As part of this year’s Top 100 Most Influential People survey, Accounting Today asked, “Have you had a pivotal moment in your career? What made it pivotal, and did you know its significance at the time?”
The full responses of all the candidates are below. The full T100 list is available
Becoming Managing Partner and CEO of RSM in 2011 was one of many and the perhaps the most impactful pivotal moment in my career. At the time, I knew that this role came with a significant responsibility, challenge and opportunity—particularly because we were in the process of reuniting our tax and consulting service lines, which had been operating under separate ownership for more than a decade, with audit. I believed that we were positioned to do great things for our firm, our people, our profession and the middle market. Our leadership team worked closely with me to make sure that our partners, principals and employees also believed in RSM as we put in place a strong vision and strategy to align the firm and achieve our objectives. Our people truly rose to the occasion and made our vision a reality.
What I didn’t fully understand at the time was the extent of the impact we would have ten years later as an organization three times the size, with thousands more people, three dynamic and innovative business lines, a strong focus on community giving, an engaging culture, diversity and inclusion program, and a groundbreaking economics and thought leadership platform focused on middle market businesses. As I look back on the last 10 years, I am extremely proud and grateful to see how much we have grown as a firm in so many ways, including giving back to society, as a result of our truly dedicated team at RSM.
—Joe Adams, managing partner and CEO, RSM US
Pivotal moment was when I decided to leave Armanino McKenna and start my own business with the focus on QuickBooks Enterprise and converting ERP into that software. AMLLP wanted to focus on Microsoft products and was trying to pull my QBES clients that were not staffed enough nor “grown up” enough as a business to move into such a complex product. Company direction was clear and didn’t align with the segment of the market I wanted to support, so I left. I moved to Austin, TX – out of their territory at the time and started on my own. I had to hustle – doing night appointments at homes of clients; traveling all over the state of Texas to do local training groups and demos for customers and others in the profession; flying all over the country to do implementations and go lives; making a name for myself by being one of the first to provide free online training of QuickBooks and Accounting concepts in early 2011.
I was 27 and walking into boardrooms of 15+ people at a time telling them how to change their workflows for better data realization and performance. Looking back now, at the age of 40, it is hard to believe so many people took to my “young gun” approach to setting up their accounting systems. It was different – with automations and simplification in and industry that was built on complexity and not sharing knowledge.
At the time I never saw the future of how large our firm would become. I never saw the influence we would have on small businesses and their staff in accounting. Now we have over 6,000 customers in QBES product alone that we have helped and we are up to over 70 employees.
— Marjorie Adams, CEO, Fourlane
As a professional who went up the ranks quickly early on in my career, especially at the Big 4, I was very passionate about my career and felt with hard work I can set high goals and achieve them. When I decided to have family, I changed my direction and for years struggled. The balance between the traveling mom guilt and career advancement was a real challenge for me. My boys, now 13 and 15, are strong and independent young men because I did both. My husband, my rock, has been by my side. The pivotal moment for me was when I realized I accomplished both, which was not that long ago. I didn’t have to sacrifice my career or my kids. They are stronger now because I have been that working mom who has juggled it all.
— Sona Akmakjian, global head of strategic accounting partnerships, Avalara
In my very first year as an auditor, around 1980, I started working with data extraction and data tools through the team I was on. The firm even sent me as a first-year auditor to a class on CARS – COBOL Audit Retrieval System – which was a platform that used COBOL to extract data. Then the firm trained us on RPG (a programming language for mainframe computers), so we could also write RPG programs for data extraction.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that early exposure to using data tools showed me the power of data and set me on the path of leveraging data using tools that I have followed for the entirety of my career. It instilled in me the process of looking for different ways to do things using technology, and using data to support audit work.
—Alan Anderson, founder and president, Accountability Plus
While I’m a CPA, when I first became a small business owner, I had another CPA prepare my taxes. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was overpaying in taxes every single year. A few years later I learned that this is true for almost every other small business owner in America. Since I made this discovery, it has been my mission to empower smarter tax decisions.
— Andrew Argue, CEO and co-founder, Corvee
My decision to stop practicing law and to enter the tech industry was pivotal. I went to work for PeopleSoft in the mid-’90s, sending my career down a different path. I left behind the sharp elbows in the world of litigation and found myself in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment where the secret sauce of success is tied to a remarkable approach to teams and collaboration. The amazing growth I experienced there gave me the bug for entrepreneurialism. It was fun to be part of a winning team and environment, as I saw the power of what great teams and innovation can do.
The other major pivotal moment in my career was joining Armanino. As the youngest of four children, I’d always looked up to my older brother Andy, who is also my best friend and had around 20 years of experience in the accounting profession when I joined the firm. While I was in college, I decided to stop chasing him and go on a different path. Naturally, the last thing I thought I’d do would be working for Armanino.
After initial conversations with Andy at a family dinner, I recognized the opportunity to use my background to lead the firm into the future. I also thought about how joining Armanino would put so much on the line, including my relationship with Andy. I told my wife that joining Armanino would be the last thing that would ever happen, but I ended up accepting the job six weeks later. Working with Andy for 10 years and building the business together turned out to be the most incredible experience.
Being at Armanino has been the perfect example of life giving me what I needed and not what I’d planned for. I fell in love with the people, the entrepreneurial spirit of the firm and the growth strategy we’re pursuing. It ended up being the best decision of my career. Often, you can’t plan for the best things to happen in your life. You do things for the right reasons, you live well and work hard, and you wait for the opportunities to come. Life will conspire to bring you great blessings of opportunity, but you’ve got to pay attention.
— Matt Armanino, CEO and managing partner, Armanino
Yes – the moment I realized I wasn’t showing up frequently enough for dinner. I realized I knew more about what’s happened in industry in the last 5 years than I did about my children’s lives, and knew it was time to make a change. I shifted roles and found the balance that worked with my priorities both inside and outside of work. I knew the moment was significant because it felt like someone hit me with a 2x4 and I was compelled to make a different choice.
— Liz Armbruester, SVP, global compliance operations, Avalara
I think the past two years have been a pivotal moment. This is a moment in time that we always will look back on. We played a defining role in enabling the firms to deliver on their trusted advisor role for millions of businesses.
— Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com
Teaching for the California CPA Education Foundation beginning in 1995 and then publishing my first book, Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing, in 1998. These events were the “fork in the road” that I ended up taking to a career of speaking, writing, and consulting, and no longer practicing public accounting. I did not know the significance at the time, especially the publication of the book and the movement it spawned against the billable hour business model.
— Ron Baker, founder, VeraSage Institute
I have had several pivotal moments in my career. One of the most memorable ones was when the EFRAG Board President Jean-Paul Gauzès invited me to become Vice-Chair of the EFRAG Board and to lead its technical sessions. During the four years that I served as Vice-Chair, I gained a lot of insights including learning the political side of things.
— Andreas Barckow, chair, International Accounting Standards Board
I decided to take on the role within the Microsoft tax department, about 15 years ago, to lead and sponsor tax technology projects. We recruited a team of tax and IT professionals and worked collaboratively to effectuate a short-term and long-term sustained IT model for tax. It really propelled us forward and Tax became a “bright star” within the Finance Group given our use of technology tools and the ability to quickly support expanded opportunities for our business units. This also greatly automated our accounting and tax processes – certainly improving our governance model KPIs and lowering overall risk.
— Michael Bernard, chief tax officer, transaction tax, Vertex
The lingering ramifications of the pandemic and the impacts of social injustice have fundamentally altered the business landscape and marked a pivotal time for our company, our industry, and the middle market. These pressures, which have impacted each of us in uniquely and deeply personal ways, have placed a higher demand on leaders to be better. For me, it has never been more important to communicate openly and honestly, especially with our people who have continued to show up and help our clients thrive even amid uncertainty in their own lives. My biggest takeaway from the past 18 months has been to lead with empathy. This has always been important to me, but it took on new significance in recent months. Empathy will continue to serve as a guidepost for BDO’s leadership team and me as we navigate new challenges and opportunities for our firm and our clients.
— Wayne Berson, CEO, BDO USA LLP
At one of the New York CPA shows, I asked a CPA who I knew had a good accounting practice, how his practice was. He replied, “Chandra, I don’t run my own accounting practice.”
Shocked, I asked him, “then who does?” He pointed to Intuit’s booth and said, “This company does.”
