Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

How New Accounting Grads Can Tune Up Their Diversity BS Detectors

Posted on by Joanne Cleaver

How can CPA firms be so white and male when they’re so dedicated to diversity?

Look at any firm’s career site and you’ll see a carefully written commitment to diversity. Read enough of them and you’ll soon realize that diversity statements all sound the same. The profession can’t even come up with diverse ways to talk about the diversity it doesn’t have.

Therein lies the problem: Everybody uses the same (safe) language because most firms are describing the same types of programs that, hello, aren’t really solving the problem.

Here are three ways new accounting graduates can figure out what’s really going on at a firm, the better to see if its values are in line with yours:

1. Count names and/or faces

Get your fingers out and start counting the actual number of women and minorities on the firm’s management committee and, if they show photos at their website, among its partners and principals.

What you’re looking for is an accounting firm that at least meets, and hopefully beats, the overall averages for women and minorities in top spots. After all, if the programs and culture the firm describes on its career page actually work, they’ll have results, right? At the very least, the firm should report steady improvement, right?

Not usually. Precious few firms actually show their work, explaining what their diversity goals are and if they’re achieving them. So you get to count noses. Don’t worry, you won’t run out of fingers.

Most “best places to work” lists won’t help because most of them just blather on about workplace benefits and amenities, not programs that actually hold leaders accountable for retaining and advancing diverse staff.

I’d know: I run the “Best CPA Firms for Women” list, sponsored by the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA). It is based on the Accounting MOVE Project, an annual benchmarking report that shows firms how they are doing in terms of advancing women and diverse staff, and how they can do better. (Full disclosure: The project is supported by founding sponsor Moss Adams and national sponsor CohnReznick.)

Our goal is to be unironic, which is basically an endless battle, given that many of the winners for local and national “best places” lists also are in the news for festering pay gaps and chronic discrimination complaints.

It doesn’t help that there’s plenty of inequity to analyze.

The harsh reality is that women comprise 51% of CPA firm employees but only 26% of partners and principals. That’s according to the soon-to-be-released 2019 Accounting MOVE Project report (check out the 2018 report and archives for the inequity backstory).

If women are scarce in leadership, minorities are practically absent. White people hold 94% of partner and principal positions at firms. All minorities, together, share the remaining 6%. (That’s according to the 2018 Diversity & Inclusion Report for CPA and Advisory Firms, and here’s more full disclosure: The sponsor is Grant Thornton.)

2. Look at a firm’s leadership pipeline

Now you’ve got your benchmarks and you can see how the firm under consideration compares.

But what about the pipeline, you say? Isn’t it just a matter of time before women and minorities automatically move up, as baby boomers (finally) wither and scroll off?

Don’t confuse succession planning with conveyer belts. Only 52% of firms have formal succession planning. Without a plan, chances are slim that women and minorities will wait around for opportunities that haven’t materialized for others. Therein lies the retention problem.

Here’s how to glimpse a firm’s pipeline. Go to the news section of its site and look at the makeup of the last few “partner classes.” A firm with a real succession plan will have a healthy—even an increasing—proportion of women and minorities. If the firm is just promoting more of the same, its leadership will continue to be more of the same. You will have to piece together the pipeline. Very few firms hold themselves accountable and disclose their diversity process in a clear, consistent way. One that does is Moss Adams, through its annual diversity report.

3. See if women are heading up new practices

Here’s the last strategy for cutting through the haze of happy talk: Look at who is opening new markets and leading new practices.

Some firms, like Novogradac, Rehmann, Plante Moran, and MCM, open new offices with women in charge, elevate women to practice leadership, or both. Why does that matter? Because running an office or a practice is a microcosm of running a whole firm. That’s how partners qualify, eventually, to be the top dog.

The accounting profession won’t have more women and minorities running firms if women and minorities don’t get a chance to show they can make money on a smaller scale.

There you go, BS detector tuned up and ready for job-hunting season. Have fun!

[Ed. note: The 2019 Accounting MOVE Project report (along with the Best CPA Firms for Women and Best CPA Firms for Leadership Equity lists) will be released in early June by the AFWA.]

