Accounting Questions

sp1212
Sat, 10 Jan 2009 20:40:49 +0000

I think Omniscient summarized it well.
Here’s an excerpt from taxguy’s Accounting thread that might help you.

"4. Should I go to the highest ranked schools for accounting? This question seems to be asked in one way or another many times and is probably the most frequently asked question about accounting.

Answer: As long as a school is accredited ( AACSB accreditation and regional accreditation), it DOESN’T MATTER which school you attend. The reason is that the State Boards of Accountancy mandate the curriculum. Thus, from school to school, probably 80% or more of the courses taken will be the same. Even the books used are usually the same. Thus, going to Wharton, vs. University of Texas, vs. UVA, vs. Baruch College vs. Maryland will probably not increase your job opportunities that much from school to school for accounting jobs. Moreover, the pay is fairly set among starting accounting jobs. Attending a top, name school might get you a few thousand dollars more to start ( and I mean only a few) ,but it usually evens out among school.

You should understand the process: Accounting firm partners usually interview at their local schools. Thus, if you want to live and work in Memphis, Tennessee ( as an example), you probably have an edge going to college in Tennessee than at University of Texas. The same can be said about NY schools. Again, for accounting, it won’t make a difference whether you attended Stern ( NYU) or Baruch College.

I should note that there is one exception to what is noted above. Corporations ( that aren’t accounting corporations), tend to interview in greater numbers at the better schools. Thus, in that way it might make a difference. However, for accounting jobs with accounting firms, the school is irrelevant as long as it is accredited."

I also got advice that if you want to get an out of state job you should take the initiative to find them and contact them and basically “recruit” them yourself.