Category: Career Center

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Job of the Day: RBC Needs a Senior Audit Manager

RBC is looking for a Senior Audit Manager to lead a team to provide independent risk assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk management practices, internal control and corporate governance processes in the Capital Markets Finance areas

Requirements include a CA or equivalent, an accounting degree and experience working in financial services with an in-depth knowledge of both U.S. and Canadian GAAP. This position is located in New York.


Company: RBC

Title: Senior Audit Manager

Location: New York, NY

Description: In support of the Senior Manager, Capital Markets Finance, provide independent, objective risk assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk management practices, internal control and corporate governance processes in the Capital Markets Finance areas. Work with management in achieving business objectives by creating solutions to improve business operations, while remaining objective and independent. Key stakeholders include senior management, external auditors, and regulators. Results ultimately impact shareholders, employees and customers. Engagement is defined as a specific assignment, task, or review activity, such as: an internal audit, design review, fraud examination, or consultancy. An engagement may include multiple tasks or activities designed to accomplish a specific set of related objectives.

Responsibilities: Leadership/People Management – Lead a team of senior managers and professional auditors responsible for complex and large engagements in terms of product, location or client relation. – Direct, counsel, and instruct staff assigned to the engagement and review audit plan, findings and reports for sufficient scope and for accuracy. – Provide leadership, coaching, performance management and personal development support. – Ensure that we have competent and sufficient engagement resources, with relevant skill sets to meet each audit and our annual plan. – Raise the technical knowledge of the group through various courses, seminars and in-house training in the areas Capital Markets Finance and related risk management framework, compliance and audit techniques. – Back up for primary Senior Relationship Manager Audit & Planning – In concert with Senior Manager, Capital Markets Finance develops the annual Audit Plan for Capital Markets Finance ensuring that audits confirm to regulatory and internal audit requirements – Provide input and participate in the IAS strategic planning process.

Qualifications/Skills: In depth knowledge of business and key functions of Capital Markets Finance – Project Management – Proficient in auditing principles and techniques – Must have the ability to quickly understand the risks associated with new services and/or routines, products and to formulate practical audit procedures to adequately monitor new risk and ensure adherence to limits. – A understanding of management principles that enable recognition and evaluation of materiality and significant deviations from good management practices – In-depth knowledge of US and Cdn GAAP, complex accounting, auditing standards, business processes – Minimum 10-15 years banking/audit experience.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: UBS Needs an Accounting Director

UBS is looking for someone to join their Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) Structuring Group at the Director level who has expertise in both U.S. GAAP and IFRS.

The position requires four years of relevant experience, and a CPA. Experience in a Big 4 transaction services group is ideal. This position is located in Stamford, CT.


Company: UBS AG

Title: Executive Director/Director – FICC Structuring – Accounting Expert

Location: Stamford, CT

Responsibilities: The candidate will be expected to (1) Structure and execute transactions, and (2) Support the Structuring Group in analyzing and structuring the accounting aspects of transactions. The candidate will report to Head of US RATL.

Qualifications/Skills: The ideal candidate will have practiced accounting in a transaction services group at a Big 4 accounting firm with experience in US GAAP and IFRS. The candidate should have a track record of innovation/creativity. Minimum of 4 years proven relevant experience; 4 year Bachelor’s degree or international equivalent; CPA.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: Genworth Financial Needs a Senior Tax Analyst

Genworth Financial is looking for an experienced tax professional to assume senior tax responsibilities including compliance and accounting for income taxes.

The position is located in Richmond, Virgina, requires a minimum of three years experience and a CPA is preferred.


Company: Genworth Financial

Title: Federal Income Tax Senior Analyst

Location: Richmond, VA

Responsibilities: An experienced tax professional to assume senior tax responsibilities including activities relating to federal income tax compliance and accounting for income taxes. The successful candidate will join a team of tax professionals that are responsible for all tax compliance and tax accounting for the Company including controllership.

Qualifications/Skills: BA/BS in Accounting; 3-10 years experience with an accounting firm, large internal tax function; 2-4 years tax experience for a US insurer; Outstanding written and oral communication skills; Ability to read, interpret and summarize technical standards, tax and legal documents; Demonstrated ability to solve technical tax or accounting issues in a fast-paced environment, and to communicate tax or accounting requirements effectively to a non-technical audience; Experience with Tax, GAAP or STAT accounting principles; Expertise with Excel, Word and PowerPoint software; CPA is preferred.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: Fannie Mae Needs an Accounting Manager

Fannie Mae is looking for an accounting manager who will manage a staff responsible for collecting, recording, analyzing, and reporting accounting transactions.

