AuditClub, a provider of audit personnel and support, launched the AuditClub Academy program Thursday to raise awareness about auditing careers and offer career development opportunities to aspiring CPAs.
While pursuing their college education, AuditClub Academy "cadets" will team with senior-level chief auditors to support AuditClub members, which range from CPA firms to private companies. The program accompanies students throughout their entire undergraduate and graduate journey, mainly targeting high school seniors and college freshmen. Candidates have until December 15 to apply and up to five students will be selected.
"We wanted to figure out what we could do that's unique and what will help students be more interested and actively engaged in the profession at an earlier point in their career," said AuditClub CEO Chris Vanover. "Our core mission is to improve public accounting on several levels, and we're in the process of building an alternative model that can better support CPA firms and college educators."
Vanover said the AuditClub Academy will accept up to five students to commit eight hours per week throughout the year to assist chief auditors. They will gain work experience on a wide range of subjects, including consulting and researching technical accounting and auditing issues; supporting CPA firms undergoing PCAOB inspections or AICPA peer reviews; developing training materials on relevant accounting and auditing topics; composing quality control policies and procedures; and more.
The cadets will have access to flexible and virtual work arrangements, as well as mentoring opportunities with senior staff and the ability to forge connections with multiple AuditClub CPA member firms. Many employees at AuditClub have firsthand experience as firm partners, directors and college educators.
Vanover himself has been a lecturer in auditing and accounting for undergraduate and graduate students since 2010, while both he and chief auditor Ralph Nach have served as educators for 20-20 Services and other CPA firm training organizations for a number of years. Vanover said AuditClub's biggest goal is to make public accounting better, part of which comes through educating accounting professionals, and this is the perspective he wants to share with students.
"We are really trying to offer an alternative CPA firm that can get students excited about the profession," said Vanover. "Currently, our primary focus is supporting CPA firms so these students at the AuditClub Academy would see our CPA firm operating in a completely different light. Ideally, we would like to open up their eyes and appreciate that a career in auditing is not as bad as the stories they read or videos they watch, but starts with the firm you choose to go with."
Vanover said the AuditClub Academy is designed to offer students the optimal roadmap to gain professional experience and achieve their academic goals while offering enough time to prepare for the CPA exam. As a result, students will attend targeted training during each of their first three years in the program and eventually work with AuditClub's team in their fourth year to find the right time to sit for the exam, with the support of CPA exam prep courses offered by the firm.
As a result, AuditClub hopes students will become highly skilled professionals by the time they graduate from college, and should they decide to become full-time employees at a public accounting firm, they will already be familiar with auditing and ready for CPA licensure. While Vanover acknowledges the value of the 150-credit hours requirement, he recognizes that balancing work with the time commitment required by the exam can be extremely challenging for students.
"It all connects back to our mission: There are a lot of existing and aspiring CPAs who are looking for alternatives, and we are trying to solve the critical problems that are out there," concluded Vanover. "We are doing our part to make the profession better, and AuditClub Academy is just one of those ways."
