Beyond a seven-course meal, served up will be tips on proper dining, and a before-dinner discussion of business dress and image. They're the type of matters that students in the honorary organization, including those aspiring to careers in accounting and finance and information systems, will need to know in the business world.

But it's not just the students who benefit. For Welty, director of human resources at Clayton & McKervey P.C. in Southfield, it's an opportunity to acquaint potential job candidates with the certified public accounting firm. She held the first etiquette dinner last year.

"I think for us the main purpose is, Clayton & McKervey is now a firm that they've heard of. So when it comes time to recruit, and they look down the list of people that they could possibly give their résumé to, our name comes up," Welty said.

And there's a lot of competition around. The impact of federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act financial reporting, corporate growth and stiffer accountancy education requirements are among factors that have fueled a staffing crunch at many accounting firms. As a result, executives are scouring sources for workers, both recent college graduates and experienced financial employees.

"Everybody's in the same boat and it really doesn't work to try to steal people between firms," said H. Jeffrey Dobbs, office managing partner with with KPMG L.L.P. in Detroit.

KPMG put in place a strategic plan in 2003 to boost its Detroit resources and presence. It transferred staff from other offices, tripled its campus recruiting hires and doubled the size of its local practice from 150 people in May 2003 to the current 300.

Business from Sarbanes-Oxley was the largest reason for increased staffing needs, but KPMG also was "clearly committed to making a bigger footprint in Detroit," Dobbs said. The company expects to hire an additional 75 to 100 people in the next year.

Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. needs about 300 more people in its northern Ohio/Michigan region, about two-thirds of them in the Detroit area, said Tom Dekar, regional managing principal. Dekar said the demand stems from growth throughout Deloitte & Touche practices, from audit and tax to consulting.

To prospective employees, firms emphasize attractive compensation, corporate culture and values, workplace attributes such as flexible scheduling, and career opportunities.

"You pull all the cards out of the deck," said KPMG's Dobbs.

Internally, firms employ long-standing practices such as cash incentives for finding new hires. Such referral fees might range from $1,000 to $7,000, depending on the firm and the level of the person hired. Even a national drawing for a new car is a possibility, said Deloitte & Touche's Dekar.

"Referrals from our people are one of the best sources," he said.

Ernst & Young L.L.P. emphasizes both university recruits and finding experienced employees, Jeff Bergeron, office managing partner for the firm's Detroit practice, said in an interview earlier this year with Crain's.

Ernst & Young expects to expand its local employee count by 30 percent in fiscal 2005.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, intended to restore public trust in the accuracy of U.S. businesses' financial reports, responded to corporate and accounting scandals that included Enron Corp., Tyco International Ltd. and WorldCom Inc.

The Troy-based Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants is involved in several initiatives aimed at getting more students interested in accounting as a career, from early elementary visits to day-long high school events to college scholarships.

"If there's a demand, and kids are going into college, they're going to be looking at where the job openings are," said Peggy Dzierzawski, the association's president and CEO. "Our future is our students."

One program is a partnership with Junior Achievement, reaching kindergarten through eighth-grade students and bringing in accountants from the community to talk about business, occupations and experiences.

At the high-school level, workshops inform teachers and guidance counselors about career opportunities in accounting. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has also created lesson plans for classrooms.

The association hosts an annual high school leaders conference, a one-day event for high school and college accounting students, teachers and professionals. A key message: Accounting can be a rewarding, diverse and fun career.

Whether hunting down corporate fraud or helping sports teams such as the Detroit Red Wings do business, the idea is to explain to students how they can make a difference in business, Dzierzawski said.

And for college and university professors, the Michigan Accountancy Foundation sponsors an annual symposium to discuss issues facing the profession, and helps educators promote accounting careers. The foundation, which is affiliated with the CPA association, also in recent years began awarding scholarships to fifth-year, graduate-year accounting students.

Leslie Murphy, managing partner of client services at Plante & Moran P.L.L.C. in Southfield, said in an interview earlier this year that such Michigan and national efforts have helped with college enrollments, as have world events.

"All of the publicity around Enron, WorldCom … as negative as it was … it helped students to understand better what it is we do," Murphy said. "The old picture of green eyeshades and sitting around and doing a bunch of boring numbers was shattered. Students became much more interested in it; we're getting that feedback consistently from university professors."

Plante & Moran's audit and tax staff has risen from 600 people in 2003 to currently about 700, to accommodate business growth and the firm's Chicago expansion. For 2005, the firm plans to hire 110 entry-level accounting and tax employees and 100 to 125 experienced staffers, 60 percent to 70 percent of whom would be audit and tax specialists with three to eight years' experience, said Bill Bufe, partner and human-resources director.

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