Faculty Newsletter: November 2009

Dear Educator:
During this season of Thanksgiving, we would like to begin this edition of our newsletter by extending our thanks to all of you for the great work you are continuously doing with your students -- the future of our profession. We are very grateful for our partnership with you in these endeavors.

We have had the opportunity to visit many of our markets and campuses over the past several weeks and, in this newsletter, we would like to share some of our observations from these interactions and offer suggestions which may help your students. Additionally, we have provided an update on the successes of our xTREME case competition and highlight some available webcasts and publications that may be of interest to you.

PwC in the News . . .

PricewaterhouseCoopers ranks #2 in Global Survey
We are excited to be able to share with you the latest external validation. PwC was recently ranked #2 in Universum's Global Top 50 Most Attractive Employers. Click here to view the article.

PricewaterhouseCoopers named "Top company for working families" by DiversityInc
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) has been named as "Top Company for Working Families" by DiversityInc, publisher of the annual DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® ranking. The award recognizes PwC for its consistent leadership in diversity and inclusion practices, as well as its continued commitment to work/life flexibility, support for working parents and corporate responsibility. Click here to view the article.

Guidance for Students in this Challenging Environment

As we spend time with students on your campuses, the impact that the economy is having on them personally is understandably top of mind. The good news is that our profession continues to be a strong career option as evidenced by Business Week's most recent ranking of the Best Places to Launch a Career where the Big 4 Firms once again top the list.

We have been speaking to student audiences recently on how to focus on something they have power over right now- the establishment of their personal brand. We are highlighting actions they should be taking both now and later to best position themselves in this challenging world. Students can proactively take control of their futures by working to differentiate themselves from others by building their professional reputation, image and skill sets. Whether in their first position or later in their career, students should know the significance of effective networking and building trust-based relationships, the value of keeping their business/global knowledge current and the importance of bringing passion to everything in all they do. Also in today's world, professionals who experience the most success are those who have the flexibility to accept challenges in unfamiliar areas allowing them to re-engineer their career as opportunities arise. We shared with you last Spring the tools which we continue to make available through our student website to "Recession-Proof Your Job Search". We encourage you to make your students aware of this Career Resource - which can be found at www.pwc.tv under "About PwC"- as a valuable tool to help them navigate this challenging time.


Since 2002, we have hosted the xTREME games, PwC's tax and accounting case competitions. The xTREME challenges are competitive, team-oriented learning experiences designed to give college students an opportunity to solve real-world tax, accounting and business related issues while furthering their interpersonal, organizational and presentation skills. xTAX is the tax competition and xACT is the financial accounting competition. This Fall, approximately 4,400 students at 79 universities participated in xTREME. Each winning campus team will receive a $1,000 prize and will be eligible to be considered as a National Finalist. Teams of PwC partners will review videos of the campus winning tapes to narrow it down to the five National finalist teams for each competition. In January 2010, we will host the xTAX National finals in Washington DC and the xACT National finals in New York. Each of the five finalist teams will receive a $10,000 monetary award.

We would like to thank all of our 2009 xTREME participants who invested much time, energy and enthusiasm in this valuable learning opportunity. For more information, visit our xTREME website at www.pwc.com/xtreme.


Recent Developments in State Tax Controversy
The PricewaterhouseCoopers State and Local Tax practice will host a webcast on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 12:00 PM- 1:30 PM (ET). With the current economic environment, state revenues have reached an all-time low in many states. Revenue shortfalls could give rise to increased audit activity by state tax agencies. In turn, corporate tax departments will face a prolonged and difficult controversy life cycle at a time when their own resources and personnel are stretched thin.

Panelists will discuss recent audit issues and state income, franchise, and sales-use tax developments, with a specific focus on New York, Florida, and California. The panelists will highlight ways a company may successfully manage these controversies and reduce the potential adverse impact of the states' increased audit activity. CPE will be available for those participating in the live webcast. Following the webcast, an archived version will be available. For more information or to register for the webcast, click here.

Current Accounting & Reporting Developments Webcast - Quarter Four
This webcast, scheduled for Thursday, December 3, 2009 from 1:00 - 2:30 PM (ET), will discuss hot topics and recent activities of various regulatory bodies including the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Securities & Exchange Commission. CPE will be available for those participating in the live webcast. Following the webcast, an archived version will be available. To register or for more information, click here.

It pays to go green and build America: Understanding the tax benefits and financial reporting impacts of new incentives
Governments around the globe have implemented initiatives to spur economic growth and incent companies to go green — particularly in emerging industries like renewable energy. PwC hosted a webcast on November 23, 2009 which discussed the range of new green and stimulus incentives. To access the archive of this webcast, click here.

The Similarities and Differences between IFRS and US GAAP
"What is the difference between IFRS and US GAAP?" That is one of the most frequently-asked questions we hear from companies. In this webcast, hosted on Tuesday, November 17, our panelists examined some of the more commonly found differences US companies will encounter as they prepare for IFRS adoption by certain non-US subsidiaries as well as for the eventual adoption of IFRS. They highlighted certain GAAP differences as a result of the ongoing convergence of US GAAP and IFRS. They also provided an update on recent SEC activity and other developments related to IFRS. You or your students may access the archive of this webcast, click here.

10Minutes on Combating Corruption

10Minutes on Combating Corruption discusses the increase in prosecutions and fines being brought under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the spread of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) regulations, and the importance of developing an anti-corruption compliance strategy. It also discusses how to safely expand into foreign markets by conducting forensic due diligence and utilizing corporate intelligence.

PwC Subscription Management System

The recently launched PwC Subscription Management System is designed to deliver electronic thought leadership, alerts, and other PwC publications to subscribers via e-mail, free of charge. The system also maintains the subscription lists for various free PwC webcast series, many of which provide CPE credit. To subscribe, go to http://publications.pwc.com/ and after signing in, make your selections. This tool can be used to ensure that you are receiving the publications and webcast information most important to you.
As always, we hope you find this information helpful and informative. We welcome your feedback and appreciate hearing from you regarding ways we can further assist you. Again, thank you for all you do and we look forward to continued collaboration with you over the coming months.

Best Regards,

Bob Daugherty and Jean Wyer