AICPA Launches Website for College Students and CPA Exam Candidates

ThisWaytoCPA.com Highlights Many Career Paths of a CPA

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants launched a new website, ThisWaytoCPA.com, to educate college students and CPA-exam candidates about the path to becoming a CPA and the multiple career opportunities in the profession.

ThisWaytoCPA.com is a companion to the AICPA's popular website, StartHereGoPlaces.com, which educates high school students about accounting careers. Since its 2001 launch, StartHereGoPlaces.com has gained users in all 50 states and 180 countries.

"Tens of thousands of college students major in accounting each year," said Jeannie Patton, AICPA vice president for students, academics and membership. "ThisWaytoCPA.com gives students and exam candidates information and tools to answer questions about many rewarding accounting careers."

Key features of ThisWaytoCPA.com are:

• Journals by individuals who recently passed the CPA exam explaining what they did to prepare for the exam
• Mock job interviews and resume tips
• "Find your Fit," a set of questions that will help users determine which areas of accounting are of the greatest interest
• An exam timeline that maps out the process of taking the exam
• State-by-state CPA licensure requirements, such as the education prerequisites to take the exam, with links to state CPA societies and state boards of accountancy
• A list of more than 100 scholarships available to accounting and business students
• Information about career paths and jobs
• A forum where students and exam candidates can post questions and interact with peers
• CPA profiles that detail the day-to-day activities of real life CPAs
• Information on specialized credentials available to CPAs

ThisWaytoCPA.com also features the new AICPA book The Inside Track to Careers in Accounting by Stan Ross and James Carberry, which is a compendium of job descriptions, salary ranges and interviews with 50 CPAs from all sectors of the profession.

To give college students an opportunity to experience working with a client, the AICPA is sponsoring a competition on improving sustainability practices in business. Students will compete to make the practices of The Umstead Hotel & Spa, a North Carolina luxury hotel, align better with the principles of sustainability. The contest is open to students pursuing either an associate's or bachelor's degree. Students must work in teams of four, each of which must include at least two accounting majors. The team placing first will receive $10,000; the second-place team, $5,000; and the third-place team, $2,500.

Accounting Degrees on the Rise

The AICPA's 2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits reported that there were more than 66,000 bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting awarded during the 2007 - 2008 academic year—a record number—and more than 213,000 accounting students enrolled in bachelor's, master's and doctoral accounting programs. The next Trends report is due in 2011.

About the AICPA

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org) is the national, professional association of CPAs, with more than 360,000 CPA members worldwide in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student affiliates and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination. The AICPA publishes the website www.IFRS.com to inform members and the public about international accounting standards.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Durham, N.C., Ewing, N.J. and Lewisville, Texas.

SOURCE American Institute of Certified Public Accountants