That day I realized that a major corporation had taken control of accounting. That was when we made our mission to bring control of accounting back to accountants. There was a long road ahead of us, but we are glad to have undertaken an important initiative.
— Chandra Bhansali, co-founder, AccountantsWorld
As a “seasoned” executive, I have experienced episodes and relationships that have certainly impacted my career. However, the impact of COVID-19 is the first event that has had a ‘pivotal’ impact on my career. I did not initially think of the impact as significant but more of a challenge. Now, I have converted all our staff to a virtual work option, delayed retirement plans to ride out the pandemic (at my board of directors’ request) and have radically changed my stance on how effective a business/organization can be in a remote environment.
— Ken Bishop, president and CEO, NASBA
Following my passion for governmental accounting led me to change firms in the middle of my career to a firm with a significant focus on the governmental sector. This allowed me to continue to spend all of my time on state and local government clients and, eventually, led to me having an opportunity to join and lead the GASB.
— Joel Black, chair, GASB
A pivotal moment in my career was working for a Senior Manager at Arthur Andersen who was adamant about focusing on results rather than hours. While many of my colleagues stayed at the office “wasting time”just to put in the hours, our team was encouraged to focus on getting the work done.Ifwe did that,we could spend more time with our friends and families. This focus on results has stuck with me throughout my career and benefited positively throughout. If more firm leaders shared this mindset, we would see amazing progress toward business transformation.
— Jim Boomer, CEO, Boomer Consulting Inc.
Participating in a coaching program (Dan Sullivan -Strategic Coach)and ultimately leaving the traditional CPA firm to focus on consulting and advisory services. I knew the potential was significant, but quickly recognized the opportunities and the need for skills beyond technical accounting skills e.g.,technology, leadership,talent, processes and growth.Today, I recognize the importance of coaching and life-long learning. The old saying that the people you meet and the books you read will determine who you will be in five years is true.
— L. Gary Boomer, founder, visionary & strategist, Boomer Consulting Inc.
Yes, when I became president of the NJCPA. That volunteer position was a major undertaking for me. Going into my year as president, I didn’t have the time in the day to service all of my clients. With the help of my firm, I was forced to delegate my work and client responsibilities to my co-workers. This delegation proved for me that I did not need to touch everything. I did not need to micro-manage every little piece of an engagement. Although I did not know it at the time, this was one of the most pivotal moments in my career. Had I not been “forced” to delegate, I am not sure I ever would have. I don’t even want to think about what I may not have been able to accomplish in my career had I not said yes, when asked to serve as president of the NJCPA!
— Jim Bourke, Managing director of advisory services, WithumSmith+Brown
My first engagement at PwC was a pivotal moment in my career. My client asked a question: “what do you think about this issue?” My training in ethics, in decision-making processes, and technical matters was all made relevant with that simple, open-ended, yet direct question. I realized how critical the profession is to delivering high-quality, decision-useful information in the markets for stakeholders to make better decisions.
I also knew how important accounting and assurance was for businesses, but working with business also helped me realize how many other stakeholders— investors, consumers, employees, policymakers and others—are impacted by our answers to client questions.
This helped lay the foundation for my understanding on just how important collaboration across the profession is to staking out a larger role—beyond just financial information—for all of our stakeholders. As I’ve continued my career, I’ve realized how important high-quality information is for building trust in our companies and institutions, and how the critical role accountants play in building trust.
— Wes Bricker, vice chair, U.S. trust solutions co-leader, PwC US
In 2004 and 2005, I went back to school two nights a week to earn my master’s degree in accounting while working full time during the day. I quickly realized that I needed help in the form of people who I could trust and who could also help me become a better professional. I thought they would be my Designated Motivators...although I didn’t have a formal name for that role yet.
It was at this time that I formed a partnership with two other accountants. My father was also seriously ill with liver disease. I continued working in the firm and caring for my dad as much as I could. When he passed away November 24, 2018, on the morning of Thanksgiving, my resolve strengthened to take the reins from my hero and teach the lessons he taught me to my girls.
The passing of my dad also intensified my own internal battle to be the best I can possibly be and make a difference.
Over the next several years, my strength in this battle was mightily tested by the unspoken business partnership I had entered into. I didn’t anticipate this happening at at all. However, the situation eventually ended with me walking away from hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sometimes your sanity and self-worth causes you to make a change and consider that truthfully, money doesn’t matter. I have no regrets about removing myself from a toxic environment. Life is too short and you can live every day helping or hurting people. I decided helping was a better route for me.
This is a key takeaway from my painful partnership experience:
While things didn’t work out as I had anticipated as far as the business goes, I learned a lot about who I wanted to be and who I didn't want to be. I also learned how to stay out of debt and how to treat people. It was a very long and tough lesson—six years and three months to be exact—but it was worth every minute, because it made me strive harder for what I really wanted out of my life.
And strive I did. In 2010, I began to study for the CPA exam. For me, the process itself was personal. I was told I couldn't do it. Well, that's all that had to be said! I knew I would accomplish it no matter what!
After leaving the poor partnership behind, I recharged my own bookkeeping business and started Powerful Accounting, the firm I run today. On April 4, 2011, I said to myself (and anyone who would listen!), “I am going to do it my way and I am going to be in charge of my own destiny.” I was also prepared to work like crazy to take care of my family so I could offset the huge investment we had made and the financial loss we suffered from stepping away from the toxic partnership.
With this hard-fought experience under my belt, I offer this advice to you: If you are facing an adverse business situation, keep it simple and remember this: “Life is too short to be miserable or to allow yourself to be treated unprofessionally and in a mean way. Surrounding yourself with people who truly care, support you, and lift you up is better than any penny you will ever make.”
— Dawn Brolin, CEO, Powerful Accounting Inc.
Yes, there have been several – mostly tied to new positions and moving to new cities. One of those moves was when I was a manager with Deloitte, and I moved across the country to be part of the firm’s management development program in the National Office in Connecticut. At the time, I had no idea how pivotal or significant that decision would be. Making that move from California to Connecticut subsequently opened several new doors that really shaped my career. I cannot overstate how much I learned from that experience -- working with senior leaders of the firm, understanding how the firm managed quality and addressed very complex accounting and auditing issues on a daily basis. It was fascinating, especially during the time leading up to and after the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which profoundly changed the profession. During that time, I was involved in analyzing the various regulatory issues and helping the firm respond to the many SEC and PCAOB rule-making proposals that came out of SOX.
— Jennifer Burns, chief auditor, AICPA
When I made the jump from practicing law to working in a public accounting firm. I didn’t realize the full scope of the impact this would have on me, my future and my family at the time. However, it was by far the most pivotal moment. I was finding little passion in the practice of law, little room for creativity and few entrepreneurial opportunities. What I found in public accounting, and at Armanino, were like-minded people with a passion for putting client needs first. This also opened a world of creativity and entrepreneurial opportunities that were simply not possible in the legal field. Both the practice of law and accounting have some guardrails imposed by law, standards and best practices; however, in public accounting, the ability to “go deep” with clients, invent solutions to address client needs and become a trusted partner to clients was readily possible.
— Noah Buxton, managing director, blockchain and digital assets, Armanino
Three years into my career at Boomer Consulting, I was able to switch to working part-time for four years after we had our twin daughters. This flexibility allowed me to continue with the company and grow into my current role.
— Arianna Campbell, shareholder and consultant, Boomer Consulting
Yes. My pivotal career moment was when I decided to solely focus on cryptocurrency-related tax compliance matters in 2017. This led me to build software in addition to being a practitioner.
I have been bullish on crypto ever since I got introduced to bitcoin back in 2017. So, I knew the significance of going into building software that can calculate cryptocurrency taxes.
— Shehan Chandrasekera, head of tax strategy, CoinTracker
The most pivotal moment in my career was in 1989 when I partnered with another accountant from Price Waterhouse, to establish our own firm focused on accounting technology for small businesses. Technology had previously only been affordable by large organizations, but the introduction of the IBM PC was about to change everything. We were excited to see what transformative effect it might have on smaller businesses and the profession, and were committed to be a part of that change!
— David Cieslak, EVP, chief cloud officer, RKL eSolutions LLC
Yes. It’s actually an event I regret; but we all learn from mistakes, and that mistake has driven how I think, how I approach things, and how I lead my team every day.
