On November 28, 2017, the Student Accounting Association hosted guest speaker Megan Morris, a 2014 IUP alumnus. She graduated from IUP with degrees in accounting and criminology.
At IUP she was involved in the Business Honors program as well as the Cook Honors College and served as the 2013 SAA president. Her original plan was to focus on forensic accounting, but she ended up with Lumsden & McCormick, a public accounting firm in Buffalo, New York.
Morris is a senior tax accountant at Lumsden & McCormick, where she started in 2014. As a tax senior, she works on mainly S Corporations and C Corporations.
She talked about what to look for in a public accounting firm. She had multiple offers out of college, but she picked the best fit for her, which was important. One example she gave was that her firm has on-site parking free of charge, whereas some other firms in the city do not have this luxury. She encouraged that you ask questions while at interviews and while on the job to complement your knowledge.
Photo: Jordan Schofield, 2017 SAA publicity co-chair and 2018 Career Day co-chair; Megan Morris, 2014 IUP accounting major and senior tax accountant at Lumsden & McCormick; Kirstin Davis, SAA member; Anthony Maticic, 2017 SAA mentoring chair and 2018 president, and Billy Miles, 2018 SAA publicity co-chair.
She also discussed the opportunities in public accounting. She said that, at her firm, partners are required to retire at 65; therefore, there are plenty of opportunities for promotion. In the next year, 50 percent of their 14 partners are retiring.
She explained that public accounting requires a lot of hours, but the benefits pay off such as lightened hours during downtime as well as the culture at the firm. Lumsden & McCormick often provides lunch at the office, holds holiday parties, and participates in multiple community efforts.
Kim Anderson, the SAA faculty advisor, invited Morris to speak to the SAA. Morris was a student in Anderson’s Intermediate Accounting I class during the fall 2011 semester, and they worked closely together when Morris served as the 2013 SAA president.
If you have any questions, Morris said she would be happy to answer them. You can contact her at mmorris@lumsdencpa.com.