The position is located in Dallas, requires six years experience, including 2-4 years of management experience and a CPA license.


Company: Fannie Mae

Title: Accounting Manager – REO and Reserve Accounting

Location: Dallas, TX

Description: Manage a team engaged in collecting, recording, analyzing, and reporting accounting transactions. May manage operations related to general accounting or other specialty areas. Hire, manage, train, develop, and evaluate staff. Develop, implement, document, and ensure adherence to practices and procedures. Participate in or lead special projects.

Responsibilities: Manage daily team activities related to production of timely, accurate, and reliable financial information including profit and loss and balance sheet accounts, booking accounting transactions, preparing and validating account reconciliations, and resolving issues and exceptions on a timely basis; Plan, review, and/or prepare internal and external reports, schedules, and statements; Review, establish, and monitor financial controls. Identify opportunities to streamline and automate. Improve efficiencies to reduce costs; Respond to Audit, consultant, and other stakeholder inquiries and requests; Identify and facilitate technology changes to support business needs; Coordinate and administer assignments, monitor team progress, and maintain schedules; Develop team members and provide ongoing professional guidance and direction.

Qualifications/Skills: Bachelor’s Degree in accounting required; CPA required; 6 or more years of progressively challenging experience in accounting, financial analysis, application of accounting principles, and accounting controls; 2-4 years of management experience with motivating, coaching and developing staff in pursuit of creating a performance driven culture.  Additionally, experience managing complex projects involving multiple cross-functional stakeholders and strict time constraints required; Understanding of complex accounting regulations and guidance, including GAAP, SEC, FASB, AICPA, required. Strong knowledge in accounting pronouncements associated with real estate strongly desired; Previous experience in an SEC reporting environment and/or Big 4 Public Accounting experience preferred; Experience with accounting processes of a mortgage company, large financial service institution or real estate company required.; Previous experience implementing and documenting SOX controls required; Demonstrated ability to manage and direct a team with an emphasis on developing the team to high performance; Ability to provide regular feedback to team members and prepare performance reviews as required by company timelines.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Credentials for Accountants: Certified Management Accountant

Last week we kicked off our certification series by looking at the CFE for those of you interested in becoming numbers sleuths that also have the figurative iron-clad stones that Sam Antar insists are imperative for any CFE.

This week we look at the Certified Management Accountant (“CMA”) credential and while it’s probably not as sexy as the CFE, a lot of you may want to consider the CMA if you see yourself spending a good portion of your career working as an in-house accountant or finance pro.


The credential is administered by the Institute of Management Accountants whose website states that “85% owork inside organizations, where expertise in decision support, planning, and control over value-adding operations are crucial elements of operational success,” and boasts 60,000 members worldwide.

Here’s the rundown on the CMA:

Education Requirement
You can meet the education requirement by verifying that you have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or that you have a professional qualification, such as a CPA (here’s a partial list of global certifications that qualify).

Professional Requirements
The professional requirement for the CMA is two continuous years of experience in management accounting or financial management. This can be completed prior to the application or within two years of passing the CMA exam. The website states that, “Qualifying experience consists of positions requiring judgments regularly made employing the principles of management accounting and financial management.”

There is a long list of experience that will satisfy this requirement including financial analysis, budget preparation, management information system analysis, financial management, management accounting, auditing in government, finance or industry, management consulting, auditing in public accounting, research, teaching or consulting related to management accounting or financial management.

CMA Exam
The CMA Exam is currently transitioning from a four-part format to a two-part format. The two-part format rolls out on May 1st but testing of the four-part format will be available through December 31, 2010. The new format will focus on financial planning, analysis, control, and decision support. The two four hour exams consist of 100 multiple choice questions and two 30 minute essay questions.

Part 1 breaks down like this:
Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting (30%)
Performance Management (25%)
Cost Management (25%)
Internal Controls (15%)
Professional Ethics (5%)

And Part 2:
Financial Statement Analysis (25%)
Corporate Finance (25%)
Decision Analysis and Risk Management (25%)
Investment Decisions (20%)
Professional Ethics (5%)

There’s a lot of information on the new exam format including fees, testing windows, and more that can be seen here.