— Sue Coffey, CEO, public accounting, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
Little did I know back in 2005, when I did a fellowship at the FASB, that it would ultimately lead me to my current role as a member of the Board. That experience ignited my passion for the FASB’s mission and the important role our standards have in the effective operation of the capital markets.
— Susan Cosper, member, FASB; FASB board liaison to the Private Company Council
The most pivotal point in my career is a specific date – February 6th, 2014, the day I suffered a stroke. At the time I knew it was a pivotal moment in my life, but I did not realize what a significant impact it would have on the direction of my career. After my recovery, I decided to reevaluate what was important to me and my role in the business. I was managing partner of our firm at the time of the stroke. The stroke helped me to realize that managing the firm was where neither my passions nor strengths were. In that self-evaluation, I realized that my strengths and passions were based on educating CPAs and interacting with them. This motivated me to launch The Unique CPA Podcast, writing articles for Accounting Today, increasing my speaking engagements at conferences and webinars, and hosting CPA firms through virtual craft beer tastings. This has been the most exciting time of my career and would not have happened had I not experienced the traumatic event of February 6th 2014.
— Randy Crabtree, co-founder, Tri-Merit Specialty Tax Professionals
The dot-com bust wiped my career away. I had to reinvent myself, and as a result started all over again creating my current consultancy to CPA firms. I knew the significance at the time. What I didn’t know was the impact I could make on our profession.
— Gale Crosley, president and founder, Crosely+Co.
Early in my career I had the fortune of meeting the then President of ITA, Ron Eagle. He was a top leader in our profession, we hit it off and over the years became good friends. Ron was a mentor to me and provided valuable counsel and guidance that helped shape the path of both my professional and personal life. He was instrumental in showing me that people mattered as much, if not more, than the bottom line and in the end relationships and the contributions that we make to the success of others is what ultimately determines our own success. I probably understood part of those lessons at the time, but now looking back can clearly see just how valuable his influence was to me, and hopefully as a result, for others that I have been involved with as well.
— Kevin Cumley, senior director, Sage Intacct Accountants Program, Sage
During my final year of graduate school in Atlanta, GA, I struggled to make ends meet financially, so I needed to find a job that would accommodate my class schedule and still provide time for me to study. My mom previously worked as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service, so even though she was no longer there, I applied for this position as well. I did not know then, but this opportunity reshaped the plans I had for my life. Prior to this experience, I thought I wanted to work for one of the Big 5 accounting firms (actually the Big 4 now). After my experience learning more about the tax system, the process, common mistakes, detecting fraud, etc…, my passion for taxation increased, and my career path changed.
When I returned home, I became the person in town that people turned to for tax advice. I then began to prepare tax returns as a hobby while conducting workshops and teaching on college campuses. Now 17 years later, not only am I still teaching individual and corporate tax, accounting, and business courses, but I am also the owner of an accounting firm in Barnwell, SC that specializes in taxation. I also use my expertise in my current role as City Councilmember in Barnwell, SC. This experience led me to become the educator, entrepreneur, and civil servant that I am today.
— Alicia Davis, CEO, Davis Tax Consulting & Financial Services
In 2018, I was named President of Schellman & Company, LLC, making me one of the only minority leaders of a “Top 100” CPA firm, and one of only a handful of women in the same position. While I recognized how pivotal that promotion was for my own career in the moment, I wouldn’t understand until later how much it changed the type of leader I am, my mentality regarding diversity, and my goals for positively shaping the industry I am helping lead.
Working women always discuss the glass ceiling we all face, and 2018 represented my own version of seemingly breaking through one. But while it did mean so much to me, reaching that reality never felt like a plateau or the end of the road, because if anything, such an accomplishment filled me with a new kind of vigor—one for outreach and the encouragement of my fellow women out there, doing the same hard work but also fighting the good fight against those invisible, societal boundaries as they all work their ways up. Of course, it’s not just women that are affected, and that’s why we need to remove all of said boundaries—every “glass ceiling” that may affect a brilliant mind out there who just needs an opportunity like I had. My own reality in 2018 helped me see that, and now in the position I am in, I try to lead with the idea of making all possibilities feasible for everyone.
— Avani Desai, CEO, Schellman
Yes, making a choice to put my family needs first cause me to chart a course that created the company I run today. Yes, it felt pivotal at the time, but I am not sure I would ever know how pivotal it would.
— Sarah Dobek, president and founder, Inovautus Consulting
The birth of my son in January 2015 expanded me in ways I never could have imagined. At that time, I had recently left the security and income that came with being a partner at a public accounting firm to start my own business and expand my impact in the profession in a more meaningful way.
When my son was born, it instantaneously shifted my focus to things beyond myself and my ego – beyond the money, prestige and sense of accomplishment that my career used to provide. I experienced an elevation in consciousness from self/individual to the collective – I wanted to make a true difference in the world by connecting with and supporting others in more meaningful ways. I want to bring more love and wisdom to the world. I didn’t realize at the time where that shift in consciousness would lead me on my career path.
Being a parent is HARD. It’s challenging me in ways I didn’t know were possible. It’s also inspired me to move beyond my own fears and insecurities of what people might think of me (or if I’m good enough), so I can use my voice and platform to be part of creating the change I’d like to see in the profession and world.
— Sarah Elliott, co-founder and principal, Intend2Lead
In 1988, I went to college and planned to major in Accounting. When I realized that Economics was the path to CPA, I looked over the options and decided that technology could be interesting. I ended up majoring in Information Systems. At 18, I had no idea that Technology would not only enable new markets but also would be a strategic enabler of transformation.
Today, I stand at the intersection of Accounting and Technology. The decision to add Technology to my plan changed my life.
— Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CEO, KET Solutions LLC
The day the IRS chose Bloomberg Tax in 2020 as recipient of its Tax Research Award was a pivotal moment in my career. Our team had worked for seven years to build a new tax research platform and expand our content coverage to become a comprehensive solution. This led to our success in being chosen by the IRS over a multi-decade incumbent. It’s been a very rewarding and humbling moment in my career to know thousands of IRS professionals are using Bloomberg Tax as their go to resource for tax research.
— Lisa Fitzpatrick, president, Bloomberg Tax & Accounting
Yes, I have had a pivotal moment in my career. I was selected to be on a panel convened by the National Academy of Science to make public health recommendations. My interactions with other panel members, all of whom were industry names, changed my understanding of what being an expert meant and what it took to become one. Each of my co-panelists’ focus on a targeted rather than broad area helped me see the direct link between specialization and visible expertise. It struck me as doable for anyone willing to put in the work. Years later, I fully understood the implications of that link and have applied it to the work we’ve been doing ever since.
— Lee Frederiksen, managing partner, Hinge
For me it happened on April 1, 2021 – when I became a principal at Crowe. This achievement validated the investment my family had made in me growing up. It validated my decision to pursue a career in the profession and why I have stayed with Crowe for my entire career. It was the first time I could look in the mirror, knowing that I will be an example for others who follow me – they will be able to see someone who looks like them who has a seat at the table. I hope that I can inspire others to follow the same path.
— Herschel Frierson, chairman of the board of directors, National Association of Black Accountants
A pivotal moment early in my career was applying for and being selected as a Professional Accounting Fellow at the US SEC. It was through this experience that I developed my passion for leadership and serving the profession. I sought out opportunities to utilize my strengths and my background to support and lead important initiatives both within Deloitte and as a volunteer in our profession and beyond.
— Tracey Golden, immediate past chair, AICPA and Association of International Certified Professionals
Being involved with the 2017 tax reform and helping it getting passed.
— Julio Gonzalez, CEO, Engineered Tax Services Inc.
I have had a few pivotal points in my career. I started professionally at Marks Paneth LLP and as a senior accountant reached that pivot point where I could stay long term in public accounting and (hopefully) move on the partner track or venture out and see what the other side of the table looked like. At that time, I decided to move on to private equity in a controller/tax structuring function and am forever grateful for that experience. I was able to experience having a CPA come in to perform an audit, to be prepared for tax time but not be the preparer. It is an experience that was very striking at the time and, as such, I have taken with me even after I returned to public accounting.
An experience that no one can prepare you for is owning your own business. The 24/7/365 pressure makes busy season seem easy. I was fortunate enough to be a tech cofounder and successfully raise capital to fund our operations, but there were significant expectations that came from all directions. Setting up the right infrastructure from scratch can be a daunting task, from investor reporting to accounts payable to waterfalls and beyond. Working with my partners, I was able to design processes that scaled as the company grew exponentially. This experience and perspective has been invaluable as I have worked with clients and other CPA’s. The ability to translate accounting, tax or operational issues to language that can be understood by all is imperative to building strong relationships and success. The other lesson learned from my time in “startup land” was the importance of data-driven decisions. Data can tell you the whole story and the right path to take if you understand how to interpret it.
