From Zero to Auditor in 3 Days | Gear Up For Growth

The immersive experience transforms recruiting from a guessing game into a hands-on, culture-rich audition.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

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The Audit 500 benefits future recruits and has become a professional development opportunity for current staff. Employees with just a year of experience serve as mentors, gaining valuable leadership exposure as they guide students through the audit process.

Sponsored by “It’s Not Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver Real Value for Your Clients”

by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead – See Today’s Special Offer

“That’s a win-win,” says Zadorian. “We’re assessing interpersonal and technical skills, and our staff is practicing real-world management in a supportive environment.” 

The program also delivers a powerful return on investment. In January 2024, JLK Rosenberger spent just $1,640 to run the event, resulting in two full-time hires, compared to the $18,000–$20,000 typically spent per hire through traditional recruiters. 

But perhaps the most surprising outcome has been the emotional and career-defining impact the program has had on participants. 

“I didn’t realize that this would become a career decision-making program,” Zadorian shares. “By the end of the third day, students often say, ‘Now I know I want to be in audit,’ or, just as importantly, ‘I’ve realized tax is the better path for me.’” 

She added that even working parents and non-traditional students have found confidence and inspiration through the immersive experience. 

Marketing Director JoLayna Arndt, who named and helped brand the Audit 500, believes the program’s success stems from its originality. “It’s different. It’s not just another leadership camp. It’s a truly unique experience that sets us apart,” she says. 

With growing attendance and expansion into new markets, Audit 500 is proving that innovative thinking, authentic engagement, and meaningful experiences can transform recruitment and the lives of future CPAs.  

13 Key Takeaways

1. Audit 500 bridges the gap between the classroom and practice. The three-day simulation gives accounting students a realistic, hands-on auditing experience—something they don’t get from a college audit course. Students work on simulated audit sections such as cash, fixed assets, and liabilities, interact with a mock CFO, and collaborate with firm staff as part of a true engagement team.
2. The event allows JLK Rosenberger to evaluate students’ technical, interpersonal, and teamwork skills more authentically than traditional interviews.
3. Junior staff gain leadership experience by mentoring participants, effectively “senior-ing” for the first time.
4. The January 2024 program cost $1,640, resulting in two full-time hires, compared to $18,000–$20,000 per hire through traditional recruiters.
5. Long-term fit improves because the firm and the students have multiple days to assess whether the culture and work style match.
6. Many participants use the program to decide between audit and tax, discovering which career path suits their personality and skills.
7. Even non-traditional students and working parents have gained confidence and clarity through the program.
8. The name “Audit 500,” inspired by the Indy 500, reflects the program’s fast pace and competitive edge.
9. Targeted marketing—including university-specific landing pages, QR codes at recruiting events, and professor endorsements—has fueled growing participation.
10. The program’s success depends on strong internal collaboration, partner buy-in, and willingness to invest time in development.
11. Marketing and recruiting teams work hand-in-hand, leveraging on-campus presence and digital follow-up to attract participants.
12. Audit 500 is growing beyond its original offices, including Dallas, with plans for further expansion.
13. The format is adaptable, with condensed versions for classroom presentations to spark broader interest.

More About JoLayna Arndt
With 18 years in accounting marketing, JoLayna Arndt has earned a reputation as both a strategic thinker and a dependable “doer,” thanks to her strong organizational and communication skills. She has led firmwide rebranding initiatives, launched new websites, and driven consistent revenue growth in her firm’s top niches. Arndt is a two-time recipient of the Association for Accounting Marketing’s Marketing Achievement Award (AAM-MAA) for her success in generating growth through creative and effective marketing strategies. She serves as the North America Marketing Chair for PKF Global and sits on the Association for Accounting Marketing Board of Directors.

More About Ani Zadorian
Ani Zadorian has over 15 years of public accounting experience, including audits of insurance companies. Minimizing the drawn-out, painful audit process has made Ani a client favorite.?She leads the firm’s on-campus professional recruiting program and JLK Rosenberger’s three-day workshop, Audit 500. Zadorian also launched and champions the firm’s women’s initiative program known as WomenLead.?Zadorian was a recipient of the Glendale Education Foundation’s Hope Diamond Award, recognized as a Rising Star by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s Women’s Council, and a finalist for CalCPA’s Women to Watch.

