MAS Magazine Winter 2013

MAS MAGAZINE PRE-RECRUITMENT ISSUE WINTER 2013

MAS MAGAZINE PRE-RECRUITMENT ISSUE WINTER 2013 2


MAS MAGAZINE

MAS E C

MAS C

W A N Y ?

N G F

E A

MAS E

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Editor

Zineb Squalli

Associate editor

Katherine Wagner

Photo Credits

Ahmed Squalli

Bull & Bear

[email protected]

www.masonline.info

4 MAS MAGAZINE PRE-RECRUITMENT ISSUE WINTER 2013

VP FINANCE

VP IT

VP EVENTS

VP RECRUITMENT

VP PROMOTIONS

VP DEVELOPMENT

PRESIDENT

2012 - 2013


VP EXTERNAL

U1 REPRESENTATIVE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

WRITERS


MAS COCKTAIL

While recruitment season has already ended,

students are le with a deep impression of these

even ul past 3 months. It’s important to revisit the

most crucial event for accoun ng students each year:

the MAS Cocktail. It was a night of mingling, laughing

and making connec ons.

Hosted on the 12th of September at the Bonsecours

Market, the MAS Cocktail was a great success ; it was

the result of months of prepara on by our VP Re-

cruitment, Joël Taillefer. As it was the first year at

the Bonsecours Market, great care was taken to op -

mize the networking experience for the students; the

ligh ng, the music and the catering were carefully

planned. The outcome was generally very well-

received by students and recruiters alike.

Recruiters from 21 firms a ended in the hopes of

scouring the students that would best fit into their

firm culture. On the other hand, whether they were

looking for summer internships or full- me

employment, students from various backgrounds

were ac vely seeking the firm with which to launch

their careers. Conversa ons were about various

topics, from accoun ng to how summers were spent.

All in all, the 3 hours passed quickly for the students,

who hoped that good impressions were made. This

busy night, however, was only the beginning of

recruitment season, and students began preparing

for the many other networking events.

Students lined up early to sign in for the 3 hour long

event. Everyone had their own list of firms upon

which they had their eye they had, personally, having

a game plan helped me greatly in making the most of

my me.


MAS thanks all participating firms, professors and students for making this recruitment cocktail a

memorable and successful event.


2013:

WHAT AWAITS IN THE NEW YEAR?

As we enter the New Year, I’d like to start off by wish-

ing each and every one of you all the best – may 2013

bring forth a wave of posi ve change in your lives.

As a U1 student last year, I recall looking for ways to

get involved and to expand my network. In the fall

semester, I sat idly as hundreds of U2 and U3 students

a ended the accoun ng recruitment cocktail,

wondering if there were any ac vi es in store for me.

If any of you share the same concerns I once did, fret

no more. Indeed, the winter semester is very U1

friendly – students will have mul ple occasions to

expose themselves to poten al employers.

This ar cle will outline the winter pre-recruitment

ac vi es offered mainly by public accoun ng firms. For

those students who are keen on ge ng a head start,

these ac vi es represent fantas c opportuni es to

meet representa ves and, at the same me, to learn

about firms’ business prac ces and unique cultures.

Before lis ng the ac vi es, I want to stress the

importance of involvement. By par cipa ng, you

establish a rela onship with firm representa ves

before recruitment even starts. In some cases, firms

can even offer you internships or full me employment

before the recruitment season.

ACTIVITIES

Summer Conferences

Each of the Big Four (PwC, Deloi e, KPMG, Ernst &

Young) host summer conferences during the summer.

These conferences unite students from across the

country and some mes even across North America.

The 2-3 day events are typically held at a resort and

present you with the opportunity to network with

others and, of course, to have fun! Informa on

sessions regarding these conferences will be held in

the upcoming months.


RSM Community Day

This volunteering event, held in June, is a great way to

give back to the community. More informa on is

available at www.givingcounts.ca

KPMG’s Beer & Pizza

KPMG’s annual beer & pizza is a great occasion to

enjoy a meal and mingle with professionals in a casual

se ng. More informa on will be available in the

upcoming weeks.

