Keith Feinberg, director of permanent placement services for Robert Half Finance & Accounting, says most employers �understand that any well-publicized misdeeds likely were committed by a very small group of people,� and that the majority of accounting professionals at the companies in question - like, say, Enron - weren�t directly involved in any irregularities. At the same time, Feinberg notes, companies do �want to make sure candidates from companies that had difficulties were not directly involved with these mishaps - or any other transgressions - during previous employment.�Today, as companies scramble to deal with the realities of increased oversight, their concern is with finding the right person to fill CPA slots, Feinberg says. �Organizations are focused, first and foremost, on hiring accounting professionals who possess the skills and experience required for the role, and those who have a proven track record of success,� he believes.
As demand continues to outstrip supply, that remains a difficult task. To deal with it, accounting firms are forging new partnerships, and CPAs are finding new opportunities at smaller accounting practices. �The Big 4 accounting firms are creating alliances with smaller firms, in order to accommodate the client,� observes Jim Metzler, vice president of small firm interests for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
No matter what their pedigree, balancing their workload appears to be the biggest concern of today�s CPAs, Metzler says. �There is a complexity to the auditing that was never seen before,� he observes. �The work is all year, and not simply focused around tax season.�
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