The other pivotal point that I want to mention is my return to public accounting. I have been given the unique opportunity twice to come in to a growing mid-sized firm to help them modernize their client accounting services practices. The goal was to leverage my experience as a CPA and in tech to update processes and automate and optimize where possible. This was quite the pivot point as moving from an open schedule where I was my own boss back to a much more corporate environment was a bit of a culture shock. I am glad that I did so as I feel that a positive impact has been made in these firms, in communicating this experience to the NYSSCPA regularly and being able to grow myself.
— Zachary Gordon, senior manager, accounting services, cannabis, Grassi
If I had to name a pivotal moment in my career, it would be two-fold: the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 and stepping into my role as the Chair of the Governing Board for the Center of Audit Quality (CAQ) in 2019.
For me, the two are inextricably linked, as the CAQ would not have been created in 2007 to improve investor confidence and public trust in the capital markets if SOX had not first established a new accountability framework for public company auditing. This broader focus on audit quality has strengthened the principles that our profession is built on – independence, professional skepticism, and personal integrity – and has profoundly shaped the way I lead our people and our clients.
This pride in being part of a meaningful profession is something that has energized me throughout my career at EY – and it’s something I feel even more strongly now as the US Chair and Americas Managing Partner, and in my role at the CAQ.
Even now, I am approaching the future with a mix of healthy optimism and an auditor’s skepticism, recognizing that to earn and secure trust – and continue to prioritize quality in an increasingly complex world – we must build on the strong foundation and fundamentals of audit, including the regulatory framework established by SOX and the important work of the CAQ.
— Kelly Grier, U.S. chair and managing partner and Americas managing partner, EY
Yes, when I had clients begin getting into tax trouble 20 years ago and suddenly realized that I not only was good at working out their issues with the IRS but that I enjoyed it.
— Eric Green, founder, Tax Rep Network
I have had many pivotal moments, and yes, I think I recognized them at the time. Sometimes you are faced with making hard decisions and putting the needs of others ahead of your own. You can’t let fear get in the way when you make tough decisions, and I try to keep this in mind. I have navigated many things and dealt with more than my fair share of challenges over my career. I think these challenges make me a better human and a stronger consultant. When you have walked through business and leadership challenges, you are better equipped to be empathetic and a better advisor. This is also true for our clients. I like to step back and look at the complete picture and consider long-term implications when I am faced with these pivotal moments.
— Angie Grissom, owner, chief relationship officer, The Rainmaker Companies
During my sophomore year in college, I made the decision to change from an English major to and an accounting major. This decision did not seem overly impactful in the moment. Periodically, I wonder how my life would be different with an English degree. At this point, it is difficult to see where that would have led me. However, it is certain my life would be dramatically different than it is now.
— Thomas Groskopf, technical director, AICPA Center for Plain English Accounting
There have been two: As an untenured assistant professor having recently moved to a new city to start a new job, I was unexpectedly confronted with an opportunity to spend a year on staff at the Financial Accounting Standards Board as a research fellow. I was quite reluctant to pursue the opportunity, but ultimately was convinced by others that the opportunity was too good to pass. The experience was transformative in ways I never anticipated. A few years later, I got a call from Jean Rogers, who had recently founded the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and she asked me to get involved in that effort precisely because of the knowledge and experience I had gained while at the FASB. I was once again unaware of how transformative the SASB would be for my career. But I’m very lucky that she was so persuasive.
— Jeffrey Hales, chair, SASB, Value Reporting Foundation
I was fortunate enough to be selected to serve on the Internal Revenue Advisory Council and was its chairman for two years. The ability to see the tax administration system from a different perspective gave me a perspective I would never have had if not for this service. It also allowed me to meet people I have continued to call on for counsel and support.
— Roger Harris, president, Padgett Business Services
The pivotal moment in my career was undoubtedly when I was able to work together with a firm owner (client of Thomson Reuters) Paul Miller and co-create the first iteration of Practice Forward. This advisory solution was modeled from what Paul’s firm, and created in a way that it was applicable to any firm. This altered my focus from simply a product training/consulting emphasis to a focus on the growth and health of firms. Being able to play a role at that level was invigorating for me. At the time I knew it was significant – but not to the extent that it has turned out. That year and the start of Practice Forward gave me a very deep understanding of firm owners’ mindsets, challenges, and what it took to help them move past those barriers to achieve things that they wanted to achieve. Without this personal involvement in firms’ transformation execution, I would not the perspective, voice and influence that I do today. It is my honor to continue adding to those learnings and turn back around to use that information and perspective to drive even more firms forward.
— Will Hill, customer proposition strategy lead, Thomson Reuters
Yes, when faced with extreme competition and disruption as CFO of highway construction company. I learned to lean into my strengths as a CPA, face the situation head on and communicate with our employees, suppliers, bank and bonding company. It was a true ‘arena’ moment.
— Tom Hood, EVP business engagement and growth, AICPA-CIMA
It’s hard to pinpoint one pivotal moment in my career. Instead, my career has been a result of the leadership at Boomer Consulting providing me with new opportunities and me being willing to say “yes”to the opportunity without always feeling 100% confident. It’s vital for firm leaders to identify your up-and-coming leaders and provide them with opportunities to grow. We should all be making it easier for the next generation.
— Jon Hubbard, shareholder and consultant, Boomer Consulting
I have had a pivotal moment in my career. It was when I decided to leave the field of finance after my time as a loan officer for the USDA and a mortgage banker. I was tired of the politics involved and inequities in lending, so I answered a call and accepted a position at my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first African American fraternity founded at Cornell University in 1906. It was there that I began my work in diversity and inclusion and began to understand the shareholder versus stakeholder mindset. We launched an initiative in 2005 named “College Life to Corporate Life,” where we partnered with organizations and assisted them in identifying minority talent. The program still exists today and is responsible for assisting organizations such as Wells Fargo, PepsiCo and Kraft identify top underrepresented talent.
— Darryl Jackson, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Institute of Management Accountants
I haven’t had so much of a pivotal moment as much as a pivotal season. After I started making trips to Haiti to volunteer for the Christian Aid Ministries SALT Program, I started to share my experiences in the Accounting Profession and this opened up so many possibilities to share and educate the Accounting Profession on ways that we can use our unique giftings and resources to give back to the global community in need of our expertise, knowledge, and empathetic response for their situations.
— Caleb Jenkins, leader, client accounting services, RLJ Financial Services
When I left my corporate role in 2014 and took a leap of faith to start my own business, that was really the first time I invested so heavily in myself. It gave me the confidence to be selective in what I work on, and who I work with. It was pivotal in shaping my own self-awareness and helping me to grow & learn more about what I really enjoy doing.
— Kacee Johnson, senior director, strategy & innovation, CPA.com
Yes. I was a programmer and had developed multiple large systems. The management thought that programming skill was not that valuable. I took my skills to another company and changed direction for writing, consulting, and teaching. This job change led to opportunities with many significant technology companies and my involvement with the accounting profession.
— Randy Johnston, CEO and founder, EVP, NMGI and K2 Enterprises
When I accepted what was originally intended to be a “short-term” rotation in the national office of EY that was extended numerous times. Overall, my experiences in that role gave me greater insight into a variety of industries and companies, the work of the AICPA, the regulatory activities of the SEC, and the importance of independent standard setting.
— Richard Jones, chair, FASB
In 2014, after completing maternity leave following the birth of my second child, I returned to my corporate job to find that my department had been switched. I would now be reporting to a VP that I previously only knew because we sat closely to one another. She explained to me that she had been paying attention to my work ethic and requested to have me on her team. After the birth of my first child, I experienced so much difficulty on my team because I was no longer able to work several late nights per week in the office. I wasn’t asking for less work – I was asking for flexibility in the days and times I completed the work. I was willing to work early days, late nights and weekends from home to reduce my in-office hours, but I was the only person on my team at the time with children, so my requests weren’t welcomed with open arms. When my department and VP switched on my very first day back, I learned why authenticity was so important. My VP had previously worked part-time for years to accommodate her family’s needs. She shared her story with me and laid out clear expectations for my role. She explained that she would hold me accountable for getting my job done, and would rate my performance based on my output and not the amount of hours that she saw me in the office. She empowered me to create a schedule that worked for me and didn’t shy away from giving me meaningful projects simply because I wasn’t physically in the office every day. Thanks to her authenticity and management style, I worked on projects that allowed me to expand my skill set, network and time management skills. At the time, I didn’t realize that she was shaping the leader I am today. But to this day, I credit my ability to excel while working a non-traditional schedule, find true work/life balance, and advocate for other working parents, to Colleen Badum, my last (and favorite) supervisor in a corporate role.
