Where are they now?

Pelton pops up in NCAA promotional Matt Pelton '10: What can't this young man do? Last April, the Accounting newsletter announced his internship at the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. But Pelton also had an outstanding career as a student athlete (basketball) at Augustana. And when the NCAA rolled out its new branding initiative, "Discover-Develop-Dedicate," on July 20, 2010, who should be prominently featured? Matt Pelton! You can read more about that here. But some of the highlights are below. • 3.93 overall GPA • Majors in Accounting, Finance and International Business • Third Augustana graduate to receive an internship through the Financial Accounting Foundation • Named MVP in senior year for basketball team • 2nd team All CCIW honors two years in a row • Named to the ESPN - The Magazine Academic All-American team at the end of the 2009-2010 season • Pursued international experience with trips to China and South Africa To quote his coach, Grey Giovianine: "He embodies the best of college athletics for what he has done both on the court and in the classroom." Pelton is not the only accounting major and athlete to gain notice: See this story about Bryant Voiles: 6-9 Voiles a big perimeter threat for unbeaten Vikings

Barb Ruane

Barb Ruane '07 was the first Augustana student to be awarded an internship with the Financial Accounting Foundation. After a year with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), she went to London and completed a two-year internship with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

Ruane recently came to campus to speak to the juniors and seniors about her three-year journey. She discussed the convergence of international and U.S. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), summing it up as "it is happening, every day, with every new announcement."

Ruane moved to Washington, D.C., to start her career as a financial analyst at the Center for Financial Research & Analysis, a global forensic accounting research organization founded by the author of Financial Shenanigans.

See her article on the International Accounting Standards Board.

Jeffrey Davenport: moving along the career path

I graduated with my degree in Accounting in 1999. I learned a lot from all my accounting professors during those four years, which has helped me along my career path since graduating.

After I graduated, I secured an accounting clerk position for a company called GEM Business Forms. GEM is a printing company that does commercial and business forms. I performed beginner to intermediate accounting for the company. Actually, I handled almost all of the company's general accounting. I was involved in billing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, disbursements and some general ledger activity. I worked for GEM for four years until I was hired in October 2003 as a staff accountant for ThoughtWorks.

ThoughtWorks is a consulting company and my responsibilities switched from general accounting to cost accounting. I handled specific projects and general ledger accounts. It's amazing how my career followed the same pattern as the classes I took at Augustana. I worked at ThoughtWorks for two years until I was hired back at GEM Business Forms, but this time I was hired as an auditor. See the pattern?

At Augustana, I took Accounting I & II, Cost Accounting and then Auditing. In 2007, I was hired at the American Dental Association as a staff accountant. I'm currently still working at the ADA. My responsibilities include, but aren't limited, to general accounting, cost accounting, some internal auditing and monitoring of all business units bank accounts plus some in our Washington office. I'm also responsible for specific general ledger accounts and aiding in all different departments.

I've enjoyed my accounting career so far and I'm planning to stay at the ADA, moving up the ladder as the years go by. During this time, I will finish my master's in accountancy and sit for the CPA exam. Augustana is a wonderful place to be, especially if you are an Accounting major cause they have the finest Accounting staff there!

Jeb Makula: A day in the life of an accountant (non-tax season version)

After I arrive at work in the morning and fill up my water jug, I check the list that I made for myself the previous day regarding what I need to get done. I check my phone for messages, and my emails for new items to add to my list.

The first thing on the agenda is to finish up the work papers from the previous day's audit. We completed most of the work on-site, but still need to print out a few pages and make sure that everything is properly numbered and referenced.

While I am working on this, my boss comes into my office and hands off a task he wants completed today. (It isn't urgent, so I can first finish what I am working on). He wants me to transfer a new client's fixed asset listing on paper to our fixed asset software.

After I finish up the work papers, I go through the front of the audit book to make sure that I didn't miss anything in my assigned sections. I decide to have lunch in the office today, so I eat while I am reading and going through the checklist. After this, I put all of my papers in the audit book and hand it off to my supervisor who will complete her section and review mine.

I transfer the fixed asset listing before tackling the next thing on my list: monthly financial statements for one of my assigned clients. First, I log in to their computer online, and reconcile their bank statements. A few checks are missing, and from the information that I received from them I can't tell what they should be, so I start a list of questions that I will have to ask the client. I tie out their loan statements and make an adjusting entry for depreciation. As I examine their general ledger for the month, I come across a large entry in repairs, so I add that to the list to make sure it isn't something that we should be adding to fixed assets.

Now I can call the client. I speak with the bookkeeper and she tells me what the checks are for and I enter them. She tells me that the repair really is a repair and it is categorized in the right place. I review the statements from the software and print them out for review.

I am now at a good stopping point. I check my list and make sure I have down what I need to work on for tomorrow, and then head home.