Originally Posted by
RXS676
Some companies, especially larger, publicly-traded companies, have Internal Audit departments, which will allow you to get signed off for your audit hours. Some companies will allow you to do a rotation in internal audit even if you don't work in that particular department so that you can meet the experience requirement for your CPA.
Just to be clear, in most states, experience consists of providing any type of services or advice using accounting, attest, compilation, management advisory, financial advisory, tax, or consulting skills.
As the certification requirements vary greatly from state to state, the website below is a very useful resource for determining state specific requirements:
State Requirements
Originally Posted by
bryris
I do believe that the large firms (big 4) are laying people off in proportion to the amount of business they are losing due to clients liquidating or going with a cheaper firm, etc.
I have to think the big four are in pretty good shape. Liquidations may have hurt them some, but overall they still have the market pretty well cornered. Keep in mind that navigating complex government oversight (i.e. regulation) is the professions bread and butter. Think Sarbanes-Oxley; after that piece of legislation passed in 2002 there weren't enough CPA's to be had. Only in the past year or two has supply finally caught up with demand.
Furthermore, I can only think that whatever legislation comes out of this current financial mess will be a boon for those in the career. You are entering the profession during very interesting times. Good luck knocking the exam out. It's a beast.