The Top 100 People: Building a legacy

December 4, 2020 9:00 AM

Accounting’s most influential hope to be remembered for that very influence, within the profession and without.

As part of this year’s Top 100 Most Influential People survey, Accounting Today asked,“What do you hope your legacy will be?”

Many members of Accounting Today’s Top 100 People mentioned the businesses they have built or companies they lead in describing the legacy they hope to establish within the profession. Still others took a wider view, describing family, their chance to be role models for underrepresented populations, and the chance to make a lasting impact on other people’s lives. Almost all of the T100 mentioned a skill as part of their lasting impact — whether that be the expertise they’ve carved out in accounting or softer skills like leadership and the ability to inspire.

(To see the full responses of all the candidates for the Top 100, clickhere.)

He eliminated the billable hour and timesheets, freeing our profession from the tyranny of time.

— Ron Baker, founder, VeraSage Institute

When I look back on the CPA profession in New York, I hope that my message will have been heard. My legacy will be the thousands of CPAs across New York who, through our tireless efforts toward education and advocacy over many long years, are now prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing profession and face the future with confidence and hope.

— Joanne Barry, executive director and CEO, New York State Society of CPAs

That I had a hand in developing professionals who through their efforts as well, have gone on to serve their companies and firms in a competent and ethical manner.

— Michael Bernard, chief tax officer, transaction tax, Vertex

I hope my legacy will be that I helped the people around me — personally and professionally — to be better.

— Jim Boomer, CEO, Boomer Consulting Inc.

Jim was right, we should have migrated to the cloud and leveraged technology to grow advisory services a long time ago. He had the crystal ball into the future of the profession.

— Jim Bourke, Managing director of advisory services, WithumSmith+Brown

My hope is that through my hard work and commitment to the profession that I will help as many people as I can and be remembered as someone who did their best to leave people better than I found them.

— Dawn Brolin, president, Powerful Accounting Inc.

This is a particularly timely question for me as I made the decision earlier this year to step down as president and CEO of The IIA in March 2021. I hope that my most important legacy will be that I left the organization stronger than I found it when I arrived in 2009 and that, as I have seized every opportunity to share my love of the profession, I have inspired thousands of men and women around the world to embrace the profession with enthusiasm and purpose.

— Richard Chambers, president and CEO, Institute of Internal Auditors

Sue Coffey, executive vice president of public practice at the AICPA

I would like to be known as a change agent for the profession and the person who led the transformation and expanded value proposition of the CPA designation — leaving a vibrant, highly skilled and nimble pipeline for decades to come.

— Sue Coffey, EVP, public practice, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

She brought a significantly higher level of understanding and sophistication to how accounting firms grow, and helped them achieve high growth environments.

— Gale Crosley, president and founder, Crosely+Co.

As a leader who focuses on Inclusion, I hope that a little girl who grew up in the inner city of Baltimore who became a CPA, the first underrepresented minority Chairman of AICPA, a technology leader with a MSIT from Carnegie Mellon University, adjunct professor at CMU teaching Emerging Technologies and Innovation and who is also a wife and mother of two sons is an example of what intention and allyship can achieve.

— Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, executive director – finance thought leadership, cloud business group, Oracle

I would like for people to remember me for making a difference in the D&I space. That, because of my passion, drive and determination, they can look around and see more people like me working in the profession.

— Herschel Frierson, chairman of the board of directors, National Association of Black Accountants

I would like to be known as someone who opened doors for other people and who made a difference in the lives of leaders, professionals and people in general. I am deeply passionate about empowering people and giving them a voice. I am also passionate about giving people the tools, encouragement and confidence to overcome obstacles.

— Angie Grissom, owner, chief relationship officer, The Rainmaker Companies

To have elevated and accelerated the upskilling and reskilling of our Profession so that we can thrive in this era of accelerating, exponential change while increasing our human dimension and impact. This means we continue to rise in our capabilities to help business and individuals achieve their dreams as experts in the language of business, making sense of this changing and complex world.

— Tom Hood, CEO, Maryland Association of CPAs & Business Learning Institute

Having a legacy that is associated with honesty and transparency. As a leader, I trusted my gut, was courageous enough to take calculated risks, and was patient enough to overcome inevitable mistakes. In addition, I was open to a reinvention process that focused on adaptation and continuous discovery.

From an outsider’s perspective, I hope this translated into measurable tax policy and administrative improvements. For those I worked with, I hope it inspired respect, happiness and engagement.

— Edward Karl, vice president, tax policy and advocacy, AICPA

I hope my legacy will be in moving the needle and truly diversifying the profession. I also want to pass this mindset onto the teams that I lead in the hope that they too will pay it forward. All of this would make my career worth it.

— Shannon Nash, chair, National Society of Black CPAs

That I was able to move the needle in attracting underrepresented populations into the profession, thereby making it more robust for future needs that are already present. And that I was a strong advocate in supporting the profession’s move into new lines of business via technology disruption and regulatory/legislative change.

— Anthony Pugliese, president and CEO, California Association of CPAs

Personally, I’d be thrilled for my grandkids to consider me even half the grandma my own grandma was… Professionally, I’d hope I can be remembered as the person who took a fantastic theory (value-based pricing) and created practical application approaches that even Top 100 accounting firms were eager to apply and adopt. Some business friends say I have a knack for making the complex seem simple.

— Michelle Golden River, President, Fore LLC

Shimamoto-Donny-IntrapriseTechKnowlogies 2018

I want to be seen as the person who unified and re-inspired the profession to transform accounting to provide peace of mind, vision & clarify, and hope for a better future to all of the constituents and communities that we serve.

— Donny Shimamoto, managing director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC

That I have positively changed the life of at least one person who heard my message at a time when they really needed it.

— Geni Whitehouse, countess of communication, Brotemarkle Davis & Co.; Solve Services; Even A Nerd Can be Heard

I want to be remembered as someone who championed the profession and loved accountants – each accountant, not just the profession as a whole. I want to be remembered as someone who helped accountants to thrive amid disruptive impacts and to build enduring, technology-driven, distinctive, and highly effective practices.

— Joe Woodard, CEO, Woodard