Be sure to check your McGill email for any related an-

nouncements. You do not want to miss out!


BUDDING OPPORTUNITIES

NEW GROWTH IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING

The Development of

Environmental Accoun ng

Environmental accoun ng is as complex as the sustain-

ability issues that it examines. The recent growth of

the prac ces and the standards associated with this

branch of accoun ng is largely the result of increased

stakeholder interest in issues related to the triple

bo om line and to corporate sustainability and of the

increasing prevalence of government legislature regu-

la ng corporate environmental prac ces. Environmen-

tal accoun ng is many faceted, but the main branches

of environmental accoun ng are integrated economic

and environmental accoun ng, environmental man-

agement accoun ng, and environmental audi ng.

The repor ng of informa on related to the environ-

ment means that this data would also be factored into

the calcula on of major economic indicators such as

GDP; the system of na onal accounts provides the

informa on on which these indicators are based. This

accoun ng system necessitates the crea on of physi-

cal and/or monetary accounts to track changes in

natural resources.

At the present me, environmental expenditures in-

curred to restore or to protect the environment are

expensed because the associated benefits cannot be

reliably measured; the exis ng approach also fails to

capture the value of nonmarketable environmental

goods and services, which are a major asset to any

country, and the consump on of natural resources.

The goal of this type of accoun ng is to link the

economy with the environment in order to increase

the effec veness of policy decisions by accurately

represen ng the true costs of environmental

degrada on through the crea on of new

environmental accounts.

The approach to integrated economic and environ-

mental accoun ng currently varies significantly from

one country to another, and it is believed that this

type of accoun ng would greatly benefit from a

standardized methodology. To this effect, the United

Na ons published the System for Integrated Economic

and Environmental Accoun ng (SEEA) in 1993, and the

UN Sta s cal Commission adopted the revised

interna onal framework of this document just last

year. This framework has begun to be implemented on

an individual basis.

Integrated economic and environmental accoun ng

focuses on the modifica on of governments’ systems

of na onal accounts in order to include the use and

the deple on of na onal natural resources.


Environmental management accoun ng focuses on

the development of measurement systems that cap-

ture all costs – environmental or otherwise – resul ng

from corporate opera ons and on the design and the

implementa on of methods to ascertain that corpo-

ra ons take full financial responsibility for the direct

and the indirect consequences of their ac ons. Firstly,

the quan ta ve analysis of environmental costs is

undertaken through either a top-down or a bo om-

up approach. The former more general approach first

tabulates the cost of environmental damages related

to a specific pollutant on a global level and then

divides through by the total amount of the pollutant;

the la er approach catalogues the costs related to a

specific opera on or technology, and thus provides

cost informa on that is process, loca on, and pollu-

tant specific. Secondly, market-based environmental

policy instruments are put in place to ensure that the

polluter pays for the consequences of their ac ons.

The two main economic measures that are imple-

mented to achieve this objec ve are the environmen-

tal tax and the controlled market for tradable pollu-

on permits. Environmental management accoun ng

involves both accountants and environmental

specialists in order to design a comprehensive cos ng

system; accountants are familiar with cost

measurement systems, but the input of environmen-

tal engineers and government regulators is necessary

in order to incorporate the measurement of

environmental data and to design market systems

that achieve the goals of environmental management

accoun ng.


Environmental audi ng involves the verifica on of

corporate environmental performance with the goal

of assessing whether or not the company is comply-

ing with government standards of environmental

control. In addi on to conduc ng compliance audits

of this type, environmental auditors can also assess

management system deficiencies in order to suggest

where improvements could be made. Just as in the

case of environmental management accoun ng,

environmental specialists and accountants o en

work together on environmental audi ng projects;

accountants are familiar with audi ng procedures,

but typically lack the knowledge related to

environmental metrics that is required to assess the

performance of the company. The Working Group on

Environmental Audi ng (WGEA) is currently working

in collabora on with the Interna onal Organiza on

of Supreme Audit Ins tu ons (INTOSAI) in order to

improve the applica on of audit instruments to envi-

ronmental issues. They are also currently developing

sector-specific environmental audi ng standards, and

they have already conducted several studies and

published preliminary guidelines related to this

developing field.

