PricewaterhouseCoopers Center for Innovation in Professional Services: Programs & Events

The PricewaterhouseCoopers Center for Innovation in Professional Services seeks to advance our collective knowledge of professional services by actively engaging a diverse group of students, faculty, and practitioners interested in exploring innovation opportunities and best practices. In an effort to achieve this mission, the Center grants faculty awards for student-centric programs during the academic year. Intended to provide broad exposure to diverse issues across professional-service domains, program topics range from international accounting standards, to the role of expertise post Sarbanes-Oxley, to communication skill development through a mock press conference. Integrated into the McIntire curriculum, these programs are open not only to interested undergraduate and graduate students at McIntire but also to faculty and other University students as appropriate. Below are brief descriptions of some recent and upcoming programs.

Exploring the Dynamics of Business Advisory Services
September 6, 2007 (Elizabeth Thurston)

The consulting industry grew from less than $5 billion in 1980 in global revenues to $60 billion in 1996 while enjoying double-digit growth rates. Fueling much of that growth were the Big Eight accounting firms that leveraged their C-level relationships and direct access to audit clients' financial information to help their clients with any type of business problem through higher-margin, value-added consulting services. By 1999, the consulting industry had grown to over $100 billion, with the Big Five firms and Andersen Consulting accounting for 44% global market share.

By 2000, auditor independence concerns related to these firms' growing reliance on non-audit services and the potential for compromised objectivity in financial reporting loomed large. Widespread independence violations, SEC pressure on firms to separate their accounting and consulting practices, and public concerns catalyzed a variety of structural changes among the Big Five. From 2000 through the summer of 2002, these included the sale of Ernst & Young's consulting services to Cap Gemini Sogeti, Andersen Consulting's official separation from Arthur Andersen prior to its Accenture IPO, KPMG's spin-off of its consulting practice through an IPO and ultimate name change to BearingPoint, IBM's acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' consulting services, and Deloitte Consulting's breaking away from Deloitte & Touche to operate as a separate business unit under its DT Tomatsu parent.

After these structural changes, the very public accounting scandals in the summer of 2002 led to the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), which directly addressed auditor independence. Specifically, Section 201 of SOX prohibited registered public accounting firms from providing a variety of specific non-audit services to its core audit clients including previously lucrative systems design and implementation work. Although firms could engage in certain non-audit services, these services required approval by the client's audit committee. Given SOX compliance issues and the very public demise of Arthur Andersen, the accounting firms appeared fearful at the time of doing anything that hinted at any independence violation or any impropriety that further erode public trust.

From an outside perspective, the immediate impact of SOX resulted in two significant shifts in client-service focus for the accounting firms. The first was fast and furious development and testing of clients' internal control systems per SOX Section 404. The second was a major restructuring of relationships across core audit and non-audit clients. With firms no longer allowed to provide non-audit services to their audit clients, the battle for new clients for non-audit services -- or business advisory services -- began.

Now almost five years after the passage of SOX, it is especially interesting to reflect on the changes that have occurred in the accounting landscape in the last decade. Although accounting firms have been scrutinized, criticized, and even regulated against offering "consulting" services, the Big Four accounting firms today are leveraging their in-house financial and accounting capabilities once again to dominate the consulting arena. In fact, the Big Four are recognized as top-six service providers within the $63 billion global "business advisory services" (BAS) segment of the consulting industry, competing among firms such as McKinsey & Company, Booz Allen Hamilton, Navigant Consulting, and the like.

Given this historical context and the recent popularity of BAS recruiting and client-service offerings, "Exploring the Dynamics of  Business Advisory Services" seeks to introduce interested McIntire undergraduates, graduates, and faculty to BAS trends, work, firm differences, and career considerations through a facilitated panel discussion of BAS Providers. Panelists will be asked to present their perspectives on these topics as well as address participant questions. The panel participants are as follows:

Clint Bowes (McIntire ‘84), Audit Partner at Ernst & Young LLP
Jeff Green (McIntire ‘88), Managing Director at Navigant Consulting
Jimmy Henry (McIntire ‘73), Vice President and Director at
Booz Allen Hamilton

The Role of the Accounting Professional
March 14, 2007 (Pat Wilkie)

Feedback from advanced accounting students and the business community suggests that undergraduates do not fully grasp the broad range of activities performed by people with formal training in accounting. The “Role of the Accounting Professional in the Accounting Profession" panel exposed interested pre-Commerce accounting students to career possibilities for those with formal accounting education. The session entailed a facilitated panel discussion of accounting professionals that  included Tricia Benz Daniels, a Partner at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services in Forensic & Dispute Services; Mary Erickson, Director of Examination Development at the CFA Institute; Henry Barratt Jr., Founder and Managing Director of Blue Water Capital LLC; and Matt Yu, an Associate in the Transaction Advisory Services group at Ernst & Young. An informal networking session with light snacks was provided for panelists, participants, and other invited guests interested in further dialogue.

The Future of International Accounting Standards and Financial Reporting
March 16, 2006 (Bill Shenkir)

This event built on the success of last year’s “Progress Toward Global Accounting Standards” event with a guest-speaker seminar conducted by Jim Leisenring from the International Accounting Standards Board in London.  An informal social gathering with light hors d'oeuvres  followd the panel for panelists and participants interested in further discussion. The discussion was open to graduate and advanced accounting students, members of Beta Alpha Psi, as well as select students, McIntire faculty, and outside professionals. 

Fifth Annual Business and Media Event, “Next Question, Please” Mock Press Conference
Spring 2006 (Lynn Hamilton)

This mock press conference leveraged the Center's prior three years of successful sponsorship of the Business and Media Event. As in previous years, McIntire students played the roles of corporate executives and, working in teams, held corporate press conferences, taking questions from business journalism students invited to the event. Students were required to anticipate likely questions, including hostile ones, plan responses, and consider the reactions of various audiences beyond the immediate one consisting of reporters. Media and public relations professionals were invited to observe the mock press conferences and to provide feedback following a lunch in which McIntire Comm 464 students and the invited business journalism students discussed their press conference experience. 

2005 Past Events

• The Role of Expertise Post Sarbanes-Oxley

• Fourth Annual Mock Press Conference

2004 Past Events

• “Leading in a Connected World” Cocktails and Research Poster Session

• Establishing International Accounting Standards for Financial Reporting

• Third Annual Mock Press Conference

2003 Past Events

• Accounting Careers, A Look at the Options

• Rebuilding Respect and Trust in Business: What is the Role of Wisdom and Integrity

• Second Annual Mock Press Conference

2002 Past Events

• Corporate Accountability and Financial Reporting in the Post-Enron Era

• Managing the Knowledge-Based Organization

2001 Past Events

• Business-Media Relations in the New Economy: What's Happened? What's Next?

• Enterprise Risk Management Event

• E-Business Consulting Panel

• Life in Advertising Panel