![\"Karl](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/KHackenbrackF13150x214.jpg\" "\\"KHackenbrackF13150x214\\"")
<\/a>In recent years, companies have tried to put a value on intangibles like intellectual property, goodwill and incentive-based compensation. Such valuation expertise is driving the need for a program like MAcc Valuation, says Karl Hackenbrack, associate dean and director of accountancy. \u201cThis is the nexus of accounting and finance. Valuation practices are in large part these days staffed by people who started their careers in a more traditional finance area and have to learn the accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The one-year program is intense; students take required coursework, complete a 10-week internship with one of the partner firms\u2014Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers\u2014and then graduate. Even then they don\u2019t leave Owen; they receive intensive preparation for the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Public Accountant exams.<\/p>\n
The 13 members of the first graduating class all took the CFA and CPA preparation courses. They take the first of three CFA exams pre-graduation, and then take the next two exams over the next few years. Of the 2013 graduating class, 11 passed the level one CFA exam.<\/p>\n
On the four-part CPA exam, the recent graduates scored a 90.2 percent first-time section pass rate\u2014the highest first-time section pass rate of the top 25 graduate MAcc programs in the nation. Hackenbrack is proud to point out that the pass rate for the CFA exam nationwide is 37 percent while the percentage of those who pass the CPA exam on the first try is in the low teens.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I recruit, there are three buckets that I look for: aptitude, which is probably going to get you into most one-year graduate programs; attitude: Do you understand what you\u2019re getting into, in terms of Vanderbilt MAcc Valuation, and are you well-informed to what the programs are about? It is an immersion experience and that\u2019s not for everyone,\u201d Hackenbrack says. \u201cThe third is what I call bedside manner, client-facing skills. You have to pass all three to get in.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who are accepted into the program, however, are well prepared for a career in valuation. After graduation, most are headed for a large public accounting firm in a junior-level position.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of the value proposition from the firms\u2019 perspectives,\u201d Hackenbrack says. \u201cThink of an audit service line. The bottom of the pyramid is junior staff and the top is partners. In valuation, up until about 10 years ago, those services were provided by professionals who were brought in as manager, director or partner. The pyramid is upside down relative to the audit service line. They need the capability to flip it. We\u2019re first movers in helping them fill the junior service ranks so that they can internally identify the talent.\u201d<\/p>\n The firms get a head start on that identification through the internship programs, which occur in January and February, typically a firm\u2019s busy season. Deloitte, Moss\u2019 company, hired six.<\/p>\n \u201cThey did an outstanding job,\u201d he says of the interns. \u201cThey were well trained in technical skills. He\u2019s (Hackenbrack) recruited people with good people skills. If you\u2019re going to succeed outside of school, you need to have more than academic training, you need to be able to work with people.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the students came into the program, they integrated well into teams and \u2026 had the technical background that we were looking for,\u201d Moss says. \u201cThe students were firing on all cylinders when they came through the door. Normally you\u2019ll have to teach students something. They have all the bases covered as opposed to a few of the bases.\u201d<\/p>\n The internships provide something of a trial by fire. \u201cI want you in the firms when it\u2019s tough,\u201d Hackenbrack says. \u201cIf it\u2019s not for you, come back and say, \u2018I don\u2019t want to work that hard.\u2019 It\u2019s intentional to have (the internships) in what the firms traditionally view as their busy season because so many companies have the Dec. 31 year-ends.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hackenbrack says it\u2019s too early to tell what kind of students will be ideal for the MAcc Valuation program, he believes those who receive their bachelor\u2019s degree in economics will be naturals. \u201cThey are taking course work and thinking about issues that they honestly care about and enjoy studying. But let\u2019s face it: What jobs are they going to take at graduation? They\u2019re prepared for graduate school.\u201d<\/p>\n Which can prepare them to fill key roles in booming new areas of business like valuation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Only months after graduating its first class, the industry-driven Master of Accountancy Valuation program is a hit with accounting firms, recent undergraduates and Owen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":382,"featured_media":10651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-5819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-submain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/382"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8529,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5819\/revisions\/8529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MAcc](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/MAccV_1_400x319.jpg\" "\\"MAccV_1_400x319\\"")
<\/a>Aptitude, attitude and bedside manner<\/h2>\n
![\"Kaylen](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/KJames_400x267.jpg\" "\\"KJames_400x267\\"")
<\/a>Tough by intention<\/h2>\n
![\"MAcc](\"https:\/\/magazine.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/legacy\/i\/F13MAccV400x302.jpg\" "\\"F13MAccV400x302\\"")
<\/a>