Environmental Accoun ng in

the Workplace

Accoun ng firms are currently in the process of

emphasizing both their internal and their external

sustainability. On the internal level, they are

focusing on reducing their carbon footprints and

increasing the sustainability of their opera ons.

Meanwhile, on the external scale, all major

accoun ng and consul ng firms are developing focus

groups and pilot projects to help their clients to

achieve their own sustainability goals. Current

services include risk management, strategy develop-

ment and implementa on, greenhouse gas emissions

baseline development and verifica on, and offset

project verifica ons, among others. Over the next

few years, the demand for these services is predicted

to grow substan ally, and the expansion of these

departments will offer significant employment

opportuni es.

In Canada, the implementa on of environmental

accoun ng prac ces is becoming increasingly com-

mon, par cularly in Toronto due to the high density

of corporate headquarters and in Vancouver in the

context of the Vancity project. Closer to home, envi-

ronmental accoun ng opportuni es are increasing

in Quebec due to the ini a on of a cap-and-trade

program in December 2011. The stricter emissions

regula ons associated with this ini a ve will neces-

sitate the verifica on of greenhouse gas emissions

levels by environmental auditors. Furthermore, the

implementa on of this program has necessitated

the crea on of government-managed accounts that

track the number of permits that have been

allocated and the corresponding emissions levels.

In recogni on of their environmental leadership, two

of the Big Four accoun ng firms were among the

companies named Canada’s 2012 Greenest

Employers.


Meanwhile, the aforemen oned SEEA has begun to

be implemented in individual countries across the

globe. European countries are among those who

have developed the most detailed regula ons; the

governments of Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands,

and Denmark have mandated environmental

repor ng, and all member states of the European

Union are required by law to compile informa on in

the SEEA accounts.

Outside of the EU, the sta s cal bodies of a di-

verse profile of countries that includes Australia,

China, Canada, the Philippines, and South Africa

have also commi ed to the development of envi-

ronmental-economic accounts in accordance with

the SEEA conceptual framework. However, uni-

form standards have yet to be agreed upon, and

the current standards are s ll being modified; the

crea on of new accoun ng standards is a lengthy

process.


Meanwhile, the aforemen oned SEEA has begun to be

implemented in individual countries across the globe.

European countries are among those who have devel-

oped the most detailed regula ons; the governments

of Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark

have mandated environmental repor ng, and all mem-

ber states of the European Union are required by law

to compile informa on in the SEEA accounts. Outside

of the EU, the sta s cal bodies of a diverse profile of

countries that includes Australia, China, Canada, the

Philippines, and South Africa have also commi ed to

the development of environmental-economic accounts

in accordance with the SEEA conceptual framework.

However, uniform standards have yet to be agreed up-

on, and the current standards are s ll being modified;

the crea on of new accoun ng standards is a lengthy

process.

Environmental Accoun ng at

McGill University Environmental accoun ng is s ll an emerging field,

and courses addressing issues of environmental ac-

coun ng and of environmental management are in

the process of being developed. At the present me,

environmental accoun ng courses are not widely

available; only three universi es in Canada currently

offer courses that integrate measures of corporate

sustainability into their curriculum. However,

beginning in the fall of 2014, the Desautels Faculty of

Management will offer a new mul disciplinary

course en tled “Sustainability and Environmental

Accoun ng”.


Professors Dror Etzion and Paul Kalyta from McGill

University’s Strategy and Accoun ng Departments

respec vely have collaborated to design an innova-

ve course that focuses on the understanding and

the evalua on of corporate environmental manage-

ment and accoun ng prac ces. This interac ve

course will draw upon the exper se of both

professors in order to examine sustainability issues

both from a strategic and from an accoun ng per-

spec ve. As such, the first part of the course will

focus on the cri cal analysis of exis ng environmen-

tal performance indicators, environmental standards,

and environmental management systems, with an

emphasis on their effect on corporate performance

and on stakeholders. Meanwhile, the second part of

the course will survey corporate environmental

accoun ng prac ces, environmental audi ng

procedures, and environmental risk management

systems. The implementa on of this course will

catapult McGill University onto the fron er of

environmental accoun ng.