Transcript
(Produced by automation. Not edited for spelling or grammar.)

Jean: Hello. Thank you for joining “Gear Up for Growth,” powered by CPA Trendlines. I’m Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing, and your host. I am delighted to introduce our two guests for this episode, JoLayna Arndt, marketing director, and Ani Zadorian, partner, at JLK Rosenberger LLP. Ani and JoLayna are creators of their firm’s Audit 500 event, which won the AAM-MAA award for events with a budget below $24,999, at the recent Association for Accounting Marketing Summit. JoLayna and Ani, welcome to “Gear up for Growth.” 

Ani: Thank you, Jean. Thanks for the intro. 

Jean: Well, I’m excited to get into this, because we all know what an issue talent is these days for CPA firms. And every firm has some sort of recruiting program, to continue to fill the pipeline. But you came up with a very creative idea to approach this differently. So, Ani, I’m gonna ask you first, what was the motivation behind the creation of Audit 500? Like, did something in particular happen, or…what prompted you to come up with this idea? 

Ani: Yeah. Well, I did go through the recruiting process myself, and I remember, you know, through, going through and Meet the Firms, and meeting different firms, and the question that I would always get is “do you wanna be in tax or audit?” And, you know, as a student, as a college student, I knew what a tax return looked like, because I had my own tax return to file, but I [inaudible 00:01:51] had a visual of, you know, what does an audit look like? How does it, you know, how is it in practice in real life? I mean, we learned the theory in school, and, you know, the concepts in our audit class, which was one audit class, but we didn’t really see it in practice. So, when I joined JLK Rosenberger, I thought, hey, wouldn’t it be great to bridge this void, or, you know, where we can invite students, and use it as an opportunity to teach and fill this gap that, you know, maybe we don’t learn in college and university, but also use it as a recruiting tool. And so, I, you know, collaborated with JoLayna, to determine, you know, a good name, a good marketing approach for this program. And then what we did is we started…as we went to recruiting events, like Meet the Firms, we would collect resumes, and then we would, initially was by invitation only. So, we would invite students to join us at our offices. Generally we would get about, I mean, right now the participation has grown, but we would get about 8 to 10 people, or students.  

Jean: Let me interrupt you there for a second, because I’ve got lots of questions to ask you. So, let me just take a step back for a second. JoLayna, when Ani brought this idea to you, what was your initial reaction about that? And how did you start developing the program? 

JoLayna: Well, I love working with Ani. So, whenever she comes to me with an idea, we work together to make it even better. So, my recollection…we’ll see if Ani has the same recollection. I remember her coming to me and saying, “We need an invitation. We’re gonna do this program.” And I said, “Well, can we name it something cool?” Can we, you know, what are we gonna name it? And she was like, “Oh, I don’t know.” So, we just, I’m getting the details for the invitation, and I’m like, all the details aren’t here. So, she said, “Yeah. Name it something… Yeah. Let’s do that.” So, I put a little bit of thought into it, maybe overnight or something, and I called her the next morning and I said, “I’ve got these three different ideas. Which one do you like better?” And the “Audit 500” was the one that she liked. So we just ran with that. So, that’s how it started. Ani did the majority of the work. It was her brainchild to bring it to the firm, saying, I see this, you know, other firms are just doing leadership camps, or, I guess they don’t call them camp. Maybe I’m just in summer camp mode, but… So, she said, “This is something different. I wanna do something different.” And so I said, “How different?” She said, “Different.” So, that’s why we went with the “Audit 500,” not just “Learn How to Audit,” or “Audit Academy” or something like that. We tried to make it something different. 

Jean: Right. So, give us some info behind the Audit 500, because I know that was part of the branding of it. So, I guess, first, Ani, what spoke to you about Audit 500 versus the other two that JoLayna gave you? 

