Most important attributes, according to young CPAs:
— 74% say good compensation
— 67% say comprehensive resources to get the job done
— 63% say an ethical leadership culture
— 51% say flexible hours
— 49% say support for continuing professional education
Source: 2006 CCH Young Accounting Professionals Survey READ MORE →
How long before a U.S. CPA firm is acquired by an Indian company?
That’s the question we should be asking after considering these two developments:
1) Damian Wild in the UK reports that in November 27,565 students sat for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India’s common proficiency test, its new CA curriculum. More than 18,000 passed. (As a comparison, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales has 9,928 UK students, and the U.S. produces about 50,000 accounting graduates a year. “India often gets overlooked given the current global sinophilia. But with accountancy firms contracting out work there,” Wild says, “accountants cannot afford to.
2) Reliance Gateway Net, VSNL, Scandent and GHCL aren’t household names, but they may be signs of bigger things to come, according to Wharton. They’re just a few of “the growing number” of Indian businesses that have acquired U.S. firms in the past few years. “Over the last decade, Indian firms in various industries — most visibly in information technology but also in areas like auto components, the energy sector and [food products] — have been slowly building up to become emerging multinationals,” says Wharton management professor Saikat Chaudhuri.
The outsourcing phenomenon, in which Western firms have hired Indian companies for call center work and other tasks, has reaped benefits for Indian managers, exposing them to Western companies and management practices and, at the same time, demonstrating to non-Indian firms that India is a reliable source of low-cost, yet high quality, products and services, according to Wharton.
So, we ask: Which U.S. CPA firm will be the first to go global in a deal with an Indian company. Maybe an Indian company that is today an outsourcing provider for a U.S. CPA firm? READ MORE →
Seven steps to unlocking the innovation engine in your office.
Join the Brainstorming Session.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
Does creativity belong in finance and accounting? Or is that a Pandora’s box we’d best leave shut?
If there’s any single lesson to be learned from the year 2006, it’s that creativity is an essential ingredient to success in the finance, accounting and tax profession — if not the essential ingredient. Creativity is the foundation for all innovation, all new ideas. It turns challenges into opportunities. It turns failure into success. But it doesn’t always come naturally. It takes learning and practice. And it’s rarely taught or nurtured well — or consistently. READ MORE →
Strong debuts by corporate finance and wealth spin-offs fuel growth. from AICPA Custom Media Solutions Riding the wave of digital adoption across the media landscape, the AICPA’s Insiderâ„¢ electronic group posted a nearly 40 percent gain in advertising revenue in … Continued
Learn from the mistakes of 258 firms.
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by Rick Telberg
On Careers
Everyone in the finance and accounting business knows how hard it is to recruit and retain good professionals. There just aren’t enough to go around.
But it doesn’t seem to be a problem for Santa Claus. He employs an army of elves (presumably some are CPAs), working year-round for who-knows-what in wages. So why do the elves stay?
You can separate the world into two kinds of places: those who are getting by, and those in crisis or teetering on it. Santa’s workshop goes in one category. Most finance and accounting offices go in the other.
If Santa Claus has a secret, it’s this: His elves work with a sense of shared purpose. But is that enough for CPAs? READ MORE →