EY Accounting and Public Policy Symposium Days 4 and 5

Welcome back, future accounting superstars! Day 4 and 5 of the EY Accounting and Public Policy Symposium rounded out a great week. 

Thursday started with a look at tax from two different perspectives. F. Michael Dell is the leader of the EY Center for Tax Policy and Dr. Robert Carroll is the National Director for EY Quantitative Economics and Statistics. Mr. Dell provided a practitioner's viewpoint of tax, as he is a tax partner and has worked preparing tax returns his whole career. Dr. Carroll provided a more analytical, theoretical view, as he’s an economist who has previously worked at the US Treasury Department on tax policy issues. We also heard from Shuana Steele, EY’s Director of Regulatory Policy.

After lunch, we walked a few blocks to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to have a panel on standards, inspections, enforcement, and research and analysis. I really enjoyed this presentation. The PCAOB is a private sector non-profit that audits the auditors. They shape auditing standards, perform quality assurance inspections of audits, and investigate when audits go really wrong. Most of the people working at the PCAOB had prior experience in public accounting and seemed very happy with their jobs.

Day 4 ended with a presentation on health care reform by Keith Fontenot. Keith served as the former Associate Director for Health in the White House Office of Management and Budget, so he has lots of real world experience with health care reform. This, along with tax reform, may be one of the most complex public policy areas. It is so difficult to balance benefits and costs while also thinking about the wellbeing of people and reelection prospects.

Day 5 was quick, as it was a half day. It started with an exciting presentation by the FBI. We had FBI Forensic Accountants and an FBI Special Agent talk about how the FBI conducts financial crime investigations. They wove lots of personal anecdotes into the presentation and then sat on a panel to answer our many questions. I was really intrigued by how diverse their experience was. The agent was a CPA and previously worked in Big Four audit and as a controller. The accountants worked in public accounting audit and forensic accounting/litigation support in the private sector before joining the government.

The last presentation was by Steven Koons and two Ross MAcc alumni at Cotton and Company, a government auditing firm based near DC. Steve leads the US Marine Corps audit for his firm and it sounds like fascinating work. The auditors are frequently required to get security clearances, as their audit client’s operations can be classified. Steve explained how their audits help ensure the government agencies are accountable to the taxpayers and using their resources efficiently.

It was an incredible whirlwind of a week where we learned about how accounting fits into government and strengthened friendships. The EY Accounting and Public Policy Symposium was definitely one of the best parts of my Ross MAcc experience and I’m so thankful for it.

Best of luck as you prepare your applications and GO BLUE!