Ani: Okay. So, the program is very fast-paced. And so she said, “Hey, you know, this kind of reminds me of the Indy 500.” And I was like, “Oh, I like that,” because it is. It’s like, you know, we wanna…we had all other, you know, I guess, slogans, to where we said “fueling your future” and all that, so it kind of, all, this name kind of, you know, holds those, I guess, branding. So, yeah. It is a fast-paced program, but the students get a lot out of it in a very short period of time, so the name fit very, it was very appropriate. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. So, what kind of students are you getting or attracting into this program? Do they have things in common? 

Ani: So, most of them are accounting students. They haven’t…either they’ve decided that they’re gonna go into tax or audit, and maybe they haven’t decided what they’re gonna pursue. They’re generally juniors or seniors in university. And sometimes we get the sophomores as well. But yeah, most of them just come to get the exposure, just to understand what it means to be an auditor. Not just at our firm but, like, you know, learning about our culture, but any other firm, what does it entail to be an auditor, or an audit associate? And so… 

Jean: Right. 

Ani: …we expose them to that. Yeah. 

Jean: Right. Because you mentioned earlier, you know, in school, you don’t get that practical information, you know, or experience of what it’s like to perform an audit. So, this is filling that gap. 

Ani: Yes. 

Jean: So, how do you manage to do that, just to, over three days’ time, simulate an audit? 

Ani: Yeah. It’s a lot of hard work for them, but they enjoy it. So, we start off the first day… It’s over three days, like I said. The first day, we’ll cover, you know, some of the planning of an audit. And then we’ll look at… We usually pick three sections in an audit. We do cash, cash testing, fixed assets, and we’ll do, like, liability testing, things that are, would be expected of a first-year associate, at any firm. Okay? So, those are the areas that are gonna be audited. We’ve created an entity that roasts coffee beans, because, at our firm, we love coffee bean. We love coffee. Any type of coffee. So we created an entity that roasts coffee beans. We came up with really, you know, fun names for vendors and customers, and, so, you know, just to keep things interesting, and… So, we simulated each area. And they get it hands-on. We do give them laptops. They’re paired up. So we also assess their teamwork, you know, how they’re able to do, or collaborate together. And then we have our staff also participates in that they are the, they become, like, the seniors, or managers. So, just the same way you would see an engagement team in real life, that’s how we set it up for them. And so they get to work with our staff as well. And what that does is, I mean, not only do we get to gauge and learn about their technical skills, or their Excel skills, but they get to see our culture, and the people in our firm, and to see, like, would we, you know, would they fit in with us? Would they enjoy working, you know, in this environment, at our office? So… 

Jean: Right. So, what I’m hearing is at least two things, just from what you were saying. So, you can evaluate whether these students would be a good fit for your firm, because they do… They’re simulating how they’re gonna work, so they’re not changing their personalities or anything like that. And you’re also giving your own team an opportunity to perhaps perform at a level above where they are in the firm, so you’re giving them experience of managing people, which they may not have had an opportunity to do yet. Would that be fair? 

Ani: I think that, you, yes, that’s absolutely correct. I have, usually, staff that, maybe they’ve only had one year of busy season under their belt. And I always invite them to participate, and basically what you just said, for them to senior, you know, practice senioring the staff. Yeah. 

Jean: Right. Right. So, that’s a two-part, I mean, that’s a win-win for everybody. Right? I mean, even though it’s a lot of work, I mean, you’re really covering all the bases there. So, how… I don’t want to get too much into the nitty gritty, because of the simulating all that stuff, but are you seeing different personality types or skills that you might not have discovered by interviewing them like you normally do? 

Ani: Yes. Okay. So, let me… A couple of things about the program. So, the other thing we simulate is we make it so that they feel like they’re actually interacting with a client. So, I have one of our managers, they will be the controller or the CFO of this entity. And one of the skills we assess is their communication skills. How do they approach this client and ask questions? Are they prepared? And it’s my favorite part, and I love watching students go in there. Maybe they’re unprepared, and then they come back and they realize, something goes on, the light bulb goes on, and they’re like, “Oh, I gotta be more prepared. I gotta take notes, I gotta take my notebook with me,” you know. So, it’s great. I love watching that. The other thing is, after the last day… It’s a lot of work. The students do a lot of work, and they feel it. Like, second day is very stressful, because there’s a lot to be done. But by the end of the third day, when they see the final product, which is the financial statements they produce, the light bulb goes on for some of them. They either decide that they’re gonna stay in audit, or they’re gonna exit and go into tax. And I’ve had many students say that to me, like, “This has been so helpful, because now I can comfortably make the decision of what my career path should be.” 