After certification, you are required to complete 30 hours of CPE annually, of which, 2 hours are required to be in ethics.

Career Options
Many CMAs work in budgeting, financial planning, cost accounting, performance evaluation, asset management and other various capacities. The work often times result in internal reports that will help management make prudent decisions rather than just taking wild stabs at running their respective companies. So it goes without saying that this is important stuff.

For those of you still working in the public realm, you can get benefits out of a CMA too. Our favorite Exuberant Accountant, Scott Heintzelman, has a CMA and he told us that it helps him better understand the needs of his manufacturing clients, “I had a bunch of clients in the manufacturing space and many of the controllers were CMA’s. I thought taking the time to get this certification would give me more creditability with this group…it helped me gain more manufacturing clients as they saw me as one of them, not just a CPA.”

Compensation and Other Benefits
According to the IMA’s most recent survey, CMAs earn 24-31% more than their non-certified colleagues. Those surveyed that have both a CMA and a CPA have even higher salaries. Now, we know what that you’re hung up on money but there are some other advantages too.

According to Scott, “Partners then had this belief [then] that the CMA was a brutal test (and it was). So a year later I started the process and actually was fortunate to pass the entire test on the first attempt. I had also passed the CPA exam on the first attempt a year earlier and so my partners suddenly thought I was some super smart young accountant and many believed I was ‘fast tracked’ to partner. I believe I just worked my butt off to learn that stuff, but none the less several of my partners looked at me differently. A very key moment in my young career.”

Job of the Day: Deutsche Bank Needs a Finance Manager

Deutsche Bank is looking for someone to join its Finance Division as a Finance Manager of Global Banking. Responsibilities will include stakeholder management, business solutions, validation and control.

Candidates need a minimum of seven years experience with background that is familiar with both U.S. GAAP and IFRS.


Company: Deutsche Bank

Title: Finance Manager – Global Banking

Location: New York, NY

Responsibilities: Stakeholder Management – the establishment of stakeholder priorities and the development of open communication and feedback with them. Prioritizing business requirements given the resources available; Business Solutions – providing innovative solutions to business requirements, reviewing new structures and business opportunities. You will also challenge new product initiatives to ensure that business assumptions are accurate; Validation & Control – reviewing offshore produced profit and loss (P&L) and risk data produced by service centers. Monitoring key performance indicator performance and developing a thorough understanding of the products and business drivers. This includes P&L, Balance sheet and risk weighted asset analysis; Acting as the contact point to advise on local generally accepted accounting practice and regulatory requirements; Continuing to develop and enhance the relationship and business knowledge of the Professional service centre in Mumbai and to ensure proper accounting is followed especially by the offshore production teams; Move existing onshore finance production to the PSC

Qualifications/Skills: Accounting or Finance background (IFRS and US GAAP); Relevant product knowledge-Securities Lending, Trust And Securities Services (Custody, Hedge Fund administration, Corporate Trust-Structured Financial Services, Global Debt Services); Strong Excel, Essbase and PowerPoint skills are required; 7-12 years of experienced desired.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Job of the Day: An International Bank Needs a VP of Technical Accounting

Ashton Lane Group has a client looking for a VP of Technical Accounting that will be responsible for addressing accounting issues under both U.S. GAAP and IFRS.

Candidates need at least eight years of experience, a CPA license, and a Masters degree is a plus.


Recruiter: Ashton Lane Group

Title: VP – Technical Accounting

Location: New York, NY

Description: Advisory expert for complex accounting policies for an international bank

Responsibilities: Analyze accounting treatment for a wide range of complex transactions under both US GAAP and IFRS; Provide on-going support to the financial and regulatory control functions; Work closely with a network of experienced technical accountants globally to provide a cohesive accounting framework; Assist in reviewing US GAAP financial statements and filings; Participate in the new product and trade review functions in New York; Stay abreast of new and emerging accounting developments and assessing their impact on the business.

Qualifications: CPA (or equivalent) with 8+ years financial control experience within financial services; Broad knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US GAAP; Excellent PC skills, proficient in Excel, knowledge of GL packages a plus; Strong interpersonal and communication skills; Bachelors Degree or equivalent required, Masters degree a plus.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Great Big Drawbacks to Getting Your PhD in Accounting

The post the other day on getting an accounting PhD was so inspirational that I devoted several whole seconds to the idea…

Not for me.

