Tennessee Society of CPAs holds Accounting Academy for 43 students on campus
Janice Ng |
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Click here to see a video of the Accounting Academy.
For the 12th year, the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants welcomed high school students from throughout Tennessee to take part in a four-day camp called the Accounting Academy hosted at Lipscomb University.
During the program, students are introduced to accounting, finance, economics, leadership and management as CPAs and business leaders share their experience, provide tips for success and discuss educational opportunities.
Perry Moore, Lipscomb accounting professor and director of this year’s academy, says its purpose is to encourage young students to pursue accounting early on.
“In accounting, the jobs vary,” Moore said. “Since there are many more jobs than there are students, we’re trying to create more interest in accounting than we currently find, because we need good students from a variety of backgrounds.”
Students visited three of the Big Four accounting firms in Nashville (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and KPMG) as well as two local CPA firms (Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain and Decosimo).
They also had a chance to visit the Tennessee Titans’ locker room, practice field and training rooms, as well as meet with the Titans’ chief finance officer.
Jenny Sai, a student from Nashville’s Hume Fogg High School, said she most enjoyed meeting Jenneen Kaufman, CFO of the Titans, and visiting the Nashville branches of the top four accounting firms in the nation.
“I made so many connections which will be very valuable in the future.,” said Sai, who is a participant in Nashville’s Rock the Street ,Wall Street program, a financial literacy program for high school girls established by Lipscomb’s Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership graduate Maura Cunningham.
Four girls from the Rock the Street program were accepted to attend the 2013 Accounting Academy. Sai was voted “most outstanding student” at the academy.
Danielle Carpenter, a rising senior from Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., had a positive takeaway from the program.
“It was really fun,” Carpenter said. “We got to see a lot of different accounting firms and see different jobs they did. It was really eye opening. There was (one speaker) who is an accountant, he’s in the FBI, and he told us about some of the things he’s done over the last 20 years, which was cool.”
Carpenter says attending Lipscomb in the future is definitely a possibility.
Keith Messer from Strawberry Plains, Tenn., enjoyed watching accountants in action.
“It was really nice to go and explore the actual profession of accounting,” Messer said. “I got some really good tips on how to go through my high school career as well as what to do when I get to college.
“The advice we got from Deloitte was my favorite experience. They just kept telling you to make sure that you stay on track throughout school, which is the best route to go.”
Tuition to attend the Accounting Academy is fully funded by the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants.
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