Jean: Right. Because tax is a whole lot less stressful than being an auditor? 

Ani: No, but I feel like… 

Jean: I’m being totally sarcastic here. [crosstalk 00:12:01] 

Ani: I know, I know. yeah. But some of them are very much introverts, and they don’t wanna have that client interaction. They wanna be at their desk, you know, preparing tax returns, you know, minimum interactions with clients. And some of them realize that, hey, auditing is more engaging. You know, it’s not just at your desk, you know, [inaudible 00:12:26] You have to be able to work in a team, all the time, and be able to communicate with clients. So, yeah. So, I really love… At the end of our program, I generally do, like, a survey at the end, like, a informal survey. I ask them, you know, what they thought about the program, get their insights, so that we can continue improving them. The other thing I like to do is have them bring their resumes, to just use us as a resource to assess their resumes. So, we help them with that at the end of the day too. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. So, JoLayna, so you came up with the name and the branding. Can you talk to us a bit about just how, then, you promoted this program, to get the students to participate? 

JoLayna: Yeah. So, we participate in Meet the Firms, and we’ve chosen a few universities, by office, to focus on. Rather than, you know, 8 or 10, we attend 2 or 3 Meet the Firms per office. 

Jean: Okay. 

JoLayna: And, so, what we did is we created… So, well, let me back up a little bit. We have collateral, and the focus of a lot of our conversations with students is the Audit 500. Come to the Audit 500. And so, our collateral has a QR code, and by university, it has a special landing page on our website just for them. So, it says, “Welcome Matadors,” or… I’m trying to think of their mascots. 

Jean: Right. 

JoLayna: Ani, [crosstalk 00:14:06] Northridge’s mascot. 

Ani: Matadors. Yeah. [crosstalk 00:14:10] 

JoLayna: Matadors. Yeah. Okay. That’s it. [crosstalk 00:14:13] I try to keep track of them. But it’s a very individualized page for them, and they can apply… It’s not an application anymore, that, where it’s just invite-only, but they can just sign up. Register, I guess is the right word, for the Audit 500. 

Jean: Okay. Okay. 

JoLayna: So, we start it, really, at Meet the Firms, and then it goes through the process. And we’ve tried to make the Audit 500 a focus of our auditing recruitment, but it’s not just for auditing, because some people, as Ani said, they attend whether they’re thinking audit or tax. It helps them decide whether they like one or the other. 

Jean: Right. 

JoLayna: I even [crosstalk 00:14:50] my nephew attend. He was in an accounting program, and he was trying to decide between audit and tax. And I said, “Oh, I can get you in. Don’t worry.” So, he attended. And he chose auditing. He really liked the program. He said it was difficult. I mean, I’m his aunt, so he’s telling me this, you know [crosstalk 00:15:11] the aunt version of things, but he really [crosstalk 00:15:15] the program. He came from out of state, flew there, had a great experience. So, his was a little bit of a different recruitment. But Ani, would you say that’s right? That we start from Meet the Firms, and then we just push it through, and then the recruiting… We do get applicants who don’t attend the Audit 500, for sure, but really like them to go through that whole process. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. 

Ani: Yeah. So… 

Jean: But you’re inviting them, is that right? So, they’re not… So, did you start with, “Hey, fill it out and you can come,” and now you’re more specific? 

Ani: So initially, we, because we didn’t know how popular the program would be, and we wanted to be selective, the students we like, that we met at Meet the Firms, to attend. So, initially, it was invitation. By invitation. 

Jean: Okay. 

Ani: And we would, after we attend Meet the Firms, we would select the students we like, and personally invite them to attend. But now it’s a different format. Like JoLayna said, we have established, like, a registration page… 

Jean: Okay. 

Ani: …because it’s gained a lot of popularity. And, for me, I wanna serve the rest of the student community, you know. And, because I just feel like it benefits them. And so, now it’s a registration process. 

