Women in the ranks: Accounting for the next generation of CPAs

CNY Business Journal (1994-95), Mar 07, 1994 by Hadley, Mark

Accounting may be a numbers game, but it is getting harder to get the people to balance. At least that is the perception of those in charge of bringing new blood into both large and not-so-large firms in Central New York and the Southern Tier.

Sure, it's an employers' market. There are far more accounting graduates than there are jobs each year. But finding the right graduate is not as easy as it may have seemed a few years ago.

According to Pat Civil, managing partner of Coopers & Lybrand's Syracuse office, the new graduates are coming out with solid knowledge of their course work. Some are coming into the work force with real-world experience. But perhaps the most pronounced difference between graduates in the last few years and those of eight or 10 years ago is their expectations about life after graduation.

Where a few years ago a newly minted accounting grad may have harbored unrealistic salary expectations and found a variety of job offers, more recent grads know better. Life could well be hell for a few years, but be thankful that you have a job in your profession.

And Civil notes, "I don't think [most firms] are hiring as many as we did a couple of years ago. But it is not because the workload is down. We are all looking for more productivity--doing the same amount of work with fewer people--just as our clients are."

One local firm reports that its recruiting needs are down at least 25 percent this year from 1993. That has not really made the job any easier, though, according to R. Michael Campbell, director of human resources and financial services for the Syracuse office of Price Waterhouse.

"We are always looking for the best and the brightest. So is everyone else, but we are all trying to be even more selective than we have been in the past. And we all have slightly different formulas for how we identify the 'best and brightest.' Some use a straight, grade-point cutoff as a screen for those whom they consider," Campbell says.

Others, including Price Waterhouse, want to see much more than a solid grade-point average. "Certainly, we want someone with a solid academic record, but we also want a well-rounded and involved individual. We are looking for someone who is bright, organized, and involved. And we want to be sure that they [the candidates] really understand our expectations," Campbell explains.

Everyone with recruiting duties, however, sees another significant change--one that may mean big changes in the way accounting firms are structured and operate in the next few years. Women now outnumber men in accounting classes. Bob Kawa, who maintains his own accounting practice and heads LeMoyne College's accounting program, observes that somewhat more than half of the accounting students at LeMoyne are women. And some schools report that women make up as much as 70 percent of their accounting majors.

While that may not make a lot of difference to a firm's culture in the first two or three years after a new accountant enters the work force, real changes may come five to 10 years later.

Despite societal changes that make it a little more acceptable for men to shoulder a significant portion of the child-rearing duties, much of the responsibility still rests with the mother. It is usually the mother who adjusts her work life when children enter the equation. And that means, according to Henry Fust, managing partner of Syracuse's Fust, Charles, Chambers & Harfosh, that just when a young woman associate is beginning to move up the ranks, she may want to scale back her workload to have children.

Rather than bemoan that fact, however, Fust suggests finding ways to maintain ties with those who want to put their careers on hold while they raise their children.

James Lewis, of Vestal-based Piaker & Lyons, thinks accounting firms have already seen some change in their cultures but thinks more change is in the offing. "I don't think that the job can be as onorous for new accountants as it has been in the past. The people entering the field today won't put up with it, and probably, they shouldn't have to.

Lewis indicates that many firms are dealing with the issue of childcare on a regular basis. Some have established special discounts with daycare centers and others allow parents to make their own arrangements while the firm picks up part of the cost.

Some larger firms have even arranged on-site or nearby childcare.

Regular daycare programs, however, don't accommodate the long days and weekend work that goes along with the tax season in accounting firms. That remains a difficult problem for some firms.

Coopers & Lybrand's Civil acknowledges that both the accountant and the firm need to be flexible in dealing with such issues. "If people are flexible, their careers tend to move faster. We want to find a solution that will take care of both our firm's needs and the employee's needs."

Civil and others point out that, by its very nature, public accounting puts a seasonal load on all its practitioners. "I doubt that it is realistic to expect a straight part-time schedule anytime in the near future. But we may be able to work out arrangements where someone can work five days a week during the busy season and then three days a week during the summer or some other configuration," Civil says. "But they have to realize that it may be reflected in their salaries because salaries are based on productivity."