Pursuing your Interest in

Environmental Accoun ng

Despite the fact that environmental accoun ng is s ll

developing, there are myriad ways to pursue your

interest in this field or to learn more about it.

if you express interest in the field, it may be possible

for you to get experience in an environment-related

domain, par cularly if you have been recruited by one

of the Big Four. Addi onally, pursuing further studies in

an environment-related field a er receiving your CPA is

also an op on; professionals with experience in both

environmental engineering and accoun ng are

par cularly sought a er.

Furthermore, a contact at Deloi e’s Sustainability and

Climate Change prac ce recommends acquiring experi-

ence related to environmental issues such that you

have some prior knowledge when it comes to seeking a

career in this field. Her recommended approach

includes taking classes in environment, in nego a on,

and in strategy, joining an environmental club, and vol-

unteering with an NGO. Her recommended reading

includes “Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use

Environmental Stragtegy to Innovate, Create Value,

and Build Compe ve Advantage” by Daniel C. Esty

and Andrew Winston, “Natural Capitalism” by L.

Hunter Lovins, Amory Lovins and Paul Hawken, and the

strategy wri ngs of Michael Porter. I will also take the

liberty of adding my own recommenda on: “The

Plundered Planet: Why We Must - and How We Can -

Manage Natural Resources for Global Prosperity” by

Paul Collier.

All in all, the development of this diverse branch of ac-

coun ng is a testament to the fact that accoun ng is a

career that can incorporate a wide range of interests.

Professor Kalyta, who has already incorporated envi-

ronmental management accoun ng into his lectures,

recommends making your interest known to both

friends and future colleagues, who may not be aware

of environmental accoun ng prac ces;

INTERNSHIP— WHAT FIRM IS RIGHT FOR YOU ?

Choosing an internship requires finding the right balance between a firm’s philosophy and a student’s goals. Not every firm is right for every student, just as not every student is right for every firm.

Fuller Landau looks to a ract students who want to work on mandates from the start, are interested in working closely with all levels of staff and most importantly, want to par cipate both professionally and socially in building an award win-ning working environment.

We asked two of our current students to discuss their experience below.

“If I could define working at Fuller for the summer in three words it would be (1) fun, (2) interes ng and (3) educa-onal. From Outdoor Day to Tuesday night soccer games you are immediately a member of the Fuller team the day

you walk in. Your co-workers are friendly and helpful; from partner to fellow auditor everyone is always stopping by your desk to offer you a helping hand. It has been an extremely smooth transi on from the some mes surprising difference between what is taught at school and what is applied at work due to excellent training and on-demand help. I have learned so much this summer and have met so many great people. I am confident that I could not have made a be er choice for my internship. “

Thomas Kontogianis

“I’ve only had a posi ve experience while working at Fuller Landau. On the first day, I met everyone and the follow-ing week, I already felt part of the team. People at FL create a friendly atmosphere but at the same me, it is very professional. Everyone is always willing to answer ques ons and to help develop the teams’ skills. FL did not offer me a just an average internship, but a great internship. I had the chance to work on several mandates and to be exposed to a variety of industries. I never thought I would learn this much and I have loved every moment. I would definitely recommend Fuller Landau to my friends and fellow students. “

Sophie-Andrée Fugère

If Fuller Landau sounds like a place you would like to learn and grow, don’t hesitate to apply online at www.flmontreal.com – we look forward to working with you!

1010 De la Gauche ère Ouest | Suite 200

Montreal, Quebec, H3B 2S1 www.flmontreal.com

Member of the global network – www.leadingedgealliance.com


Now that MAS’s main event -- fall recruitment -- has

passed (and with great success, may I add!), our

commi ee’s goal for this winter semester is to pre-

pare students who will be going through next fall’s

recruitment. Our team is very excited to be organiz-

ing many events for U1 students and for those who

might be interested in ge ng involved with the club

next year.