Jean: Okay. 

Ani: The other thing I’ve done in the past is attend… I’ve asked the professors of a master’s in accounting class, and I’ve attended their class, and we’ve kind of shortened the Audit 500 to, like, two hours, to, three days, and shortened it to two hours, and we presented… 

Jean: Oh, gosh. 

Ani: …to that group, so that the professors are aware of what we’re teaching in this class. And then I’ve also, you know, communicated the program to the professors at the universities, so they do encourage students to sign up. And sometimes I get resumes that come across my desk, and I’ll see that Audit 500 is part of the extracurricular, or credentials that they put on there, just like VITA, you know? 

Jean: Mm-hmm. 

Ani: They put JLKR Audit 500 on there, to show that they have some experience. 

Jean: That is awesome. Talk about promotion or branding, JoLayna, right? I mean, they’re really… Yeah, I was gonna ask you about the participation of the professors. I read that as part of your submission, that you were kind enough to send, that… So, would you say that some of these professors are really endorsing Audit 500, and for the students to participate? 

Ani: Yes, because we’ve had some students, you know, we’ve asked them, “How did you hear about us?” And they would say, “Oh, our professor said they have, JLKR has a good program. You should go and participate in this.” And that’s how they found out and registered on our website. 

Jean: Right. Well, I think that’s fantastic on every level, because, you know, I don’t know how it is these days, but back in the day, these professors would basically tell their students, you know, “you need to go to work for,” what was at the time, you know, the Big Eight, or the Big Six, and now the Big Four. So, the fact that some professors are endorsing and promoting your program, at a local firm, what’s what I wanna say about that? I wanna say that some of these professors are pretty smart because they realize that there are places to work that are not Big Four, where they could have very successful careers, and they could learn, and perhaps even get more experience at an earlier stage in your careers than those who decide to go to a Big Four, who wind up doing the same job 10 hours a day, for all the days that they’re there. 

Ani: Yeah. Yeah. 

Jean: I think it’s…yeah. So, that [inaudible 00:19:14] so, one of the things, you know, listeners, you know, our viewers, developing those relationships with those professors is really important because it sounds like they play a fairly big role in getting students to participate, or at least informing them that it exists. So, let’s talk some numbers. Now, so, how many times have you done this Audit 500? Because I think I read, has it been three times now? 

JoLayna: It’s… We reinvigorated it post… So, we, it kind of fell… We start…when did we start this, Ani? 

Ani: I’m gonna say either 2015, I wanna say, because that’s when I started with the firm. 

Jean: Okay. 

Ani: And [crosstalk 00:20:02] Yeah. The first year I started with the firm, we did it in the summertime. So, we only used to host it during the summertime, because it was a summer break for the students. I didn’t wanna conflict with, you know, their school schedule. So we generally had it during the summertime. Now we have a winter session as well. So, yeah, I would say 2015, and then in 2020, we stopped because of the pandemic. I think we even tried one year to do it over Zoom, but it’s not the same, you know? And then, yeah, we… 

JoLayna: Then we revitalized it with… And marketing [inaudible 00:20:46] that’s when we started doing landing pages. That’s when we started really promoting it, and having, seeing the numbers grow. And it was good timing, because the talent shortage, we weren’t experiencing it in 2015 like we were in 2022, 2024… 

Jean: Right. Right. 

JoLayna: …so, this has been [crosstalk 00:21:07] but we had a hard time getting it revitalized post-pandemic. It was really hard to get an in-person event…for students to want to attend an in-person event. So, we started…that’s where marketing started to play a bigger role in promoting Audit 500. So, we helped with the naming in the beginning, but it kind of, you know, fell… It didn’t really fall by the wayside. We just had to cancel. We didn’t have interest in…we didn’t have interest [crosstalk 00:21:36] 

Jean: Right. 

