On February 17, 2021, the Student Accounting Association held its second meeting of the spring semester with guest speaker Todd Lucas ’02 (accounting), a senior audit manager at Schneider Downs’ Pittsburgh office. Accompanying him were IUP alumni Ed Friel ’88 (shareholder), Jim Yard ’93 (shareholder), Laria Moore ’19 (staff II member), and Ed Kremmel ’16 (senior auditor).
These speakers offered great insight on what Schneider Downs stand for, what services they offer, and how the COVID pandemic altered their way of doing business. A brief bulleted summary of the key points in the meeting:
- Schneider Downs emphasizes the people in their company; both employees and their customers. When asked why they have stayed with Schneider Downs for a long time, the common threads in each answer were the way they are respected as an employee, and the people they work with. This aligns with their mission of care, integrity, balance, respect, and drive. Not only does Schneider Downs care about their employees, they also give back to the community in many ways, as Todd shared.
- Schneider Downs provides accounting, tax, and business advisory services. Jim shared that the advisory services are a big part of the firm’s successes. He also notes that Schneider Downs utilizes every team member’s strength and places them where they would do their best work. Overall, Schneider Downs is very diversified when it comes to the services offered.
- Schneider Downs did not let the COVID pandemic alter their growth or success. Ed shared that Schneider Downs was named one of the “Five Accounting Firms Thriving During COVID.” They noted that this was because of the innovative technology that allowed them an easy transition into a virtual working environment.
- Schneider Downs is, overall, a great place to work and grow. Todd mentioned that they like to recruit heavily from IUP, because of the quality education that Eberly gives. If you are interested in going into public accounting, strongly consider Schneider Downs. It was emphasized that interns get a quality experience as they are doing staff work accompanied by a mentor.
The next Student Accounting Association meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Zoom, where we will welcome guest speaker Susan Maloney ’85 (accounting), the firm director at Baker Tilly in their Pittsburgh office. The SAA president, Shelby Lowery, will email the link to this Zoom meeting to all accounting majors.