Sure, being a professer has its attractions, especially at the end of filing season. Easy hours, nice gym facilities, trampy co-eds — how I miss the world of higher education. And yet I’m not sold.


Right now I have a good job. There’s also a family I want to maintain (sorry, trampy co-eds) and kids to get through school. To get a PhD would require me to walk away from my decently-paid position in this “most profitable small business.” But I must pay attention to the benefits, too, as Caleb related:

“Professors are constantly learning” – To become a PhD would require an odyssey beginning in a university town somewhere, taking boring courses in statistics to prepare me to write some enormous research project that nobody outside of my doctoral committee (poor bastards) would ever read. Sure, all of the practical tax stuff I’ve learned in 25 years of practice would become stale from disuse, but I’d be constantly learning to develop visionary statistical correlations.

“Professors want to make a difference in the world” – Yes, the difference between what I’d be making in my compensation as a graduate assistant for five years and what I make now would be a difference in the world – even a world of difference.

“Life as a professor is full of flexibility” – Yes, especially until you get on a tenure track. You have the flexibility of moving from a one-year fill-in position at Eastern West Dakota State to a similar position at the Utah School of Mines and Home Economics. But no “substantial financial risk,” at least once you’ve thrown away your perfectly good private sector job. No money, no worries.

I’m convinced the whole PhD system is just the same racket as the new IRS preparer regulations – a way for insiders to erect barriers to entry to enable them to raise their prices and milk their customers. But it does protect those poor students from being instructed by anybody with actual fresh knowledge of what a CPA firm looks like from the inside, so thank goodness for that.

Job of the Day: Deutsche Bank Needs a Principal Auditor – Assistant Vice President

Deutsche Bank is looking for an experienced auditor to join their Group Audit Legal, Risk and Captial team. The primary role of this position will focus on the Credit Risk Management, Market Risk Management and Treasury functions.

The position is located in New York and requires a strong finance/accounting background with 5 to 8 years experience.


Company: Deutsche Bank

Title: Principal Auditor – AVP

Location: New York, NY

Description: The role is for a Principal Auditor for the Group Audit LRC (Legal, Risk and Capital) team which covers the following functions: Risk Management (Credit, Market, and Operational), Corporate Security and Business Continuity (CSBC), Treasury & Capital Management, Legal and Compliance. The primary focus of this role will be on Credit Risk Management, Market Risk Management and Treasury.

Responsibilities: Successful implementation of risk-based audits both regionally and globally, with audit work that is appropriately risk assessed and aligned to the LRC audit strategy; Undertakes audit assignments and may review audit work completed by other team members and drafts audit reports for review by LRC Audit management, identifying and escalating issues and recommending audit ratings for approval by the PAM and Chief Auditor. Presenting and agreeing key findings with Client management; Contributes to dynamic planning through business monitoring of the areas of their responsibility; Demonstrates understanding of the client’s business; Facilitates issue tracking and validates closure of issues; Continues to develop technical expertise relevant to LRC and Group Audit, including market and regulatory developments; Enhance team’s position as a center of excellence for LRC related activities and Issues; Assists with training for Group Audit, prepares updates for GA Senior Management and provides on-going advice to Client management.

Qualifications: The candidate will ideally have an Audit background, however those with considerable experience in Risk would also be considered. Five to eight years of relevant experience is desired. He/she should have knowledge and experience with financial services products and operations, and an understanding of the regulatory framework for DB. Detailed technical knowledge of valuation techniques and risk modelling are considered a plus; He/she will have a strong academic background in finance or accounting; Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office products, and experience using flowcharting applications. Experience with CAATs is also a plus.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Here’s What Big 4 Accountants Need to Know About the Current Job Market

Ernst & Young’s red alert email that was shared by GC yesterday should not be taken lightly. Doesn’t matter where you work – your job is about to get harder.


Chances are your most recent busy season was relentlessly terrible. A year removed from rounds of cuts and going on two years with zilch for a raise, the masses at the Big 4 are getting antsy, as they should. It’s now or never. Raises are coming. People are leaving. What should you do?

Consider it professional osmosis – Remember high school science labs? Same theory applies to today’s financial services job market. In one Petri dish there are overworked and underpaid public accountants; the other has job openings and cash flow. It doesn’t take a lesson from your high school chemistry teacher (or me) to explain how this one works. The back offices of financial markets are increasing their numbers as investments begin to flow in again.

