under: Audit and Assurance | 2 comments have been submitted - join the conversation!
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