First on the agenda is the yearly MAS ski trip that

takes place in January. Though the event deadline has

already passed, it would be useful to keep this oppor-

tunity in mind for next year. Indeed, the ski trip is a

great way to network with other accoun ng students,

the MAS commi ee, and firm representa ves. The

three-day getaway is also held at the beginning of the

semester and so offers a brief reprieve from school-

work before February’s storm of midterm exams.

When registra on for the event opens up in the fall, it

is highly suggested to sign up quickly as ckets sell out

ridiculously fast!

Next up is the Accoun ng Workshop aimed at U1

(or very keen U0) students who might be interested

in pursuing a major in accoun ng but who require

further informa on on this subject . This one-day

event held in February will feature presenta on

from a representa ve of the CPA order. The effects

of Quebec’s unifica on of the tles under the gen-

eral CPA designa on will be discussed. Further-

more, some older accoun ng students will hold

talks about their experiences through recruitment,

CACEE-wri ng, internships and CA school. At the

end of the workshop, a mock-cocktail will take

place so that students can improve their network-

ing skills. Overall, this Workshop is a fantas c way

to get an overview of what a major in accoun ng

entails and what steps each student hoping to work

in this field must take.

Having a ended the U1 Accoun ng Workshop last

winter, I can say that it really helped me grasp how

intense the recruitment process could be and how

much prepara on is needed beforehand. It was es-

pecially useful for me to hear ps on CACEE-wri ng,

as well as ge ng a general sense of what life a er

school could be like. As such, I highly recommend

this event if you might not be too sure of what you

would like to do later on because it will really give

you an idea of the profession and the work needed

to get there.

MAS EVENTS


On March 8, 9, and 10, MAS will be hosting the

very first CPA Congress. This huge three-day event

will gather over two hundred accoun ng students

from business schools across Quebec. Backed by the

Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Qué-

bec, the event will be an important chance for each

school’s accoun ng commi ee to meet their peers,

a end conferences by speakers working in the field,

and strengthening inter-university rela onships. The

CPA Congress is an event of quite some magnitude

and will thus require many volunteers to help the

ac vi es go smoothly. I would suggest that U0 or U1

students hoping to get involved gn up for this vol-

unteering opportunity as they will be working closely

with both the MAS commi ee and the CPA Congress

subcommi ee. Not only would this greatly increase

your chances of being part of MAS next year, it could

also help you network with representa ves from the

CPA Order, as well as other students passionate

about accoun ng. We will be pos ng a link to regis-

ter as a volunteer very soon, so stay tuned! If you

wish to be a pquali esart of this as soon as possible,

you can also contact Ibrahim Irfan Moosa who is VP

Logis cs at vp_logis [email protected]. We

hope to see you there! (Note: French is a require-

ment to be a volunteer .)

Lastly, MAS will be holding a beer and pizza in March,

which is another great way to get to meet the other

members of MAS as well as the commi ee. This infor-

mal event is, once again, great for networking with

your peers and will be par cularly useful for students

wishing to try out for a posi on on the commi ee.

Many of our team will be gradua ng and so exec spots

will be opening up; more details will be included on

our website (masonline.info) once the me comes.

Being part of the Management Accoun ng Society

comes with many perks, including working with a

commi ee of dynamic students that are ambi ous

and enthusias c about their subject ma er. We are

always looking for similarly-driven people to join the

commi ee and so, if you think you fit the profile, do

come meet us at the beer and pizza!

On a somewhat related note, an important and re-

curring piece of advice that we received at the Work-

shop last year was that it is crucial to get involved.

McGill has a plethora of clubs that can help you

showcase and develop your skills: leadership, organi-

za onal, interpersonal, you name it! All of these

quali es will be important to highlight when recruit-

ment arrives.

MAS Magazine Winter 2013

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Transcript of MAS Magazine Winter 2013