News Stories

On November 12, over 85 business students attended the ninth annual Corporate Accounting Career Panel Discussion held on campus in Benson Center’s Williman Room. Alumni Jack Lazar, retired public/private CFO and a current member of various Boards of Directors, moderated a panel of four SCU accounting/A&IS alums featuring: 

• Calli Carson (A&IS, '18) – Senior Manager of Internal Audit, Navan
• Matt Robinson, CPA (A&IS, '19) – Strategic Finance, Figma
• Sarah Tately, CPA (Accounting, '20) – Accountant, Bay FC
• Nicholas Zakaluk (A&IS, '20) – Senior Associate, The Siegfried Group

The Panel Discussion was organized by SCU’s Center for Accounting Research and Education (CARE), which is chartered by the Leavey School to strengthen the bridges among accounting research, accounting education, and accounting practice.

First-year and sophomore students made up about 85% of the attendees. Among the student participants, approximately 33% were Accounting/A&IS majors, 22% were Finance majors, 8% were undeclared, and the remaining 37% represented other business school majors.

During the 90-minute event, panelists answered questions from both the moderator and the audience. According to the student feedback survey, attendees appreciated the breadth of experience the panelists brought, including insights from their current corporate roles and their early careers at a large CPA firm. Students noted learning that accounting can “serve as a foundation for other areas of business” and that there is “a large variety of roles accountants can find themselves in that they had not considered.”

Many students were also struck by a panelist’s description of starting a career at a Big Four firm as “a professional bootcamp”, an intense but highly rewarding experience that provides extensive learning in a short period of time. This early training gave the panelists strong technical foundations that enabled them to pursue a wide range of corporate career paths.

Regarding AI, all panelists emphasized that it serves as a “thought partner” that must be used with guidance and judgment. They shared that their firms are already using AI to some degree, and that the key challenge is learning how to “structure your prompts” and leverage AI for analyzing historical data while recognizing that “a human touch” is essential when data does not exist.

Some key takeaways from the Panel Discussion include the following:

• In-person work is important for learning and collaboration, especially when starting a new job. You lose out on learning and opportunities in a fully remote work environment.
• Technical skills are critical; however, is it equally important to have a willingness to learn and a “go get” mentality.
• Think of AI as a productivity tool/thought partner that allows you to step back, assess, and analyze data and trends.
• Good communications skills are important and imperative for good team work and networking.
• Accounting at a Big Four is intense yet rewarding because of how much you learn in a short time, the exposure to different aspects of accounting, and the ability to learn what you like and do not like, all of which are valuable when determining your next role.
• A skill not taught in school is “risk-based prioritization” - the ability to prioritize your projects based on the level of review required and the impact of the project to the business.
• Learn how to cater your communication to your audience. For example, how to succinctly state the critical essence to a CFO level in a couple of sentences.

We extend a special thanks to Jack Lazar and the panelists for being candid and openly sharing their experiences with SCU students. Additionally, Jack and the panelists stayed after the event to informally talk with individual students who had more questions.  Thanks to Jack’s preparation and guidance, as well as the panelists’ authentic responses, 98% of the student feedback reported the event was informative and interesting. Students that checked in upon arrival to the event and also completed a feedback survey after the event were entered into a raffle drawing with winners Pierce Laveran (Class of 2028, Finance), Matthew Ikeda (Class of 2028, Accounting), and Lauren Garofalo (Class of 2028, Finance) each receiving a $25 Door Dash gift card.  Holly Kim (Class of 2029, undeclared), Robert Holmer (Class of 2028, Accounting) were also awarded a $25 Door Dash gift card for asking good questions at the event.

In Winter Quarter 2026 (January 14^th ), CARE will sponsor a second panel discussion on career opportunities for accounting/A&IS majors called “Accounting Information Night.” This second event features a panel that includes CPA firm partners, senior executives, and young professionals with accounting/A&IS degrees, as well as small group breakout discussions. This in-person event will be held in Locatelli Center and is open to all business students.