For grads, accounting degrees add up in any economy

ADDING UP: William Piccerelli, partner at Piccerelli, Gilstein & Co., says he has hired seven or eight accountants in the past year. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE
ADDING UP: William Piccerelli, partner at Piccerelli, Gilstein & Co., says he has hired seven or eight accountants in the past year. / PBN PHOTO/DAVID LEVESQUE

Taxes are one of life’s few guarantees and for at least one segment of the job market, that’s a very good thing.
“Even when the economy has gone through a difficult period, there is always a need for accountants,” said Richard Kaplan, managing partner of Yarlas, Kaplan, Santilli, Moran, a tax, accounting and business consulting firm in Providence. “The opportunities are there and it’s a good field.”
It’s also the top job-producing major for today’s college graduates.
In its class of 2012 student survey report, the National Association of Colleges and Employers said accounting majors were the most likely to get job offers, besting even engineering and computer science majors, with 68 percent of responding accounting majors receiving job offers after graduation.
It also reported that accountants suffer just a 4.1 percent unemployment rate, compared with the national average of about 8 percent.
In a separate report, the 2012 salary survey, the association reported graduates with accounting degrees earned an average salary of $50,400, 1.8 percent greater than the 2011 total.
The R.I. Department of Labor and Training in 2008 predicted accountants and auditors would be one of the state’s “hot jobs” from that year through 2018, with job openings growing by 15.8 percent over the decade and workers in those sectors earning an average salary of $65,395.
Local accounting firms say their own businesses just kept growing in the down economy the past few years and continue to do so in a state that is still struggling to recover from recession.
“We’re seeing companies from all levels, whether small or large, private or public, companies that really are looking for new market segments are the ones that are hiring,” said Sarah Pontarelli, branch manager of the Providence office of Robert Half International, a staffing firm that specializes in accounting, finance, legal and technology positions. “Recruiting at an entry level is not [unheard of] to make sure talent has the latest and greatest information and large public firms specifically have enhanced their on-campus recruiting initiative.”
Armed with an accounting degree, new graduates can pursue careers in public accounting – at small and large firms – private-industry firms or for government agencies and nonprofit organizations. They can specialize in taxes, auditing, planning and management services.
There also is the opportunity to pursue additional education, including becoming a certified public accountant or obtaining a law degree in taxation, that would increase their marketability and for which many firms are willing to offer tuition assistance, study time and professional assistance.
Recruiting soon-to-be graduates allows companies, Pontarelli said, to build a pipeline of future leaders.
Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd., an accounting and business consulting firm with an office in Providence, recruits at all colleges with accounting programs in Rhode Island and several in Massachusetts.
Claire Iacobucci, company personnel shareholder, said the firm’s co-op program is “pretty robust” and that they employ about nine interns and five co-op students per year. With 50 total new hires between 2008 and 2012, the firm has hired 29 entry-level, or new graduate, accountants in that time frame.
“Many of the [interns] continue on and eventually” join the firm, Iacobucci said.
William Piccerelli, a partner at Piccerelli, Gilstein & Co. LLP, a Providence public accounting and consulting firm, said he has hired seven or eight new accountants in the past year, not counting the four to five accounting interns he usually employs.
He typically hires one or two of those interns as full-time employees each year.
“[Internships] give us an opportunity to evaluate the interns’ competency and that’s been a great source for us for entry-level staff,” Piccerelli said. “Personality is certainly important. As much as people point fingers at accountants being nerds, that’s not true. We’re looking for appearance and to make sure they’re well-rounded.”
Kaplan said his firm hires three to four interns every tax season, generally from Bryant College, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.
One or two of those interns, he said, is offered a full-time position after graduation.
Pontarelli said one of the most important things an accounting major can do to ensure they are marketable post-graduation is to take an internship to gain practical experience and develop work-ready skills, including communication, inquisitiveness and the ability to seek out new challenges that are essential in navigating an ever-changing career. Some of that, of course, starts with the collegiate education.
“One of my pet peeves is that the liberal arts world believes that the only place that critical thinking happens is inside liberal arts courses and nothing could be further from the truth,” said Mark Higgins, dean of the college of business administration and the Alfred J. Verrecchia and Hasbro Inc. Leadership Chair in business at the University of Rhode Island. “Students who major in accounting also have a solid foundation and core in business. We do a lot of team-building. Critical and analytical thinking goes on in all accounting classes.”
Higgins, like other educators, attributes the steadiness of accounting employment to the fact that, no matter how hard times are financially, every business needs someone to manage their money and prepare their taxes.
He said that faculty resources at URI have become strained because more students than ever are going into the school’s finance and accounting programs.
Providence College reports there has been a three-fold increase in enrollment in its undergraduate accounting-degree program over the past decade.
Bryant University says that while the school as a whole has seen a slight enrollment decline, the accounting program has remained steady.
“Businesses need to do budgeting to be able to run their business efficiently. They are required to have tax work done. Companies are often required to do audits,” said Dennis Bline, chair of the accounting department at Bryant. “All that stuff goes on whether it’s a good economy or a recession. That gives us a strong base for everything.”
Bline said not every accounting-profession sector is completely recession proof. Consulting, valuation or tax planning for corporate acquisitions may suffer a decline in tough financial times.
Sylvia Maxfield, dean of the college of business at Providence College, said large firms will sometimes over-hire in order to weed out those who are not suited for the often demanding profession.
That practice also helps to build a class of next-generation workers who can be promoted when seasoned accountants change industries or retire.
“It’s a growth industry right now, and the top firms want the absolute best talent,” Maxfield said. •

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