JoLayna: …numbers weren’t there. So, we started…my, Jen Luker, who works with me, did such a great job of… We would collect email addresses at Meet the Firms, and then we would email students afterwards. Everyone who visited the booth, we would email them, with a link to their special, you know, to their specific college, university’s, web landing page, and then they could register for the Audit 500. And so we saw, the program just changed because of the attendance that we were able to drive through marketing’s role in just putting it in front of students, putting it in front… Ani did a great job getting it in front of professors. Where marketing played a role is getting it in front of students who visited the booth, and telling them more about it. Because you don’t have time at Meet the Firm to talk to everybody. And you do talk to them, but you don’t explain everything that we have to offer. But that’s where we saw the Audit 500 change, is when we got really involved with… Marketing has always helped, but not in this way, not driving attendance. 

Jean: Right, right. Because a lot of people, during the pandemic, got used to sitting at home, right, and doing whatever they needed to do, sitting on the couch, you know, or wherever they decided, you know, to plant their laptop. And we learned that we can do a lot of things online, but like you were saying earlier, to do a program or an event like this virtually, I would say you can’t replicate most of what you’re trying to accomplish with an in-person event. So, it really does need to be in-person. 

JoLayna: Yeah. So, that’s the submission that we gave, is once we revitalized the program and changed it… Well, we didn’t really change it. We were able to revitalize it, and just get better attendance… Get [crosstalk 00:23:31] 

Jean: Yep. Yep. So, the ROI on this is, you know, I mentioned earlier, for the AAMS, you know, there’s different categories, and one of the categories for the events is, you know, below $24,999. Right? And in your submission, the cost of the program that you ran in January of 2024, you said was $1,640. And that must have been lunch, or, like, whatever it was, for that amount of money. And for you to recruit, so that, and tell me if I’m getting this right, two of your 2024 hires came from Audit 500, at an expense to the program of $1,640, where you’d usually be paying recruiters between $18,000 and $20,000 to recruit a staff for you. So, clearly, you know, let’s do the math. That’s huge ROI. And just, like, really thinking, like, really using creativity, and solving a lot of challenges. 

Ani: Yeah. So, I mean, aside, you know, paying recruiters, even if we put the effort in, and hired, you know, just did the traditional interviewing, you don’t learn, you know, people skills, or their interpersonal skills, like you do in this program. And over three days, we learn so much from these students. They become so comfortable. They, you know, enjoy… We have lunch together. We, you know, have coffee breaks together. We have the small talk, or we share, like, personal stories, and you don’t get that from an interview, in a traditional [crosstalk 00:25:16] 

Jean: Right. 

Ani: So, that really, really helps us, you know, recruit or pick students that we think would fit really well with our firm, and with our culture. 

Jean: Right. Right. 

JoLayna: And also, they pick us. I mean, we might not be the right fit for [crosstalk 00:25:33] So, you know, they’re interviewing us over those three days. You know, do they like our culture? Do they like the office environment? Do they like our people? And I think that’s why, long-term, we think we will have better hires, not just that first year, not just more hires, but long-term, there’ll be a better fit for the firm. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. Now, I believe I read that for 2025, you have 34 confirmed participants. So, this is something that you’re doing in 2025. How many folks, how many students are normally there in a group? Do you limit that? 

Ani: Okay. If we see it’s, by popular, if very popular, we do have facilities we can, you know, I’m not gonna turn away students. Again, I feel like it’s such a great learning experience, and we would want them here. But generally, if we were to hold it in our conference rooms, we would have anywhere from 12 to 18 students. 

Jean: Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Ani: We did expand the program into our Dallas office, so we’re looking to expand and recruit from there. And so the number of Dallas participants is starting to grow, and word is getting out about the program [crosstalk 00:26:49] 

Jean: Wonderful. Wonderful. So, if viewers or listeners are thinking, “Wow, this sounds like a great program. You know, we should create something like this for our firm…” So, I’d love feedback from each of you. Either what are the factors that need to be in place for this event to be successful, or what’s the biggest challenge that they would face in trying to create a similar event? 

Ani: Okay. I think the biggest challenge would be time, right? Coming up with the program, and, like, the first and second year, I spent a lot of time developing it. And now we continue to use it and refine it. But initially, when you start up any type of initiative, I think the time is probably the most challenging part. And then getting buy-in, right? You need to get… Well, I was very, very lucky to get the buy-in of our partners at our firm. And they even promote the program. So, I think that’s very important for it to be successful. 

