Wanted: CPAs

Accountants are now a hot commodity in the business world

By Don Harris

It’s a great time to be a certified public accountant. Triggered by high profile business failures such as Enron and WorldCom, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is having a dual impact on an unprecedented need for top-flight accountants. On one hand, businesses are hiring accountants to make sure they comply with the law, while on the other, accounting firms are expanding because of an increased workload.

Sarbanes-Oxley introduced stringent new rules to “protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures.” Named after its main sponsors, former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., and Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, the act has done a lot more than that.
Cindie Hubiak, president and CEO of the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants, says there is a tremendous demand for accountants.

“The greatest demand is in accounting firms and other organizations, including local sports teams, manufacturers and government at all levels,” she says.

The good news, Hubiak says, is that the number of accounting degrees nationally increased by 19 percent between 2000 and 2005. Arizona State University, for example, graduates about 170 accountants in its undergraduate program.

But Charles Christian, director of the ASU School of Accountancy, says that figure is not as relevant as the number of students who graduate from the master’s program with 150 credit hours and have met the educational requirement to become a CPA. In addition, a student needs to pass a uniform CPA exam and have one year of experience in the profession.

Christian says the master’s program has been growing in recent years, with 75 students taking the courses this year. That compares to 42 master’s degrees in 2003-04.

Was Sarbanes-Oxley a welcome act?

“That depends on who you talk to,” Hubiak says, “Some people believe too much regulation puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage against the rest of the world. There is a concern among the CPA community that the cost benefit needs to be continually evaluated. The extra work required by the act costs companies a lot of money. Many CPAs want to make sure that Congress understands the cost of the added regulations to make sure there is benefit there.”

To help meet the shortage of accountants, Hubiak says her organization has an education foundation that offers $60,000 in scholarships to encourage high school and college students to consider entering the accounting field. Starting salaries range from $40,000 to $50,000 a year.

“There is definitely a shortage in Arizona,” Hubiak says.

Christian says Sarbanes-Oxley in 5 1/2 years has had a large impact on the practice of auditing for public accountants, especially those who audit public companies that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The impact has been a shift in authority of standard-setters for auditing,” he says, citing the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a creation of the federal act. “Even though PCAOB is a quasi-governmental agency, it issues the audit standards that companies must apply when performing a financial audit. Many of the standards issued must be approved by Securities and Exchange Commission, and some have already been changed. The bottom line is, Sarbanes-Oxley has had a revolutionary impact on the practice of auditing by CPAs who audit public companies.”

Major public companies have systems in place to ensure that they are using the appropriate accounting methods to account for their transactions, Christian says, adding that the shortage of accountants has become more acute since Sarbanes-Oxley.

“My general comment,” he says, “is that the impact has been positive on the auditing profession, and that’s a lot of what Sarbanes-Oxley is all about.”

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