Oh, the Places You'll Go! CPA's Today Have Career Options Even They Never Envisioned 100 Years Ago
2005; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Volume: 200; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0021-8448
Autores Tópico(s)Accounting Education and Careers
ResumoIf a census of business houses could be taken, it would probably be discovered that 90% of the business men of the United States have never employed a public accountant and have no idea that such a man could be of any service to them except possibly in case of liquidation or bankruptcy. That was the rather grim view of opportunities for CPAs 95 years ago in a September 1910 Journal of Accountancy editorial. Yet, less than two years later, in April 1912, the profession's prospects already had improved. More and more as time goes on the accountant is being consulted, and his advice adopted in the general control of business undertakings, the JofA editors wrote. is beginning to be looked upon as a business physician and his work is extending far and wide in fields which a few years ago would have been held outside his legitimate sphere of action. During the JofA's first century, the profession truly has advanced by leaps and bounds. Armed with college degrees, the CPA credential and myriad professional competencies, accountants have expanded their horizons into a wide variety of fields that reach well beyond the public accounting firms they worked in when this magazine began publishing. Here is a selection of profiles of CPAs who are using their accounting skills in ways never envisioned in the JofA's early days. A VOICE IN WASHINGTON Today's elected officials come from all walks of life--including the accounting profession. In the halls of Congress, colleagues in government regularly seek out Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) with accounting-related questions. I have credibility on these issues because I'm a CPA, says Peterson, who represents Minnesota's 7th congressional district. He has found many ways to share his expertise, such as attending FASB meetings in an advisory capacity or helping fellow members of Congress in understanding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other issues with accounting implications. Colleagues who are aware of my background seek me out to explain Sarbanes-Oxley, budget procedures, pension reserves and the like, he says. One of five CPAs in Congress, Peterson says having a CPA background also was a benefit in running for office: It helped me understand numbers, finances and the business end of campaigning. And working with local businesses gave him credibility with that important constituency. Peterson kept his CPA practice in Detroit Lakes, Minn., going during his 10 years in the Minnesota state senate, where he was chair of the state pension commission. But he gave it up when he was elected to Congress in 1990. (Members of Congress cannot be partners in accounting firms that have fiduciary responsibilities.) He still belongs to the Minnesota Society of CPAs, although he is licensed as an inactive member. I care about the profession and want to support it, he says. I believe in what it does. INTERNAL CONTROLS IN LAS VEGAS As executive director of internal audit for the Las Vegas Sands Corp., operator of the Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas and other properties, Patricia Bowen is on the front lines of the profession's enhanced role in internal control. Her duties include interviewing and observing casino personnel to verify controls and procedures in gaming areas and count rooms, as well as auditing for compliance with the Minimum Internal Control Standards of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and her company's own procedures. She also tests anti-money-laundering programs and reviews controls over sensitive gaming-related access keys, examines controls over cards and dice and verifies slot machine programs, meters and pay tables. Bowen audited her first casino during her early years in public accounting. The industry's dependence on internal controls, which she found interesting, led her to jobs with some of the most famous names in gambling: the Prima Donna, later bought by MGM, Bally Gaming Inc., the Desert Inn and the Venetian. …
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