As corporate names like Enron, Arthur Andersen and WorldCom graced headlines with revelations of widespread accounting fraud, they spawned not only a public relations nightmare, but a slew of new regulatory mandates from Congress. Some jokingly refer to the regulatory flurry and laws that ensued as the “Accountants Full Employment Act,” but what it is actually called is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or “Sox,” for short.

Under Sox, executives who defraud investors will pay harsh penalties. Sox requires publicly-held companies to strengthen internal financial controls so that they are yielding accurate data for financial statements. A company’s CEO is required to personally sign off on those statements. The Enron scandal tore apart the practice of combined consulting and auditing firms. In the aftermath, it became apparent that consulting and auditing practices must largely be kept separate. Smaller auditing firms now have a shot at getting consulting work once dominated by the Big Four public accounting firms.

The end result is that accountants large and small are hungry for holistically business savvy accounting talent. A National Association of Colleges & Employers survey shows that for the second straight year, accounting majors topped the list of most desired job candidates in the United States. Plus accountants can expect to make record high salaries. The average starting salary for those with bachelor’s degrees is about $43,000. The starting salary for an accounting MBA can be more than $55,000, not including health insurance and retirement benefits.

Accounting is a specialty that comes with job security rather than the spotlight. Companies and auditing firms can’t get enough of accountants, whose skills are a necessity to meet the requirement of new tough laws aimed at preventing corporate fraud. Auditors of stockholder-owned companies are enticing accountant MBAs with a suite of prerequisites that can include raises, bonuses and the fast track to partnerships. Some employers are even offering internal fast tracks in specialties like pharmaceuticals to sweeten the pot for their accounting MBAs.

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