The Student CPA

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 ahead and prepared an elevator pitch highlighting my background, my strengths, and my career aspirations.  The Web was not the only place I went to look for answers. I also sought the advice of one of the accounting professors at my school. Continue reading An Anecdotal Career Fair Experience

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, Continue reading Mergers and Acquisitions Fever Takes Hold of Regional Accounting Firms

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. Continue reading Public Accounting Career Spotlight: Transaction Advisory