Accounting Graduate Gives Advice to those Entering the Ever-Changing World of Accounting

Daniel Lisella

Webster Alum Daniel Lisella, BS in Accounting, 2004, recently sat down with NoteBene to discuss his position as Assurance Associate at BDO Seideman LLP, in Chicago, and share insight and give advice to those entering the competitive field of accounting.  

NB: What are the most important tools that your Webster degree has given you? And how has the degree helped you strategically position yourself for graduate school as well as the working world? 

DL: I finished the BS in accounting at Webster in May 2004 with departmental academic honors; I finished the Master of Accounting Science degree (MAS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2005. I passed all four parts of the CPA exam on my first attempt during the summer 2005.

Webster gave me the chance to excel in and out of the classroom. Being a student leader with an above-average GPA made me marketable to Graduate Schools as well as employers.

When employers are looking at students for entry-level jobs, they don't look at GPA alone. While most employers set a minimum GPA in order to get an interview that's as far as a good GPA will take you. Employers look at extracurricular activities, work experience, and the like in addition to GPA.

NB: Who was your most important mentor, and why?

DL: I was fortunate to develop a relationship with Troy Luh during our upstart of the Webster Accounting Club. He, like many other faculty members, takes a genuine interest in his students' careers and uses his vast professional connections to streamline the hiring process for many of his students.

NB: In your opinion, how important is a business strategy to anyone's professional goals?

DL: Just like a business, it is important for every person to find his/her niche. Admittedly, I haven't found mine, yet. People have to ask themselves questions such as breadth vs. depth of skills, adding value by technical knowledge vs. adding value by marketing, fast-track vs. family-track, and the like. 

NB: What is the next big endeavor for you, if any?  

DL: On an individual level, I am enjoying my job at BDO Seidman. One undertaking for BDO (and any other accounting firms with small public clients) will be the expansion of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to smallcap and microcap public companies for years ending 12/31/2007 and beyond. While the exact requirements of the law are still being debated, any extension will provide unique challenges to small companies. I am excited about the idea of being part of a team that will help these clients find a cost-effective way to document their controls over financial reporting.

NB: When you look back at your college years, what major event changed your perspective and/or shaped the path you chose for your professional development?

DL: I went to college during a time of transition in the accounting industry. I was a sophomore during the scandals at Enron and WorldCom, et al. The ensuing changes in the public accounting environment immensely changed the financial reporting value chain—from the companies themselves to public accountants to analysts to end users of financial information.

The public accounting profession—in terms of audits of publicly traded companies—was largely redefined by the Sarbanes-Oxley act and the creation of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. On a personal level, some of the engagements I have enjoyed the most have been internal control attestation engagements related to Sarbanes Oxley Section 404.

NOTE: Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires issuers of financial statements to express an assessment of internal control over financial reporting and for their auditor to express an opinion on that assessment.

NB: What challenges (competitive or otherwise) are most pressing for you at this time?

DL: Admittedly, I have a very homogeneous job. There are thousands of first-year assurance associates at public accounting firms across the country with jobs not unlike mine. The biggest challenge is to find a way to differentiate myself in this homogenous position. Long hours, travel, and working weekends are all prerequisites; the challenge is to perform your job in a way that makes someone in a supervisory role look at you and your performance in a positive light.

NB: What strategic educational planning advice would you give Webster accounting students for successfully reaching their career goals in today's competitive and ever-changing world?

DL: For accounting students, be flexible while learning the craft. You will need to know current accounting rules for the CPA exam, but it is much more important to understand that financial reporting rules are constantly changing. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued 17 Statements of Accounting Standards, dozens of staff positions, and EITF bulletins since I began college. With the convergence plan with IASB standards, accounting rules will be very different in five, 10, and 20 years. Realize that technical knowledge changes, but a strong appreciation of underlying concepts and the ability to analyze the effect of rule changes will ensure that your knowledge will be valuable in the long run.

Second, join clubs or find something that will differentiate you in the hiring process. In high school, I owned a small photography business. When I was interviewing for accounting jobs, potential employers probably talked about my photography business in interviews more than accounting. Ask yourself, if a potential employer has a stack of 100 resumes, from which s/he will pick five people to interview, how will s/he remember you?

Next, do everything you can to get an internship during college. I interned a busy season at a local public accounting firm my senior year at Webster. Even though the internship did not result in a job opportunity, it made me more marketable coming out of graduate school.

NB: What types of activities did Webster's Accounting Club sponsor etc. that you were involved in while at Webster?

DL: The accounting club was very career-focused. Most events featured a speaker from the St. Louis public accounting community and focused on that particular individual's accounting niche—tax, business valuation, assurance, forensics, financial management, etc. The accounting club also traveled to two conferences: the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Student Conference and the Missouri Society of CPAs conference.

My favorite event was likely a presentation by the Missouri Society of CPAs. While it was a simple event, as President of the Accounting Club, I was encouraged by the fact that so many students were interested in joining a professional organization.

NB: How did your study abroad experiences through Webster play into your educational experiences and strategic outlook on the economic and business arenas of the world, if at all?

a. Would you recommend students take advantage of studying abroad and if so, why?  

b. Does Webster's study abroad initiatives offer unique experiences, and if so, what?

DL: I studied abroad at Webster's Geneva campus during the Fall II term in 2002 (my junior year). I went with friends Bobby Fowler, Dustin Klise, and Andrew Belsky.

I consider my study abroad experience to be an integral part of my education at Webster. Looking back, if I could do it again, I probably would have gone to at least one more campus in addition to the term I spent in Geneva.

As the saying goes, it was when I found myself at an airport in Switzerland sipping on Starbucks and chomping on my Big Mac while sitting on a Boeing airplane that was parked on a runway paved with Caterpillar equipment that I realized how integrated the global economy really is.

When I studied abroad, I interacted with a lot of talented and driven fellow students who were eager to challenge the status quo. These fellow students made me realize that talent has always existed worldwide, but talent is being mined from the corners of the planet more effectively than ever before.

From an auditor's perspective, I see the effect of talent mining in clients' offshore locations. Several growing clients—especially in various highly-skilled service industries—are utilizing value-added labor offshore.

While, admittedly, I am not largely affected by these issues at my job (there will always be companies with stock traded in the United States that will have to produce audited financial statements), I have become more conscientious of issues surrounding the global economy, such as:

· Microsoft's antitrust battles in the EU

· China's policies toward intellectual property and floating exchange rates

· The economic effect of emerging economies on the increasing demand for oil, and the role energy will play in the world economy in the next century

Note: A national professional services firm providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting services to private and publicly traded businesses, BDO Seidman, LLP has been in business for 95 years, providing quality service and leadership through the active involvement of our most experienced and committed professionals.

The firm serves clients through more than 30 offices and 250 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As a Member Firm of BDO International, BDO Seidman, LLP serves multi-national clients by leveraging a global network of resources comprised of more than 600 member firm offices in 105 countries. BDO International is a worldwide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms, serving international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country.

(For more information on BDO Seidman, please visit www.bdo.com.)

BACK TO TOP