WICPA

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WICPA Accounting Careers
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• Speaker name
• Company
• Background
• WICPA member

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About the WICPA

• Mission
• The Wisconsin Institute of CPAs is a professional
  association which strives to serve its members,
  assure the public, and maintain the integrity of
  the accounting profession through the provision
  of continuing education, peer review, and
  community service opportunities involvement in
  the legislative process and communication with
  the public through the print and broadcast media.
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• WICPA membership
• Over 8,000 members
• Builds relationships
• Education opportunities
• Speaking opportunities
• Career opportunities

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Who Are You?
Lets Introduce Ourselves

• Tell us your name
• Why you are interested in accounting?
• What do you plan to do with an accounting degree?

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Fact or Fiction

• You have to be a great math student to be an
  accountant.
• An accounting degree can lead you to a career in
  sports, music or entertainment.
• With an accounting job, you are stuck behind a
  desk all day counting beans.
• CPAs are crime fighters.
• CPAs either work for the IRS or prepare tax
  returns.

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Who Are CPAs?
Certified Public Accountants
Professionals Trusted business advisors Technical
specialists Project managers Analysts decision
makers Strategic thinkers Problem solvers Users
of technology Ethical Team oriented Educators
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Certified Public Accountant

• Licensed by a State Board of Accountancy
• Governed by a Code of Professional Conduct
• Must adhere to technical standards
• Maintain a high level of independence,
  objectivity and integrity

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How to become a CPA?
CPA License Requirements

• Complete 150 semester units
• Minimum degree bachelor
• Pass CPA Exam
• Professional
• work experience

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Career Paths

• Public accounting
• Corporate/industry accounting
• Business entrepreneur
• Government
• Non-profit
• Education/teaching

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Public Accounting

• On the Job

• Whats In It For You?

• Internships
• Challenging rewarding work
• Numerous career paths
• Broad industry exposure
• Global assignments
• Continuous learning
• Performance based salary
• Competitive benefits
• Working with talented people
• Diverse workforce
• Work/Life balance

• Reviewing financial statements
• Assessing risk
• Testing systems
• Evaluating assets
• Tax planning
• Performance measurement
• Analyzing operations
• Financial planning
• Benchmarking
• Teaching/researching

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Corporate / Industry Accounting

• Work for a company (Small to Large)
• Roles include
• Prepare financial statements
• Manage company financing and investing activities
• Audit internal financial / operating systems
• Analyze and report on financial and non-financial
  data
• Identify ways to improve financial performance
• Assess tax requirements and alternatives
• Rise to top level management
• CEO
• CFO
• Controller
• Directors of divisions

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Business Entrepreneur
Countless opportunities what you make of
it! High Risk High Reward
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Government Opportunities

• Federal (FBI, IRS, Treasury, General Accounting
  Office)
• Investigating white-collar crime
• Conducting financial statement audits
• Performing analysis research
• Dealing with tax legislation
• State Local (School districts, DFI, DOR)
• Conduct audits
• Compile financial statements
• Deal with state tax legislation

• Audits at All Levels of Government (FDIC, OCC,
  SEC, Internal)
• Performance (evaluate an organizations
  operations)
• Financial (examine financial statement)
• Compliance (id deviations from laws/regs)
• Investigative (investigate improper activities)

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Non-Profit

• Perform cost benefit analysis Are expenses
  exceeding revenues?
• Advise on budgeting tax matters
• Prepare financial data to aid in raising
  disbursing funds
• Setup internal control process
• Find fraud

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• Typical Career Track

Education

• Assistant (0-6 years)
• Associate (with tenure in 7th year)
• Full professor (10-12 years)

• Accounting Faculty

• Teach
• Conduct research
• Publish articles/books
• Serve as business consultants experts

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So Which Path is Right for You?
Networking

• Think about what you want from a career
• Talk to family, friends, teachers, and
  accountants
• Get involved with school organizations
• Consider an internship and/or job shadow

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Were In Demand!

• Aging Population Needs Financial Advice
  Protection
• The Census Bureau says that an American turns 65
  years old every 13 seconds and that some 10,000
  boomers retire every day.
• Its estimated that 70 million people will be 65
  or older by 2030 nearly doubling the 34 million
  today (2011).
• For every three people leaving (retiring from
  financial services businesses) theres only one
  to take their place right now. CNBC August
  2011
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 22
  growth in accounting and auditing jobs in the
  decade between 2008 2018 especially CPAs and
  graduates with masters degrees. AICPA May 2011

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Benefits to You
Accounting Career

• Demand is good
• Very challenging
• People oriented profession
• Highly respected
• Income potential
• Job satisfaction
• Unlimited opportunities

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Preparation for H.S. Students

• Choose Relevant Courses
• Accounting
• Computer Applications
• Economics
• Written Communications
• Oral Communications
• Research apply to colleges universities
• Visit an accounting practice
• Speak to a WICPA member
• Participate in a job shadow program

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Where to Obtain More Information
Resources

• WICPA
• AICPA
• Accounting firms
• High school
• Colleges universities
• State boards of accountancy
• Internet
• Career centers fairs

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WICPA Where to Find Us?

• Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public
  Accountants
• 235 North Executive Drive, Suite 200
• Brookfield, WI 53005
• Tel [phone]
• [phone]
• www.wicpa.org

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Thank you! We hope to see you as a WICPA member
soon.
www.wicpa.org