The National Association of Colleges and Employers recently released the findings of their latest Job Outlook survey , which contained good news for current accounting students as well as recent accounting graduates. According to the survey, accounting majors who graduated in 2011 earned an average starting salary of $50,500, up 3.7 percent from the previous year and roughly 20 percent more than the average starting salary of all graduates. This increase isn’t an anomaly, according to Andrea Koncz of NACE , who told FINS.com that "entry-level accounting and finance jobs tend to see steady growth from year to year."

Happy belated Groundhog Day. Happy belated Groundhog Day. Happy – sorry about that.of thespoke with, a member offor an article about financial mistakes retirees make over and over again, deftly tying it to the (classic?) Bill Murray movie . Long advises clients not to be too charitable in retirement – particularly if it means they are putting their own financial future at risk. Some seniors are overly concerned with helping their children or grandchildren cover the costs of college or their first home when they should instead be focused on their own retirement. Long says retirees need to understand how much they can safely spend from their savings each year and not go over that amount.

Deanna White of AccountingWEB reports that, on January 18, the AICPA announced a new initiative called Project Innovation: Start Here, Go Places Competition of Creative Excellence. The competition is a unique opportunity that will allow high school students and their teachers the chance to "crank out their genius" to make the website an even more helpful destination for students who want to explore the possibilities of a career in accounting. "When we wanted to add a new feature to the website, we thought who could do this better than the high school kids themselves," said Heather Bunning, Senior Manager – High School & Community College Initiatives for the AICPA. "We want to make sure students are getting the information that's right for their generation. The website works best if it's a two-way exchange of ideas."

The competition deadline is February 6, 2012 (hurry!).

Teams can find out more information and submit their proposals on the Start Here, Go Places website.

The top ten ideas will be posted to the Start Here, Go Places website for public voting from March 1 through March 12, with winners being announced on April 2.

James Schiavone, AICPA Staff.