by Heather
B. Hayes
for Virginia Business November 2006
In
any other era, Andrew Martin might have cursed his terrible timing at taking
a first job. He joined Arthur Andersen LLP just one month before the Enron
scandal hit. Soon Arthur Andersen was facing indictment, and its staff realized
that the venerable accounting firm probably wouldn't survive the fallout.
But Martin never worried about his career prospects. "I knew there would
be lots of opportunities for me out there in public accounting," says
Martin, now 27. "And, sure enough, two months before Arthur Andersen
went under, I already had two different job offers on the table."
One was from KPMG in Tysons Corner,
which offered Martin a job as a senior associate auditor
and the chance to work with large, prestigious clients
such as the American Red Cross, Grand Hyatt Hotel and
Quadrangle Development Corp. The pay was high, but
so were the expectations. While working on some deadline-intensive
audits, Martin and other young CPAs often worked 100
hours a week. "They
definitely got their money's worth out of us," he
says.
Martin has since moved on to
work for Corbin & Co.,
a small Chesapeake firm owned by his father-in-law. Martin,
a graduate of the College of William & Mary, spends
his days managing audit engagements and performing reviews
and compilations for closely held clients in the construction
and retail industries. He plans eventually — with
his wife, Holly, also a CPA — to take over the
management of Corbin & Co.
Martin is one of the leading vote getters in the Young
CPA category of the Super CPAs, an annual list compiled
by Virginia Business in cooperation with the Virginia
Society of Certified Public Accountants, and he's a good
representative of the CPAs of his generation. He is taking
advantage of a growing demand for CPAs that has resulted
in starting salaries as high as $60,000 a year.
One of the driving forces of this situation has been
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, enacted by Congress after
the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals. In combating
accounting fraud, Sarbanes-Oxley ironically has created
a huge demand for accounting talent as companies struggle
to comply with the law's strict provisions.
This boom time for accounting
firms occurs at a time when the profession is coming
to terms with the "Gen
X/Millennium Generation," young accountants like
Martin who came of age around the turn of the century. "This
group isn't interested in just hunkering down and working
nonstop to get ahead," says Brad Roof, associate
dean for the College of Business at James Madison University
and chairman of the Virginia Society of CPAs. "Their
allegiances tend to be personality driven, not organizationally
driven, so if they like their supervisors, if they feel
like they're involved in meaningful work, and if they
feel like they have a good balance between their private
life and their professional life, then they will take
that particular job, often over one that pays more."
That was the case for Niki White,
a senior accountant at Yount, Hyde & Barbour in Glen Allen, who entered
the job market in 2001. She already has worked for several
firms. "I never went looking for a new job — they've
come to me and said, ‘We want you to work for us,'" she
says, noting that each offer has always enticed her with
just the right mix of compensation, challenging work
and key benefits.
In the past five years, White's
salary has doubled, but her job changes have always
been for other reasons, she says. Her current position
allows her to handle a diverse range of accounting
services while also offering her more time at home
with her infant son. Yount, Hyde & Barbour
has a paperless, mobile culture, which means White can
use her laptop computer to complete projects at home
or at client sites. "I still work a lot of hours,
but I'm not tied down to the office now," White
says.
Shannon Schuyler, managing director
for PricewaterhouseCoopers in McLean, agrees that today's
young CPAs are more interested in — and more vocal about — achieving
a better balance between their work and private life.
Just a few years ago the company was experiencing a
25 percent turnover rate among recently hired college
graduates. Now it is working hard to accommodate the
needs of these employees, says Schuyler.
For starters, the company is
being much more realistic with job candidates about
the reality of working for a major accounting firm. "You are going to work
overtime, and there are going to be busy seasons, and
there is a lot that we demand from you in terms of your
performance," says Schuyler. "But there will
also be perks — lots of them."
These include three weeks of
vacation immediately and four weeks after a year on
the job. Employees also have "flex
Fridays": Workers who are not facing deadline can
take the day off without sacrificing a vacation or personal
day. The company also offers early office closings on
holiday weekends and full office shutdowns during the
Christmas season.
Schuyler notes that PricewaterhouseCoopers is providing
financial incentives as well, such as more "thank-you" payments
for jobs well done, discount programs on travel, jewelry,
technology and other products, and "Without Warning" awards
of gift baskets and gift certificates for employees working
on a particularly tough project. Since these new initiatives
have come into play, PricewaterhouseCoopers has lowered
its turnover rate to 15 percent, Schuyler says.
Martin says that all work and no play can definitely
have a detrimental effect on the morale of young CPAs.
He knows a large number of young accountants who burned
out quickly and left public accounting altogether.
That old sentiment of expecting
young CPAs to get ahead by doing their time in the
trenches is quickly dying, says Roof. "Thanks
to this new generation of CPAs and the increased demand
for them, senior partners are recognizing that they've
got to change. And they're realizing that being more
flexible and increasing their personal contact with
staff is not only good for their employees but for
their firm as well."
