Internship lands student at major firm
Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 5, 2016
ROME, Ga. — LaGrange native Brice Prather, a senior accounting major at Shorter University, recently completed an internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Prather’s success in the role has netted him a full-time job with PwC, one of the world’s leading accounting firms.
“Brice is among the top 1 percent of students I’ve taught in 40 years,” said Dr. Robert “Dub” Darville, professor of accounting at Shorter University. “Brice is the first in my 31 years here to pursue an internship with one of the Big 4 accounting firms and to receive it. Then, to complete that internship and receive a job is quite a feat.”
Simply landing the internship was no easy accomplishment. The process began during the summer of 2015 with a two-day interview that earned him an internship with PwC’s office in Midtown Atlanta.
“I worked 50 to 60 hours a week as part of teams performing audits for clients,” Prather said. “It was really cool to see the inside of these really big companies. For a public company that trades on the stock market, people look at their financial statements online so they have assurances that the statements are correct. PricewaterhouseCoopers audits the statements and provides that assurance.”
Prather worked with four different teams from PwC who audited four different companies. The firms Prather assisted in auditing included a major fast food chain, an investment real estate company, a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, and a major technology client.
“I also had an internship with a local firm in income tax so I got to see that side of accounting, but working at PwC was just so exciting,” Prather said. “I was always at a different office, a different place. It’s more team-based so the whole team is together working. It is also deadline-driven so some nights you are there until 10 p.m. working in these big places. It is really fast-paced.”
After graduating in May with a bachelor of business administration with a major in accounting, Prather will prepare to take the CPA exam later this summer. This fall, he will begin work toward a master of accountancy and will join PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor in Fall 2017.
During his time at Shorter, Prather has served as a resident assistant, resident director and tutor in business courses. He is also a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and the Alpha Chi National Honor Society that recognizes the top 10 percent of students academically. He is the son of Perry and Cassandra Prather of LaGrange.
