“Mind the Gap” warns every subway station of the London Underground—a guide for every passenger to be careful of the small yet treacherous gap between the train and the walkway.  The accounting firms and governmental organizations are sounding a similar warning to preparers and users of financial statements: Mind the GAAP—not between a train and the walkway, but between US GAAP and IFRS GAAP. 

BYU offers a fantastic accounting study abroad that teaches students about how they can best ‘Mind the GAP’ not only the gap between US and IFRS GAAP, but also the gap between cultures, the gap between countries, and even the gaps between people.

I remember stepping off the train in the gare d’est in Paris and being suddenly immersed in a new world.  Within half an hour I was touring the city with several students who would become great friends. And that’s the best thing about the accounting study abroad—you are immersed in a learning experience. 

Here’s what the accounting study abroad entails. You visit several picturesque cities whose beauty for centuries poets and painters have tried to capture, but only in vain.  While touring these cities, you visit specific firms and organizations to learn about key global issues.  Last year, we visited the European Commission to learn about the Green Paper on Audit Quality. This Green Paper was a key issue that was new and emerging and very global in its effects.  Later on in the summer, while talking with an Ernst & Young Partner, this topic came up and he was very impressed that I had learned so much about such a ‘hot topic’ in the accounting world.

Another one of my favorite visits was to the IASB. We were able to meet with IASB fellows and learn about the new convergence on IFRS 9. We were able to sit in on a education meeting and see firsthand how they work through the accounting issues that come up.  And let me tell you, it’s not necessarily what you expect.  They joke they argue, they discuss all while you are sitting right there. 

Brussels, Belgium

Now the accounting abroad certainly isn’t all work and no play.  In fact, I was amazed by how much time, and how much I learned, touring the cities.  The students are given a lot of freedom to explore and investigate places that are interesting to them.  There is a great balance between planned group tours to the local sites and personal touring time. 

Stonehenge Replica

One of the benefits of doing this travel through BYU is that you can apply for scholarships and subsidies—making this study abroad one of the most affordable opportunities available to you.

So don’t be scared of an ‘accrual world’ go ahead and dive into the accounting study abroad.  Apply today at the Kennedy Center website: Kennedy.byu.edu.

Post by James Embree

This last meeting Josh Angle, Steven Biringer, and Johnny Stoddard came from the management consulting club and introduced us to some options that we have in relation to career paths.  Their main message was that “Not All Roads Lead to Public Accounting.”

Josh started and talked about the Trifecta for Success in any career path.

Josh wanted to make clear that there are some myths around the experience section that need dispelling.  The first myth is “my resume is good”.  If you still use your M Com 320 resume this most likely applies to you.   The Management consulting club can really help in this area.  They have resume workshops and professionals that are happy to help revise resumes.

The second myth is that “you need an accounting internship with the big 4.”  There are many opportunities with management consulting firms, firms in industry, and other branches in the big 4 that are not just audit and tax internships.  We really need to look around and see where we want to be.

The third myth is “getting a MAcc is right for everyone.”  This also goes back to looking where you want to go with your career and choosing the path that will get you in the best position to get there.  In short, management consulting is a great path to get an MBA, 20% of MBA students have a management consulting background.

Johnny showed us that, like audit, there are many facets of business that management consultants touch.  Management consulting is a good option to find out where you want to end up if you have not yet decided.  The skills that you learn in management consulting, like problem solving can be applied to many different career paths and will give you a leg up on others.

Steven told us about the management consulting internship that he did at Bane Capital.  He said that he worked an average of 60 to 65 hours a week.  They go easy on interns, but full-timers do not work much more than 70 to 75 hours a week. 

The management consulting club can help you prepare for the competitiveness of the field.  If you are interested and think you have what it takes to think out of the box, be teachable, and are smart, then they invite you to come to the management consulting club meetings, Tuesday evenings around 6:00 in the Tanner (room 230).  You can find out more on mcc.byu.edu.

The main purpose of this meeting was to encourage us to look around, research where we want to go, and then make conscious, intelligent decisions to get ourselves there. It was so great to hear from accounting students just like us who have already made important decisions to change their career paths.

This past Saturday Beta Alpha Psi members took time out of their day to serve at Provo’s Lightning Peak facility.

Lightning Peak is a diversion service offered in Utah designed to provide help and support for troubled youth. BAP members helped teach classes and also participated in games and activities.

Through a homemade role-playing game Tate Hansen, a second year MAcc student, taught credit and debt planning. Lauren Maiilard, a first-year MAcc student, also taught a class. Her subject: Starting Your Own Business.

When classes weren’t being taught, everyone took part in games and activities with the youth. Lightning Peak facility has its own gymnasium and game room, and both youth and volunteers had an excellent time.

A wonderful way to help others and have fun, service at the Lightning Peak Facility is an opportunity for BAP members to share their talents. If you didn’t get a chance to go this time, don’t worry—another opportunity is always on the horizon!