Better than a tax refund – The job market for tax professionals will hopefully see its typical action this summer. According to a recent FINS article, interest in making a change is at an all-time high, “43% of tax professionals are hoping to change jobs when the economy evens out, according to a survey by the large U.S. finance headhunter Ajilon Professional Staffing. ‘That’s a large number — one of the largest numbers than we’ve seen in years,’ said Jodi Chavez, a senior vice president at Ajilon.”

Does this mean 43% of your staff is jumping ship? Hell no. The job market is warm not on fire. But it does mean that you should expect to see more “Farewell” emails like this one. If your buddies skip town in a similar fashion to that letter, please share with us.

What about this E&Y thing? Well…I don’t know. Desperate times sound like they’re wrapped up in a formal message with a $7,500 ribbon on top. KPMG made a similar request for advisory reinforcements a few weeks back but they didn’t go so far to make a public plea for external hires. The E&Y situation is probably not as bad as it’s being played out here at GC; it could be a pre-emptive move to protect the practice from layoffs. How bad is it really? We need to know. Get on the horn and tell us in the comments.

Job of the Day: Bloomberg Needs an Accounting Manager

Bloomberg is looking for someone to assume a leadership role in its Media Accounting Group.

This group oversees the credit, billing, collections, cash application, AR reporting and analysis for all of the company’s media products

The position requires 3 to 5 years of supervisory experience and is located in New York.


Company: Bloomberg

Title: Media Accounting Team Leader

Location: New York, NY

Description: A leadership role within the Media Accounting group whose responsibilities include Credit, Billing, Collections, Cash Application, AR Reporting and Analysis for all Bloomberg media products (Television, Radio, Online and Print).

Responsibilities: We are looking for a hands-on manager with experience in the Order to Cash process (Credit, Collections, Billing, Reporting, Reconciliation). This person will be expected to supervise the work of others while at the same time performing day-to- day job tasks in a fast paced open environment. AdMarc billing system and DART ad server experience preferred.

Qualifications: A degree in accounting is required; Possesses thorough accounting knowledge; 3-5 years of supervisory experience within the media industry.

See the entire description over at the GC Career Center and visit the main page for all your job search needs.

Three Big Benefits to Getting Your PhD in Accounting

Not so long ago, we presented you with the interesting results of the Final Four if schools advanced based the number of accounting research papers produced. This may or may not have piqued your interest in the possibility of ditching the grind of 9 to whenever you get off for the friendly confines of a college campus.

For those of you that are interested, Professor David Wood of Brigham Young University passed along a link that compiles information for anyone giving serious thought to going back to school. We also got some of his thoughts about his own experience as a professor.


Other than everyone calling you “Doctor” there are three benefits that professors enjoy that is listed on BYU’s “So You Want to Get a PhD.?” page. Granted these don’t apply to just those in accounting but to anyone looking to dive into higher ed instruction:

Professors are constantly learning – “Professors spend the majority of their time teaching and researching. Both of these acts are rooted in learning and sharing your learning with others.” Learning? You mean people enjoy learning? Constantly? Yes, it’s true that some accountants are in it for intellectual stimulation as opposed to the glamor, riches, and title. Professor Wood wrote to us in an email, “Every day is filled with exciting new challenges—from thinking about how to improve business through my research to trying to better communicate and reach students.”

Professors want to make a difference in the world – “In the classroom, professors are role models to their students and teach students how to make the world a better place.” Yes there’s some mushy stuff but that’s good, right? Being able to guide future accountants by showing them different paths that careers can take, what opportunities exist now and what the future holds is a rewarding part of a professor’s job. Professors have the amazing opportunity to inspire young minds to want to make a difference in their chosen career. As Professor Wood told us, “College students are at an important cross road in their life and professors can help provide clarity and information for students to make well-informed, good decisions.”

Life as a professor is full of flexibility – “Not only do professors largely work when and where they want, but they also choose what they do.” This is the stuff that most can only dream of in most corporate/Big 4 world – work when you want, where you want, time for hobbies and other activities. Sure you had to work hard at researching and teaching the new wave of CPAs but there’s a lot freedom that comes with it. Again, Professor Wood, “I don’t know any other career that offers the flexibility of academics without bearing substantial financial risk.”

There you have it. Lots of learning, you get to inspire young minds and you basically can live the way you want. Of course it involves some work too but we’ll touch on that later. Meanwhile, you can ponder.

So you want to get a Ph.D.? [BYUaccounting.net]