Jean: Right. Right. Absolutely. Well, because if it’s gonna help get them people who could work on their clients, right, who would not support that? Right? JoLayna? 

JoLayna: Well, I think, from the marketing perspective, well, I mean, I always view it from a marketing lens, but, you know, almost every firm has something that they offer to students. And so I think that one of the biggest challenges is how is yours different? Is it another leadership academy? Which, I’m not saying that that’s not a good idea. But where we’ve had success is that ours is different. In our markets, no one else is doing this. And I haven’t heard of anyone else doing it across the country, not that they’re not. But it was, Ani’s idea was so unique that it was just so easy to brand, and to get students to attend. And then to get professors on board, because it’s not just leadership. It’s, “do you wanna learn how to audit?” Do you want… JLK Rosenberger will help you make that decision between audit and tax. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. 

JoLayna: JLK Rosenberger has a unique program, that you should attend, right? Those are the kind of things that are being said about us on campus. And I’ve worked for other firms. That’s not easily achieved. You probably know that, Jean. That’s, I mean, it’s not easily achieved to have something that a professor says you should attend. 

Jean: Right, right. Absolutely. Okay. So, I think this is my last question. What surprised you the most during the process of Audit 500? So, that could be feedback you’ve gotten from participants, or how your internal people reacted to it. But what surprised you the most? 

Ani: I think I mentioned this, Jean, earlier. I didn’t realize that at the end of the program that this was gonna be a career decision-making program. And so, at the end, when students realize if they wanna be in audit or tax, that surprised me. I didn’t realize the impact that it would have in their decision. So, yeah, that was the biggest… I still remember the first time, the first session we had, and students talking about it, like, you know, “you’ve really helped me solidify my decision about staying in tax, or changing into audit, and, or building confidence that I can do an audit.” I’ve had, you know, working moms in here, thinking they can’t do audits. And then, at the end of the program, they’re like, “wow.” Like, even just meeting us, meeting people that do this in real life and practice, you know, being a mom myself, it’s kind of an inspiration for them. So, those are really touching stories for me, personally. 

Jean: Right. 

Ani: And so that has been very surprising and gratifying for me. 

Jean: I was just gonna say, that has to be really rewarding, because you’re helping them make a life decision, you know, in effect, and getting them on that right track earlier than they would have without that, without Audit 500. Yeah. JoLayna, what surprised you? 

JoLayna: Nothing. I’m kidding. I, really… There… 

Jean: You knew it all, right from the beginning, huh? Beginning to end, no surprises. 

JoLayna: [crosstalk 00:31:32] awesome. I really do… I’ve worked with Ani on different aspects and different programs within the firm. And there are different partners and managers and seniors, and just people within our firm, that when we work together, we just bring out the best in each other, and then we create really great stuff together. So, I’m not surprised that we created something like this. That’s kind of what I expect from us when we get our [crosstalk 00:32:04] together. We think of things that aren’t the usual. And they’re professional. But I was surprised, and this is why we ended up submitting it to, for an AAM-MAA, was the popularity, and how… I think…I’m never surprised that when you work together, you get good results, but I was surprised that when we did work together, that we achieved these results. Like, the numbers were really impressive, especially because it had not been as… We were struggling to get… I mean, the talent shortage was difficult. We were experiencing it. We kinda, ours was a little delayed. If we weren’t experiencing it during 2020 and 2021, ours hit a little later than that. And so it was just really rewarding, and somewhat surprising, that when we put more time and muscle into it, that we were able to achieve the numbers and the results that we did. 

Jean: Mm-hmm. Well, I think that’s the perfect spot for us to end this episode. Again, congrats for the award. And I know that’s really kind of just, like, the cherry on the top, because of the impact it’s had on your firm, right, and recruiting and staffing and hiring, and everything that we’ve been talking about today. 

So, I’ve been speaking with JoLayna Arndt, marketing director, and Ani Zadorian, partner, at JLK Rosenberger, LLP. Thank you, ladies, for sharing your Audit 500 event with us. It’s been fantastic. 

Posted on August 8, 2025