— Al-Nesha Jones-Holiday
I’ve had lots of honest conversations during the course of my career, but one in particular changed my entire career trajectory. I wouldn’t be where I was today without having had this conversation and without the supportive mentors and sponsors I had it with. My husband had just received a job offer in California while we were New York-based. At the same time, I had a once-in-a-lifetime client service opportunity in New York. After having really candid conversations with a couple of leaders (who happened to also be mentors!) at the firm, we collectively decided that it was best for me to commute from California to New York to realize my dream. I did that for seven years. Putting my trust and faith in the hands of our firm leaders changed my life and I don’t regret it even for a minute!
— Kathryn Kaminsky, vice chair, U.S. trust solutions co-leader, PwC US
After the 1983 tax season, I had lunch with a friend who had left the firm I was with for another one. When he asked how I was, I “made a face” as it was April 16 and I was tired. He said he knew of an open position with the AICPA. It was advocacy work and people typically go in for 2 or 3 years and then go back to public accounting. I said I liked public accounting and wasn’t looking to leave. After a week, I called him and he arranged for an interview; I was offered a position and here I am 38 years later.
I did not know at the time that I was accepting a role where I could make a difference in making the tax system work more effectively. I love what I do and kept extending those “2 or 3 years.”
— Edward Karl, vice president, tax policy and advocacy, AICPA
Transitioning from being a partner in a CPA firm to a consultant to the profession. After my first son was born, I wanted better control of my schedule which consulting allowed me to prioritize family life first. While there was a lot of uncertainty starting out, I felt that focusing on information technology and firm automation were going to be the future of the accounting profession.
— Roman Kepczyk, director, firm technology strategy, Right Networks
Several, but in keeping with the theme here, I will go with the time Taylor Macdonald introduced me to Ron Baker. Ron has been “my friend and co-host” now for seven years on The Soul of Enterprise. While I immediately liked Ron, I had NO idea it would be as significant as it was.
— Ed Kless, senior director of partner development and strategy, Sage
Without a doubt, the remote workforce and the world moving from bricks and mortar to virtual was the single biggest impacting item of my career.
What used to be 250,000 annual air miles has been reduced to 50,000 annual air miles and my “production” (ability to serve clients) has 2x’d or 3x’d over the last 18 months.
In the old days, I would get on a plane on Monday to go to the West Coast, have a meeting on Tuesday, and then fly back Wednesday morning. Now using time zones, I can meet every day of the week - early in the morning with an East Coast firm, mid-day with a Midwest firm and late in the day with a firm in the Mountain or Pacific time zone.
The end result is that everything is moving faster, but more importantly, things are getting accomplished at an exponential rate compared to the old days. At first, I felt guilty, almost as if I was on sabbatical, but after a dose of reality and taking a step back, I could only look to the heavens and say to the gods of accounting, “thank you for extending my useful life as a consultant to the accounting profession.”
— Allan Koltin, CEO, Koltin Consulting Group Inc.
Yes and I have to say it's when the volunteer bug bit me. That was back in about 1994 or 1995. I was asked to get involved with the Young CPAs. Could’ve been one of the first groups in the country. It taught me that if I wanted our profession to change, I had to be involved and help make that change. That shifted my career focus ever since. I left public accounting in 2003 to work for a client in political media, but then joined AICPA in 2006 wanting to get back to the profession and really effectuate change.
— Mark Koziel, president & CEO, Allinial Global
Anytime I have been inspired by great leadership, I aspire and reach for greater things. And, I search out opportunities to interact with great leaders often, bringing me a regular cycle of inspiration.
— Art Kuesel, president and founder, Kuesel Consulting
When I decided to start Acuity I was in a fantastic CFO role, had 1 young child with another on the way, and had also just come through a cancer diagnosis. The timing to make a change was not ideal! So choosing to step out of the traditional corporate accounting path and create a firm of my own was pivotal and risky. At the time it felt crazy to leave what most people would consider a perfect situation, but I always felt there was a different and hopefully better way to create an accounting firm, so I knew I had to give it a shot.
— Kenji Kuramoto, CEO and founder, Acuity
I left AuditWatch in 2008 to start my own coaching practice when we were bought out by Thomson Reuters. When I first started, I had zero clients and my wife was pregnant. What made it pivotal was:
- How much soul-searching I had to do about what I truly wanted in life and how much risk I was willing to take to make that happen.
- How it challenged me to become intentional about building up my own confidence. I never though that was something you had to do. I thought you built confidence once you experience success, and not the other way around.
I did know at the time that moment would be significant, and what I learned was it would be ok if I failed doing something I loved.
— Brian Kush, principal, co-founder, Intend2Lead
One of my greatest lessons in business came from my experience starting, leading and then leaving the day-to-day management of Paycycle, an online payroll company. I stayed on as a board member and I realized the importance of understanding all the different constituents and that ultimately the buck stops with the CEO. In reflecting on the successes and challenges of leading the company, I realized that my sense of accountability was not as clear as it should be. When I started Bill.com, I took that sense of accountability with me and have been able to use that to make better decisions, some hard over the last 15 years.
— René Lacerte, CEO and founder, Bill.com
The pivotal moment came a few years after starting my accounting firm. I never intended to sell my firm, but as an early mover in the cloud accounting space, I received a lot of attention from outside parties that wanted to acquire the firm.
With so many opportunities and paths available, I was extremely confused about what the best move would be.
This pivotal moment taught me to take a step back, clarify my purpose and clarify my long term objectives to essentially help me devise a Roadmap to my ideal life. Once that was done, I was able to easily make the decision to sell my firm and immediately start Future Firm to help other accountants not only devise their own Roadmap to their ideal life, but also help them get there.
— Ryan Lazanis, founder, Future Firm
The birth of my daughter. While I'd done a lot in my career up to that point, including many experiences that I would classify as memorable and career-defining, as any parent knows, bringing a baby into the world changes your perspectives about everything else. Parenthood requires you to be more intentional about what you want in life and who you work with. It requires you to set clear boundaries for your time to make space for all of your passions. Add a pandemic, and it's even more chaotic and challenging. While I did anticipate the significance of choosing to have children, especially as it relates to my career, it has played out differently than I expected in both positive and negative ways. However, I wouldn't trade it for anything, and I love being a mom.
— Megan Lewczyk, owner, Megan D Lewczyk, CPA
When one of my sizeable clients asked me to be their COO to help but they wanted me to co-lead their firm with him under my terms. I elected not to do that and then helped them hire their COO. I still remain the firm’s Chief Growth Officer. The pivotal moment was the 100% validation that what I have built at Visionary is exactly what this CPA profession needs. That moment made me stop and think about what we do for firms and how we could even be doing more. This led us on path of increased innovation which helped us create items like the Outsourced Advisory Office, Advisory Bootcamp Series, and the Rapid Value Accelerator.
— Bob Lewis, president, The Visionary Group
I joined Citi as General Counsel – Capital Markets and Corporate Reporting – in 2009, which was right after the financial crisis of 2008.
The US had established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to ward off the worst of the mortgage and financial crisis and as the lead lawyer responsible for Citi’s public disclosures and global capital markets activities, I was in charge of managing Citi’s $20 billion TARP repayment. At the time, this was the largest public equity offering in US capital market history.
For me, this was a pivotal moment, as the 2008 financial crisis was one of the worst in US history. We now have rules and regulations in place to make sure that a similar crash never happens again. But it propelled me into the profession I’m in now, which ensures our capital markets operate off of reliable information.
— Julie Bell Lindsay, executive director, CAQ
Coming from South Africa, diversity and inclusion are very dear to my heart. In 1994, Apaartheid ended and South Africa opened up and transformed into the ‘Rainbow Nation’ under the incredible leadership of Nelson Mandela. There was huge inequality in the country and the need to completely change the education system and transform the profession.
