August 1999

KPMG'S FIRST WOMAN VICE CHAIR ADDRESSES STUDENTS AND OTHERS IN HONOR OF NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

Mary Pat McCarthy, vice chair and member of the management committee of KPMG LLP, recently participated as an executive in residence at the Pace University's Lubin School of Business in New York City. At a luncheon for students, alumni, members of the business community, and others honoring National Women's History Month, McCarthy spoke about what it means to have been the first woman vice chair and member of the executive committee of KPMG LLP. She traced the increasing trend of women entering the profession over the last 20 years, which has led to women constituting approximately 50% of entrants into the profession. She noted that presently nine percent of partners in CPA firms are women (11% at KPMG) and that 50% of women in the profession have children.

McCarthy heads the Information, Communications, and Entertainment (ICE) practice of KPMG from her office in California. She joined the firm 22 years ago and has been a partner for the last 15 years.

McCarthy spoke of the changing world the profession faces in light of ecommerce and virtual auditing. She is the author of KPMG's treatise on income recognition for software companies.

The CPA Journal is broadly recognized as an outstanding, technical-refereed publication aimed at public practitioners, management, educators, and other accounting professionals. It is edited by CPAs for CPAs. Our goal is to provide CPAs and other accounting professionals with the information and news to enable them to be successful accountants, managers, and executives in today's practice environments.