This week, Jeff Pickett from the Connor Group came and gave a brilliant speech about “Accounting and Entrepreneurship”.  He has a lot of experience starting businesses of his own and is currently running three successful startups right now.  He first wanted to dispel a myth about entrepreneurship, he told us that most entrepreneurs are usually dirt poor, and normally accountants are well off.  Accounting majors are already off to a good start because we will know what all of the cash flows mean in different businesses.

Everyone will have their own path to entrepreneurship if that is where they want to be, and Jeff gave us a few pointers that will get us into a good position to do so.  He suggested, “find a first job that will get you involved with people.” Most entrepreneurs he talked to as an auditor said that they would first start a business after being 10 years out of college.  He pointed out that it is cheaper to learn off of another’s nickel then paying for experience out of your own pocket.  Second, he said that we should always know where we are going in the coming year.

He gave us three success factors for running a business, that are also applicable to life, he gave them in order of importance as follows:  (1) Your Spouse, if your spouse does not want to take the risks and support you in entrepreneurship then either the marriage or the business will not work out.  The spouse’s support can make or break a business.  (2) Funding and Finances, you need to have the funding to be able to leave the day job.  To do this live student cheap for 5 years after college, be thrifty, and try to save up three years of living expenses in a bank.  (3) Leverage is your best friend.

Leverage is what you usually think of when you try to answer “what does an entrepreneur need to succeed?”  Jeff gave us four levers that if a business can use three of them they are usually well off. 

The first lever is People.  You need to build yourself up by networking and finding ideas.  It is also important to involve others; if your business is ever going to be great it needs to be bigger than you.  You need to have a great opportunity to employ tons of good people.

The Second lever is Technology.  Understanding in technology is usually the biggest gap accountants have.  It is not too hard to learn, but if you really do not like it be best buddies with the software and IT guys.  They can help you leverage technology so that your company soars.

The third and fourth levers are Time and Money.  Time can increase the value of certain assets, or allow you to get in a position to buy the assets you want.  He gave us an example of the land that he just bought.  He was looking in the ads and found a piece of property that he and his wife fell in love with.  He could not afford it at the time but he decided to ask if he could put down a down payment to tie up the lot for a year.  The owners agreed and Jeff was able to buy it a year later.  Money is pretty straight forward, use money well and you are in business.

Jeff had a couple ideas throughout the presentation that are very important for all entrepreneurs to know.  First is to avoid debt and build up reserves.  By avoiding debt you can worry about less when you start.  This allows you to start your business and hire Stanford business students who have a lot of debt.  Also, good ideas do not mean much.  Venture capital groups want to know more about the people not the product.  For example Google did not come up with a new idea, they were just able to execute better than anyone else.  It is the people that drive the business.

At this week’s professional meeting, Stacy Surgeon, a National Managing Partner for KPMG, came and gave a great presentation titled “How to Build a Better You” about soft skills. She gave us ten attributes that can help us become better professionals:

10. Demonstrate your knowledge with questions.  It does not reflect poorly on you to ask questions to make sure that you understand your assignment, and learn new subject matter.  Stacy told us that we are not expected to know everything, especially on our first day on the job.  Even as partner, she still asks questions when she is auditing a new industry, and when she cannot answer clients questions.

9. Accept the company expectations.  Get to know the culture at companies you are recruiting for.  Always dress professional for on-campus interviews and one level higher in situations later with clients.  She highly recommended that the women invest in getting a suit and that everyone make sure that their suit is tailored.

8. Quality is everything.  It is important to work quickly and efficiently but never sacrifice quality to get the job done quicker.

7. Demonstrate superior written and oral communication skills.  Make sure that your communications in recruiting and the work place are professional.  Keep emails to the point and effective at getting your message cross.  We need to always make sure that our business and cell phone voice mail are appropriate in case a client or a recruiter calls.

6. Exercise professional conduct.  Be pleasant to work with and learn to deal with difficult personalities.  She explained how we need to be aware of our surroundings.   This will help us to keep good relations with the client, and their employees

5. Be a team player.  It is super important to be cooperative with all those that you work with.  Let your teammates know where you are going to be and do your fair share of the work.  The greatest tip in this section was to be courteous and helpful to the administrative members of the team and client employees.  The secretary can help get you into see the top executives and help you coordinate more efficiently with them. 

4. Set personal goals.  Have a vision and be proactive at reaching goals that will stretch you.

3. Undersell and over deliver.  Only promise what you can deliver, what you will be able to make happen and finish by the dead line.  Prioritize your assignments to use your time effectively and do not procrastinate.

2. Take time to listen.  It will pay off a lot to practice listening skills.  Show them that you are listening, reword what they said to make sure you understand and use acknowledging gestures.

1. Attitude is everything.  A positive attitude makes tedious tasks seem bearable, and interestingly enough, success seems to follow positive thinkers.

All of these things will help us become better when we get to our careers and through the recruiting process.  Although the presentation was given mainly from an auditor’s perspective, if we apply these skills to the recruiting process and our future corporations, we will be able to become valuable parts of that company.

Another great book on attributes to help us become better is a book written by Stephen R. Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  A summary of the book can be found at http://www.quickmba.com/mgmt/7hab/.