Transformation requires a knowledge of cognitive diversity – the different ways people exhibit their preferred way of thinking based on factors such as where they were born and raised, and their experiences. It starts with recruitment. How are you going to bring people into your firm to ensure diversity of thought? Gender and ethnicity will play a role in that because we all have different learned life experiences. We all think about traditional learning & development but what about other skills crucial to working – a driver’s licence is difficult to obtain when no-one in your family has one, let alone a car. How do you help people who have to choose between eating and paying for transport to come to work, and studying by paraffin light because they have no access to electricity? These are all challenges faced by and overcome by some of the incredible people I have met on my journey.
My proudest moment was taking our Africa region from 2000 members and students to 25,000 and transforming the profile of our students from 35% African to 75%.
More important than the numbers though are the people behind these numbers. When a student is able to qualify as a professional accountant in an emerging economy, it takes them to a completely different level in terms of economic opportunities. Helping people transform their lives though access to the profession has been a formative experience for me.
— Samantha Louis, CEO, Praxity Global Alliance
Getting involved in public speaking. I did not know it the first time I spoke to groups. Over time I realized it was changing my career trajectory.
— Taylor Macdonald, SVP, channels, Sage Intacct
Throughout my life, I’ve had several pivotal moments that hold significance in my career journey. However, the most memorable moment is the reason I fell in love with tax compliance. Back in 2002, I worked for a larger insurance company and my job position was eliminated as my department was slowly disbanded.
At the time, I was mostly angry, but what I didn't know was that it would ultimately lead me to a career position in the world of tax that’s kept me energized and engaged for more than 18 years. Because of this moment in my career, I have been able to become a nationally recognized expert on sales and use taxes, providing analysis to the Wall Street Journal, NBC and more. I have also been able to mold the next generation of attorneys and tax professionals responsible for all the tax and regulatory content that keeps Sovos customers continually compliant.
— Charles Maniace, vice president, regulatory analysis & design, Sovos
I believe that everyone has at least one pivotal moment in their career. Often, we don’t realize it’s pivotal or significant at the time.
In my case, I had merged by practice with another local CPA. There were several concerns that arose that ultimately resulted in my demerging. I used that opportunity to assess my practice before and during the merger to see what worked, what didn’t work and what I would do better given the opportunity. I took that knowledge and the opportunity to start my own firm; and I am happy I did so.
My firm is primarily a tax preparation firm, so it made sense to start with software. I reviewed the primary options available with a fresh look, including software that I had been using for many years. Also, I sought the advice of trusted professionals, including Carl Peterson (AICPA).
Ultimately, I realized that now was the time to embrace technology and have my firm operate in the Cloud. This decision has allowed me to easily move from my house to several office locations than back home without missing a beat. My experiences on the Security Summit gave me the confidence to know that I could operate securely and not put my practice or my clients’ data at risk.
— Stephen Mankowski, co-chair, National Tax Policy Committee, NCCPAP
Yes, it was the birth of my first child (and then twins 11 months later) and the realization that to continue on at KPMG to the level of partner would require a commitment that I was not willing to make. I have enormous respect for the firm and loved my time there but decided to leave and ultimately start The Marks Group so that I could have more control over my life and impact with my clients.
— Gene Marks, president, The Marks Group
Accepting an ask to serve in BKD’s national office tax group.
— Damien Martin, partner, BKD CPAs & Advisors
My first role as an executive was leading the growth and expansion activities for a global financial services company. It provided me with early lessons of leadership, embedding a servant-leader mentality, a bias to action and a focus on results that served as the foundation for subsequent leadership opportunities over my career.
— Jason Marx, president & CEO, Tax & Accounting North America, Wolters Kluwer
Leaving traditional finance for a startup in the crypto industry. When I was introduced to the crypto industry and did some initial research, it was clear that global commerce could benefit from this technology, and when I learned that Lukka was building products with institutional standards and a focus on managing risk, I knew I wanted to join their team.
— Robert Materazzi, CEO, Lukka
I was fired from my first job after seven weeks. I deserved to be fired because I was terrible. This forced a lot of introspection and caused me to identify my bad traits of not listening carefully to my boss’ instructions and my wanting to impress him with rushing to complete each assignment. This self-examination provided a template that I used, from that moment forward, to not only be clear about what I had to do and to work deliberately and carefully, but the necessity of teaching these best practice work habits to staff that I was instructing. I believe getting fired contributed significantly to my later success of leveraging everything that I had to do to get client work completed timely, accurately, efficiently and effectively. When something unpleasant occurs one never views this positively but the better work habits I later developed because of this made this a highly beneficial moment in my career. My good fortune was that it occurred at the very start of my career and that I was not stupid enough to blame my boss and smart enough to recognize my own short comings.
— Ed Mendlowitz, emeritus partner, WithumSmith+Brown
Looking back, the decision to join CPA.com in December of 2011 has proven to be a pivotal career moment for me. At the time, I made the decision to join CPA.com to work for a smaller organization and remain working within the profession. I knew I would be engaging with the profession from a different vantage point in my new role, however, I did not realize the opportunity that would be presented to me to gain deep understanding of how the CPA profession functions, and be able to play an influencing role on the future of the profession.
— Kalil Merhib, VP, sales and client services, CPA.com
Yes. There was a time early in my career where I disagreed with a piece of feedback I received from my manager. My manager told me I was great at my job, but also that I was arrogant. I received the feedback respectfully and pondered it deeply, trying to find truth in it...and then, I rejected it.
I am competent. I am smart. If people take that as arrogance, it says more about them than me.
Ironically, this moment is now one of my proudest, and also proved to be extremely pivotal.
— Ariege Misherghi, VP expert segment leader, small business self-employed group, Intuit
I have had a few pivotal moments in my career, but there is one that I often look back on fondly. I was 24 years old and my boss, Troy Waugh, allowed me to move to France to grow our international association. I had only two years of experience in the industry, but I was eager and just cocky enough to believe I could do it. What makes this event pivotal, though, is the exemplary leadership Troy demonstrated in trusting me to run with this. He easily could have said no, but he saw that I was passionate about what TRC was doing, and he gave me the gift of “eyes on, hands off” leadership to figure it out. I grew our association from 0 to 68 international firms in three years. Was it easy? No. Did I have a few “tough love” conversations with Troy? Yes. What I will always remember is that great leadership is not about micro-managing, but about empowering others and showing your confidence and support as they figure things out for themselves. Did I know it’s significance at the time? Absolutely not. I was a strong-headed millennial who truly believed I could do this. Looking back, I am humbled and grateful that Troy gave me this shot. He had every right to tell me I was crazy and unqualified for the role, but he didn’t. And I am grateful every, single day for that.
— Adelaide Ness, chief learning officer, The Rainmaker Companies
The pivotal moment was starting my own firm. I had no idea at the time that it would launch me into a fascinating career in software. But I’m not sure I would actually call it a “pivotal moment.” There was no particular moment when things suddenly changed. Yes, I made the decision to take a risk, but building the firm was a gradual process that took years, and I could have backed out many times. That’s why I feel the most important thing is to just keep on moving forward a little bit every day. That’s how you get places.
— Blake Oliver, founder & CEO, Earmark
I left the old school firm I worked at and joined my dad’s practice to form New Vision CPA Group. I would not have grown to be the professional I am today without having been given the opportunity to change and run a firm. I was able to take what I liked and, more importantly, what I didn’t like about the traditional firm model and build a firm where people would want to work in a format clients would want to work in. I embraced tech, used social media and changed my pricing. Oh and I made my firm remote a decade ago. Every mistake and all the successes were mine to learn from. I had no idea where this move would take me. I certainly did not expect it to lead me to where I am today where I’m helping firms build stronger practices by embracing the newest trends available to us.
— Jody Padar, vice president of partner development & strategy, Botkeeper
After completing college for my Masters, I was doing a quick trainee job, and was looking for a suitable full time job. My mother then fell sick with a terminal illness. Most of the jobs that were of interest to me were in other cities. I did not want to move out of the city for a job (in those days, there was no internet, even landline phones were scarce -which meant I would have lost touch with my mother) so I could be with my mother. Hence, I took up a job in the financial services sector and fell in love with the fascinating world of technology-enabled financial services work. It gave me a close look into one of the most intimate aspects of peoples’ (customers’) lives i.e. their financial lives. That in turn gave me the foundational base to understand what can make customers’ lives better. Everything that I can accomplish today to make customers more successful actually started with that life-changing turn in my life. At that time, I knew that it was a very significant decision in my life. I anticipated challenges but the bond I had with my mother meant I was determined to do everything I can to make my career move successful. That one pivotal moment meant the ship of my life sailed to a different shore that I could not have imagined, and it has given me immense career satisfaction. I owe it to my mother that even in her passing away, she gave my career a meaningful life!
