Which Big 4 Firm Had the Most Elijah Watt Sells Award Winners in 2021?
For years I would copy paste the entire list of Elijah Watt Sells Award winners on this here website even though I’m sure winners Googling themselves were the only ones reading said list. This year I’m continuing the tradition from last year and skipping past that to get right to the one thing all you […]
The Not-So-Secret Way to Get an Elijah Watt Sells Award
Since 1923, the Elijah Watt Sells Award has recognized the extraordinary achievements of the top-performing CPA exam candidates each year, a rare and hard-earned reward for above-average scores. The few, the proud, the … wait, wrong slogan. Have you ever wondered just who Elijah Watt Sells even was? Most people probably assume he was some […]
Rumor of the Day: PwC No Longer Pays Out a $20K Elijah Watt Sells Award Bonus
I mean, it’s on Reddit so it must be true. Let’s take a look. Seen talk of this within the last half year and thought I should make a thread to let people know. You can still get a CPA pass bonus of 6k (or 5k, apparently it depends on line of service), but they […]
Now You Know Why There Are So Many Elijah Watt Sells Award Winners
Remember yesterday when we shared with you the 55 winners of the 2013 Elijah Watt Sells award? And remember when I asked out loud why are there so darn many of them? The AICPA was kind enough to clue me in. Here's what they told me: If you want to go really far back, (all […]
2013 Elijah Watt Sells Award Winners Announced and Crikey There Are a Ton of Them
OK, this is just getting ridiculous. It used to be the 10 best CPA exam performers in the entire country and this year's list features FIFTY-FIVE individuals. Is this like in elementary school when everyone on the Little Kickers soccer team got a trophy even if they warmed the bench the entire season or, worse, […]
Exclusive: Inside the Mind of an Elijah Watt Sells Award Winner
Back when I worked in HR for a public accounting firm, it was common to receive and send out requests for best practices in employment policy. Such information is often shared freely across non-competing firms all in support of advancing people initiatives within the profession. Most often I was (and still am) a Go-Giver in […]
Your Reward for Winning the Elijah Watt Sells Award Is Winning the Elijah Watt Sells Award (and Maybe Some Cash)
Have a question for GC’s exclusive team of underachievers? Get in touch and we’ll do our best to do the research for you. From the mailbag: Is there any career benefit to not only passing the CPA exams, but aceing them and getting the Elijah Watts Sells award? You didn’t hear? The Elijah Watt Sells […]
ICYMI: Here’s the Yearly Press Release From Becker Reminding Us They Rule
It happens every year like clockwork (well, not entirely, some years the Becker PR folks are a little too tied up to get the press release out promptly), the Elijah Watt Sells winners are released and then comes the inevitable patting-themselves-on-the-back from our friends at Becker:
Here Are Your 2012 Elijah Watt Sells Winners
*waits anxiously for Becker press release saying 42 of the 39 winners prepared for the exam using Becker products* The AICPA has announced 2012 Elijah Watt Sells Award winners or, as the haters call them, the overachievers who got a cumulative average score above 95.50 their first attempt. More than 92,000 candidates sat for the […]
Becker Still the Choice Among CPA Exam Overachievers
Serious question: when did they start handing out nearly FORTY Elijah Watt Sells awards a year instead of 10? Is this like what they started doing in elementary school when they would hand out trophies to all the kids on the soccer team, even the big fat losers? Anyway, the AICPA announced 37 Elijah Watt […]
(UPDATE) Is It True You Get $20,000 From the Big 4 For Getting the Elijah Watt Sells Award?
Have a question for GC's exclusive team of underachievers? Get in touch and we'll do our best to do the research for you. Hey GC Team (Adrienne/Caleb/MIA freelancer), I'm a CPA candidate starting with the Big 4 this fall. I'm potentially in line to get the EWS award (FAR-94, AUD-96, REG-98, BEC on 8/14) […]
Somehow, They Figured Out 2011 Elijah Watt Sells Winners Already
Wait just one second… didn't they just announce the Elijah Watt Sells Award winners for 2010? I guess the AICPA wasn't kidding when they said the 2011 exam would be graded faster than ever. Somehow, we've got 2011 Elijah Watt Sells winners in record time. Here they are for your shaming. Of 90,000 candidates who took the […]
Is Anyone Surprised That Becker Swept The Elijah Watt Sells Winners?
