Goodbye Junior Core, Hello MAcc

Posted by Tracy

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, I finished the BYU Accounting Junior Core on April, 23 when I took my last final. Words cannot express my relief that on that Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, I couldn't completely relax because I was enrolled for the Spring term (which started up shortly after that) and I was still nervous about my application to the MAcc.

The MAcc is the Masters of Accounting Program which has two different stems: Tax and Professional (audit). I applied at the end of March for the program and haven't slept well since. It is a great opportunity to continue my education, especially considering BYU's high ranking reputation in the accounting field. Well finally, on Thursday, I heard back from the School of Accountancy with good news: I will be starting the Master's Program in Fall, 2008. Things are going pretty fantastic in my little world.

So right now this is the plan: I'm going to finish my Bachelors in Mandarin Chinese, and I'll of course finish my Bachelors and Masters in Accountancy. I'm also planning on getting a Minor in Information Systems, which is a definite along with the others already mentioned. The big variable is the Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic) Minor I was hoping to get. Any extra time that I have beyond my very full plate will be spent shooting for that, but given the current tasks at hand, it is going to be a miracle if I can finish it. Graduation is still set for Summer 2010, with us heading back East at the end of Summer that year. I should be able to finish (or at least mostly finish) my CPA certification by our move back home as well.

As for the short term, things at Novell have been going great! I am learning so much and I am beginning to see how wonderful of an opportunity this job will be for me. It'll definitely jump-start my career in public accounting, which I am excited about. This Summer will be busy as well, packed with work, Spring classes, and Big Four recruiting events. Spring classes end in about a month though, so things should cool down after that.

I have some fun recruiting events coming up as well. In the beginning of June, I am heading back to Pittsburgh for a couple of days for a Leadership event with KPMG. Later that month, I am visiting Pittsburgh again for a different Leadership program with Ernst & Young. Then in late July, I will be heading to Hollywood, CA for a few days to attend KPMG's National Fast Forward Leadership Program. I have been extremely lucky to have so many opportunities with these firms, and I am very excited for this packed Summer.

So things are still busy, but I'm getting plenty of experience and having a blast! Hope everyone is enjoying the Summer and having fun.

KPMG National Audit Case

Posted by Tracy

So back on January 16, 2007, I got an email from one of the masters students in the accounting program regarding a competition that KPMG was doing. Just so you know, KPMG is another of the Big Four accounting firms. The competition was going to be an advanced audit case, in which students would play the role of a preliminary audit team. This was the first year that the Firm was doing a college level competition, similar to the xTax competition that I did with PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Since it was the first year that KPMG was doing the competition, 22 schools were invited to participate but could only sponsor one team of students. Since there would not be competition within each individual college, students were nominated by faculty to be a part of the team. Fortunately, I was recommended and was made part of the four-person team.

The competition involved 3 modules, each lasting 2 weeks, wherein the team was asked to make preliminary assessments regarding business, accounting, and audit risks of a fictional company and present reports to management. At the end of the six weeks 5 finalist teams would be announced. The great news? Our team was chosen as one of the finalists to go to compete on the national level in New York City!

Our New York trip was from April 14 – 17, 2007, and was a real blast. KPMG put us up in the Waldorf=Astoria and covered everything. I actually had my own room up in the Waldorf Towers which provided quite a nice view. Beyond competing we had some extra time to check out New York. Our team went to see Mary Poppins on Broadway, and hit some of New York’s fun restaurants. I learned a ton about KPMG as well as discovering attractive career paths in the accounting field.

Even though our team did not place first at Nationals, I had an experience that I will never forget and it only fed my ever-growing desire to enter the accounting field. I have been so very impressed with all of the Big Four accounting firms, and am excited to continue learning more about possible careers and internships with these amazing people.