— Hitendra Patil, head of customer success, AccountantsWorld
When I was elevated to the Minnesota Society of CPAs leadership cabinet and then appointed on the society’s board. That was the moment when I advanced to a position of leadership in the profession and it began the path to my current position at the AICPA.
— Carl Peterson, VP, small firm interests, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
My career has been a series of instances of being in the right place at the right time and been willing to say yes when opportunities were presented. I have often thought that the best thing a parent can teach their children is to recognize when a door opens. I was taught to always volunteer and to always want to be the boss, but that isn’t always what people are taught.
— Scott Peterson, VP, U.S. tax policy and government relations, Avalara
It was before I even got into the career. I was inspired into the profession by a teacher in community college. Without that conversation…I would not be here.
— William Pirolli, chair, AICPA; co-chair, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
Yes…when I started selling CPA firms. I had success right out of the gate. I knew it was significant because it married many of my skills together. I enjoy sales and relationships. It was entrepreneurial and utilized my knowledge of the accounting profession. Discovering that was one of the most energizing periods of my life. I knew I’d become one of the “lucky ones” who got to enjoy what I did at work so much that it didn’t feel like work.
— Brannon Poe, founder, Poe Group Advisors
I worked at Arthur Andersen when the firm shut down in 2002. At the time, I received a call from a leader at Grant Thornton who asked me to join the firm’s local office. I decided to pursue a different path and asked for outreach after a year had passed. A year to the day later, I received a call from that same leader asking me to join Grant Thornton. I accepted and found a new team and a new career that has lasted almost two decades. The lesson is to keep an open mind and heart. It can help you find rewarding opportunities in surprising places.
— Bradley Preber, CEO, Grant Thornton LLP
People often think of a pivotal moment as something that happens early in life, but I believe my pivotal moment is happening right now. Two years ago I had the opportunity to become CEO of the largest state CPA society in the country and now I’m CEO of the largest audit player in the world during a once-in-a-century pandemic and at a time when business and our profession is seemingly transforming overnight. The importance of this moment is not lost on me – in fact, it’s one of the reasons I was so excited to take on this challenge.
I’m entrusted to lead a profession of incredible importance at perhaps the most transformational time in our history. So many of us want a chance to make a difference and here I have the unique opportunity to make our profession better and to shape our future. It doesn’t get more pivotal than that. It’s a tremendous responsibility and an incredible honor.
— Anthony Pugliese, president and CEO, Institute of Internal Auditors
In 1998, while serving as Managing Partner of my 60 person, Midwest-based firm, we became a big player in the consolidation trend for the CPA profession that happened in the late 90s and early 2000s when we were acquired by HRB to start what later becameRSM McGladrey. My involvement in that strategy for the subsequent 6 years sent my career in a completely and exciting new direction.I’ve been involved in M&A for CPA firms ever since.
— Terrence Putney, CEO, Transition Advisors LLC
A pivotal moment in my career was when I made the switch from corporate finance and accounting to being on the technology side. With this move, I went from being at the frontline of the profession to helping transform the profession with Xero.
It was a big pay cut and status cut to join a company that at the time was very young and only had around 200 people. However, Xero had a big mission and purpose that captured me - to help small business through a single ledger born in the cloud and helping drive the transformation of the profession to join that journey. At the time, I was ready for a more startup growth-driven experience and something that was addictive and fast paced.
Working at Xero was a magical opportunity to take my technical discipline and leverage that in a technology business at the heart of disruption. I was able to diversify my skill set from pure accounting and commercial finance and grow in many ways across leadership, strategy, sales and marketing. Working at Xero became a chance to revolutionize a profession I always believed had under-capitalized on the trust we had with our clients and the opportunities to do more for small businesses.
I’m still here 8 ½ years later. After seeing Xero go from startup to leader in the New Zealand market, I am now based in the US, one of the largest small business markets in the world. I’m coming up on five years of being in the US helping to drive the same transformation on a much bigger scale that I didn't probably recognize at the time in my journey.
— Ben Richmond, U.S. country manager, Xero
Many pivotal moments! Here are four: none of which was I aware of the great significance at the time.
My first staff accounting position in 1985 hooked me on our profession—which I deeply love.
My first job in a public accounting firm in 1994 led to meeting the many friends/contacts/organizations without whom I’d certainly never be doing what I am now.
*Going back to “solo” consulting (from running my 6-person accounting marketing agency) in 2009 freed me up to follow my passions narrowing my focus to strategy, positioning and pricing.
And lastly, joining Top 100 firm K·Coe Isom as a partner in 2013 gave me rich first-hand, skin-in-the game knowledge and insights that made me a better-informed and more relatable consultant as I now help firms institutionalize new revenue or overall business models.
*If I had to pick just one… Specializing was it!
— Michelle Golden River, owner/president, Fore LLC
It was over the two week span when I read Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth and Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Both books inspired me to think differently about the profession and my place in it.
— Darren Root, GM, Rootworks LLC
The financial crisis of 2008 had a profound financial impact on the profession and on CAMICO. From a CPA liability perspective, it took many years to recover from the crisis. We knew it was significant at the time because so many major financial institutions had been at serious risk of failure during the crisis.
— Ric Rosario, president and CEO, CAMICO
When I learned that using my writing skills educate people and influence them. This began at my first job as a staff accountant at Ernst & Young while in my mid-20s and has served me well for 50 years in every position I have ever had. All of this culminated with writing 16 books on CPA firm management; no one else in the history of the CPA profession has published as many books on CPA firm practice management as I have, a very satisfying feeling.
Did I know the significance of this at the time? Yes! I knew this because of the positive feedback that I have received over the years, initially from superiors and later, from clients and customers of our books.
— Marc Rosenberg, president, The Rosenberg Associates
I believe that the current pandemic will prove to be one of the most significant moments in my career — and I suspect that many other leaders will agree.
The combination of the pandemic, the economic downturn, social unrest — now followed by a rapid economic recovery, a labor shortage and ongoing uncertainty — has been incredibly challenging for all of us, personally and professionally.
Purpose and values are easy to talk about when times are good. But over the last 19 months, they have guided us through uncharted waters and unexpected challenges.
In the early months of the pandemic, when we weren’t sure how far the economy would fall, we chose to give our people and their families peace of mind by telling them that we would use layoffs as a last resort. We took their biggest fear — after the health and safety of their families — and gave them as much certainty as we could. We also chose to take a long-term view and invest in our future, welcoming our full class of new partners and honoring all of our offers to incoming full-time staff and interns.
Because of the investments we’ve made to upskill our people and tech-enable our business over the last several years, we were able to quickly pivot to remote work and continue to serve our clients. And we continued to invest in technology so we could serve our clients efficiently and safely.
We were a voice of change, rallying the business community to take on societal systemic racism, launching CEO Action for Racial Equity. And as we reported in our recent PwC Purpose Report, we also continued to focus on our diversity and inclusion efforts; they are too important to let a pandemic stop our progress.
While the economy has rebounded, the ongoing uncertainty created by the pandemic has taken its toll. We continue to support our people with mental health resources and, in order to be competitive and bring our talent to our clients, we are providing our people with additional options for flexibility.
While this is new for us, we are confident in our ability to reach our goals. We have learned a lot during the pandemic about working virtually. We've demonstrated the ability to deliver quality and help our clients achieve sustained outcomes, while providing flexibility to our people.
At the same time, we are working closely with clients to understand their needs. Based on those discussions, teams are building work plans that reflect how the world and our firm are shifting. Some team members may be in-person, others will be virtual. Some clients want us back onsite, some are working in a hybrid model, and some won’t invite us to their offices for some time to come. Our commitment to our clients is to meet them where they are — while also bringing to life the lessons we’ve learned over the course of the pandemic.
I feel fortunate to lead a firm that has a history of investing for the future and looking ahead and anticipating the next set of challenges. While we certainly didn’t know the pandemic was coming, we have been investing in digital transformation and flexibility for a while now; our capabilities have helped tremendously as we meet the challenges of this time while caring for our people and our clients.