About the author:

Joanne Cleaver is a communications consultant and author who works with associations on projects that measure and support the advancement of diverse talent.

Related Posts

That Scandal You Had Nothing to Do With Got Its Stink on You

All you Andersen refugees that were light years away from Houston probably think that people […]

You’ve Been Denied by the Big 4. What Next?

Ed. note: Have a question for the career advice brain trust? Email us at advice@goingconcern.com.

Hello Going Concern,

I’m currently finishing my last semester at the University of Kentucky, I’m a fifth year student that will be graduating in December with a dual degree in accounting and economics. The recruitment period for the big 4, regional and local firms are all over and done. I applied to basically all of the positions/internships and was not asked to interview for any of them. At first, I naively thought they just weren’t hiring from my school, but the voice of reason deep inside my head finally convinced me that it was indy own doing. My GPA was simply too low (about a 3.1).

Granted, accounting is a challenging course of study, also majoring in econ certainly steals valuable time and energy towards getting that very good GPA. My problem now, is where to go from here. I can’t change the past and must move forward, from all indications I will graduate in December with no job prospects. Should I continue to push and attempt to network with the larger firms, or should I just try and get a position somewhere….anywhere, accounting related to develop some valuable experience? I didn’t do a good job at all of networking through college, just put my head down and hit the books. I’m not a social pariah by any means, however I know that this shyness of mine will not cut it and has hindered me tremendously at this point. I feel overwhelmed and a little disheartened at the makings of the future. If I don’t land a firm job will I be stuck in a perpetual rut in a dead end job? Is it important to avoid the private industry right out of college to get a taste of what you like in the public industry? How would you go about networking out of college, cold calling? I know I’ve asked a bunch of questions here, and maybe have not provided enough background information. To be outstanding you must stand out, now I’m at the crossroads of trying to do just that, but am a little unsure of how to start.

Sincerely,
Pablo


Pablo,

Playing the “I’m holding out for a job in public” doesn’t pay the rent or student loan bills. Not only are you up against stiff competition due to your lower-than-most-interns GPA, and self-decribed “shyness”, you’re fighting the timelines of every firm’s recruiting schedule. Meaning, the firms are done with their hiring needs by this point in time, especially if you are in a smaller market. You ask in your email to GC if you should “continue to push and attempt to network with the larger firms” only to admit in the next sentence that you “didn’t do a good job at all of networking through college, just put my head down and hit the books.” What the hell happened? Your email leaves me wondering if you simply dropped the ball on putting any effort into your job search, leaning too heavily on the notion that all you need is an accounting degree to receive free job handouts.

If going into public accounting was always the goal, your economics degree was not necessary. As “majoring in econ certainly steals valuable time and energy towards getting a very good GPA,” why didn’t you cut your losses after a few classes and drop the major? If your answer is “because I was interested in the subject,” I’m going to call bullshit. If you were so interested in the topic, one would safely assume you would, you know, do well in those classes.

But enough about the past – given that you are about six weeks from graduating, you need to be aggressive with your job search.

Contact Career Services – Your school’s career services should have resources available to help you overcome some of the interview/social anxiety you might have that has held you back in your efforts to network with employers up to this point. They can set you up with meetings, discussions groups, mock interviews, etc. Take advantage of these free resources now; in six weeks it’ll cost you.

Stop being so damn picky – Your questions above gave me the impression that you’re being too picky (dead end jobs worries, hesitation about entering private industry instead of seeking public accounting experience, etc.). The economy – if you haven’t noticed – sucks. You’re entering a job market that is sputtering around nine percent unemployment and approximately 103 percent underemployment. Your competition is more experienced and potentially has better grades and soft skills than you.

The job market – even for accountants – is a simple numbers game – You apply to 30 jobs. You receive interviews at five. You receive second rounds at three. You hope for one offer. You should be applying to accounting roles in every industry in every sized firm. If they’re seeking an accounting degree, your résumé should be there. Search Indeed, LinkedIn, and the Monsters of the world on your own. Look into your college’s resources for alumni. Get in touch with recruiters in your area to see if they have any entry level or temp to perm positions. Play the numbers and see what hits. Good luck, and keep your head up.