The games CPAs play

By Anna Maria Greene

For most people, phrases like "leap frog" and "stop the monster" bring to mind childhood games. But if you're a student living in Pennsylvania, they could very well play a role in determining the career path you take — specifically, whether or not you'll become a CPA.

As part of an image-bolstering campaign, the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) launched a Web-based game called CPA Career Adventure targeted at high school and college students. "The response has been great," says Leslie Johnson, senior public relations adviser for PICPA, adding that students are quite surprised there are so many opportunities in the profession.

The games are reminiscent of the reality-based TV show Survivor, and involve lively challenges that require various skills crucial in accounting, such as strategic thinking and working under pressure. By introducing these and other concepts to the young and talented, PICPA hopes to lure them into the accounting fold. Students play the games with the promise of a chance to win such prizes as a Mac iBook laptop, after they register. "The purpose is to capture their attention and show them that there's much more to accounting than previously believed."

Here in Canada, nothing similar has been done. "There's nothing quite as exciting as Web games at Canada's institutes," says Loretta O'Conner, director of communications at the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. During career fairs, the institutes use various visual aids (music video clips and the like) to draw students to their kiosks. For instance, the Quebec institute displayed video clips of extreme sports such as snowboarding and mountain biking at this year's career fair to attract students and show them that a career as a CA can be exciting. But apart from that, says O'Conner, it's the usual pamphlet handouts.