This press release should come as a surprise to absolutely no one: Becker Professional Education, a global leader in professional education and a part of DeVry Inc., announced that all 19 of the 2010 Elijah Watt Sells Award winners prepared for the exam with Becker's CPA Exam Review. Since the American Institute of Certified Public […]
Attention Overachievers: AICPA Announces 2009 Elijah Watt Sells Award Winners
For those of you who pride yourselves on being better than everyone else, the Elijah Watt Sells Award is just about as prestigious an acknowledgment as they come for future CPAs. The award, founded in 1923 and named after one of New York’s first CPAs, recognizes the top CPA exam scores in the country and means honor, recognition and sometimes a massive bonus for those talented enough at variances and constructing statements of cash flows under a time crunch to score in the way high 90s on all four parts of the exam.
The 2009 award is unique as multiple candidates managed the same exact exceptionally high scores so this tim inners. Out of 93,000 CPA exam candidates in 2009, these 15 can say they are truly special.
We doubt any of the following winners spend their time trolling Going Concern but if they do, please accept our congratulations for a job well-done!
Kimberly Anne Brant (Minnesota), a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Masters of Accounting, is currently employed with Deloitte & Touche LLP, in Minneapolis.
Michelle Elizabeth Burket (Virginia), a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in Business Administration and a Masters of Accounting is currently employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers in McLean, Va.
Maria M. Goto (Hawaii), a graduate of the University of Washington with a BA in Accounting, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Kay J. Hashimoto (New York), a graduate of Harvard University with a BA in Economics and a MBA in Accounting from Canisius College, is currently employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City.
Jeremy J. Hurwitch (Florida), a graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a BA in Accounting and Masters of Accounting, is currently employed with Deloitte & Touche LLP in Boca Raton, Fla.
Matthew Saje Kult (Wisconsin), a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a Bachelors in Accounting and Masters of Science in Public Accounting, is currently employed at Ernst & Young LLP in Milwaukee.
Isaiah L. Massey (Texas), a graduate of Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy, and a Master in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas, is currently employed by Deloitte & Touche LLP in Houston.
Luke T. Olson (Georgia), a graduate of Brigham Young University with a BS in Accounting and Master of Accountancy, is currently employed with Ernst & Young in Atlanta.
Ryan Christopher Ossowski (Florida), a graduate of the University of Central Florida with a BS in Business Administration – Accounting, and BS in Computer Science, is currently employed with James Moore & Co., P.L. in Daytona Beach.
Andrew N. Rebstock (Wisconsin), a graduate of Marquette University with a BS in Business Administration and Master of Science in Accounting, is currently employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Milwaukee.
Abigail Lindsay Richards (North Carolina), a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, and Masters of Accountancy from the University of North Carolina, is currently employed with Duke Energy in Charlotte, N.C.
Peter William Rogers (New York), a graduate of Babson College with a BS and Master of Science in Accounting, is currently employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in New York City.
Ryan Malcolm Scadding (Massachusetts), a graduate of Bryant University with a BS in Business Administration and Masters of Professional Accountancy, is currently employed with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Boston.
Jessie D. Wagner (Oklahoma), a graduate of Oklahoma State University – Stillwater with a BS in Business Administration and Master of Science in Accounting, is currently employed with Ernst & Young LLP in Tulsa, Okla.
Ryan F. Williamson (Illinois), a graduate of Governors State University with a BS in Accounting, a BA in Mathematics and Music from Illinois Wesleyan University, and an MS in Mathematics from Illinois State University, is currently employed with Groskreutz, Schmidt, Abraham, Eshleman & Gerretse in Kankakee, Ill.
For those of you who didn’t even come close, don’t worry, no one cares anyway.
Elijah Watt Sells Award Recipients Make the Rest of Us Want to Puke
The AICPA announced the winners of the Elijah Watt Sells awards yesterday. For you mere mortals, this is an award for the 10 highest cumulative scorers on the CPA exam.
Glancing over the recipients we notice that two Big 4 firms (KPMG and Deloitte) enslave employ five of the recipients. A couple of recipients work in industry and a few more work for smaller, local firms.
This leads to the obvious question of why the hell P. Dubya and E&Y were totally shut out? Grant Thornton and BDO were also blanked. Are the honchos at the Radio Station and Big D giving the worker bees more time to study? Are P. Dubs, E&Y, et al. cutting out the bonuses for passing and thus destroying anyone’s motivation for passing? Are those of you looking to pass already choosing between eating and sleeping (and maybe sex) so studying just isn’t happening? Sells was a Big D founder so maybe the whole thing is rigged? Thoughts anyone?
Oh and congratulate the recipients while you’re at it (without vomiting on them).
AICPA-HONORS-TOP-CPA-EXAMINATION-PERFORMERS.pdf