— Tim Ryan, chair and senior partner, PwC US
I have had many pivotal moments in my career. The one that stands out to me the most is when I decided to focus on my professional legacy. I was an SVP at Capital One (a 25+ year career in financial services) when I made the decision to discover the significance and purpose of my career. Having experienced a significant level of professional success, I transitioned from the for-profit to the non-profit sector to help develop learn and earn financial service models. My focus was to help drive organizational impact and change the trajectories of Black and brown people by broadening the spectrum and viewpoints about career opportunities that exist in professional and financial services.
Currently, as the CEO and President of NABA, I sit at the helm of an organization that has been serving Black professionals (specifically accountants and CPAs) for the past 50 years. I have been entrusted to lead the charge in rebranding and repositioning the organization to serve a broader group of individuals in business and accounting from the classroom to the c-suite for the next 50 years and beyond.
I continue to be excited and inspired by my decision to pivot my career and discover my professional purpose. I have landed in a role that allows me to lead the expansion of a powerful platform that educates, empowers, and mobilizes Black business and accounting professionals to ensure equitable representation at all levels of the continuum of the career ladder.
— Guylaine Saint Juste, president and CEO, National Association of Black Accountants
Becoming a Professional Accounting Fellow at the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant. It challenged me to think through issues from a variety of different lenses and instilled in me the importance of putting investors first. It also provided me with the skills necessary to become the FASB’s Technical Director.
— Hillary Salo, technical director, FASB; chair, Emerging Issues Task Force
My most pivotal moment in my career came eight years ago when I was selected to lead the Federal Tax Credits & Incentives Practice for the Americas for Prager Metis CPAs, a TOP 50 Global accounting firm with a footprint in North America, Europe, and Asia. I was tasked with building a nationwide tax practice from zero and a team from zero. Fast forward eight years later, we have a robust multi-million-dollar tax practice serving many industry sectors that Prager Metis never serviced before in its 100 plus year history (e.g., legacy firm was Prager & Fenton founded in 1920) including Life Sciences (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Medical Devices); Aerospace & Defense; and the Robotics industry. I hired nearly two dozen team members nationwide supporting the servicing of our clients ranging from start-ups to leading middle market companies to Fortune 500 companies and have viable plans to take the tax practice worldwide with the launch of our Global Specialty Tax Incentives Center of Excellence.
Yes, I knew immediately when I signed my employment contract the trust that the Prager Metis Office of the CEOs placed in me to develop and lead their Federal Tax Credits & Incentives Practice for the Americas. I knew that failure was not an option and needed to ensure its success and continued scalability year-over-year. It was such a tremendous opportunity that was afforded me and to this day I remain most grateful and humble for the opportunity to work for such an amazing firm and collaborative team members.
— Peter J. Scalise, federal tax credits & incentives practice leader for the Americas, Prager Metis CPAs
The pivotal moment of my career was the day that Marcum’s leadership, through a tremendous overture, recognized that our profession was in fact due for a digital disruption and that my vision and approach to using technology could reshape the Firm for the future.
This pivotal moment manifested when three simultaneous honors were bestowed upon me. In September 2017, I became the first operational leader to make partner at Marcum, becoming the non-CPA equivalent of an equity partner. I was also assigned a seat on the Firm’s executive committee.
While at that moment I was overwhelmed by the Firm’s endorsement of me, what I did not know at the time was how significant this gesture really was. It was the first time in Marcum’s history that an individual was elevated in that fashion. Five years later, I am still the only individual to have achieved this honor.
— Peter Scavuzzo, CEO, Marcum Technology, chief information & digital officer, Marcum
I had two pivotal moments: Not being accepted to medical school and deciding to take a different path launching my CPA career; and selling my firm to BDO and losing control over my future.
— Gary Shamis, CEO, Winding River Consulting
I have to identify two pivotal moments in my career. The first occurred in 1981 when I was a financial analyst at Zenith Electronics. I had prepared an analysis based on information received from a manufacturing facility but, in all honesty, provided little if any insight. My director said, “Todd, I know that you’re better than this.” It was a pivotal moment because, from that day forward, I learned the importance of asking “why.” I believe that my analytical skills are at the core of being able to identify where the profession will be going. This singular experience has stayed with me for forty years.
The second pivotal moment was becoming the president and CEO of the Illinois CPA Society. Becoming CEO gave me the platform to utilize my analytical and strategic thinking skills to, hopefully, impact the profession by helping to ensure we are prepared for an ever-changing future.
— Todd Shapiro, president and CEO, Illinois CPA Society
Attending the AICPA Leadership Academy. It was what made me switch from calling myself an IT consultant with a CPA, and instead called myself a CPA who specialized in IT. I recognized that the CPA brand was so powerful that I should be associating with the accounting profession instead of the IT profession. At that time, I was a relatively unknown person from a small island in the middle of the pacific, little did I know that would be the start of a critial change in my role in the profession. Now I’ve been named to the Top 100 Influencers list and also sit on an advisory group driving change internationally for the profession.
— Donny Shimamoto, managing director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC
Being appointed to the Financial Accounting Standards Board in 2008 at the age of 39 changed the arc of my career. As a former accounting analyst serving institutional investors, being named to the FASB and being able to influence rules during one of the most active standard-setting times in the FASB’s history was an honor. My appointment also coincided with the most significant financial crisis seen since the Great Depression. Joining the FASB was clearly a pivotal moment in my career and I definitely understood it at the time.
— Marc Siegel, board member, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
In March 2020 I raised my hand and said I’d like to help accountants navigate the Paycheck Protection Program so they could serve their small business clients at such a tumultuous time. I thought I’d be doing that with the help of the Firm Services team for a couple of months. I underestimated that by a bit. 😊 At the time I didn’t foresee how important the tools and resources, including the AICPA Town Hall, we provided would be to CPAs over the next 18 months. The ability to connect with so many in the profession at a time of crisis has been an honor.
— Lisa Simpson, VP, firm services, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants
In the early 1990s,I facilitated the sale of a small accounting firm. At the closing of the deal, the seller said thanks for helping him get paid for his years of sweat equity and putting his clients in good hands and the buyer thanked me for helping him make more money and putting his kids through college. It filled me with such pride and joy it has kept me doing what I do for 30 years.
— Joel Sinkin, president, Transition Advisors LLC
We founded Net at Work 25 years ago to help SMBs install complex accounting software. I can’t give you a date but when SaaS accounting software became viable it caught my interest. At the time I really didn’t know how it would pan out.
Now, new accounting technology can help companies become more efficient, more flexible, more agile, with better precision and accuracy. It also does not require the kind of extensive implementations required 25 years ago.
What we have recognized is that installing this new software does not make a company more efficient by the sheer fact that you’ve installed it. It’s more important to change your business processes to take advantage of the new technology. And companies need to get busy building that platform now. Technology keeps changing, offering new opportunities, overcoming challenges and, in this way, pursuit of excellence is a never-ending journey.
— Alex Solomon, co-president and co-founder, Net at Work
We founded Net at Work 25 years ago to help SMBs install complex accounting software. I can’t give you a date but when SaaS accounting software became viable it caught my interest. At the time I really didn’t know how it would pan out.
Now, new accounting technology can help companies become more efficient, more flexible, more agile, with better precision and accuracy. It also does not require the kind of extensive implementations required 25 years ago.
What we have recognized is that installing this new software does not make a company more efficient by the sheer fact that you’ve installed it. It’s more important to change your business processes to take advantage of the new technology. And companies need to get busy building that platform now. Technology keeps changing, offering new opportunities, overcoming challenges and, in this way, pursuit of excellence is a never-ending journey.
— Ed Solomon, co-president and co-founder, Net at Work
Six years ago I went back to school to get a graduate degree, planning to leave the profession. While there, I realized what an opportunity client accounting services were, and came back with a clear vision for how the shortage of accounting talent, and emerging tech left firms well-positioned to take advantage of CAS.
— Jason Staats, partner, Brenner
I can think of dozens of moments that stand out from people who have influenced and taught me (positively or negatively)really important concepts.But one instance was when I was first in the role of CIO and “drinking”from the proverbial fire hose and struggling to keep up with the seemingly infinite demands on my time.At some point, I had to realize that I couldn’t solve everything, couldn’t answer every question, couldn’t be in every office at once and that succeeding in the role wasn’t about how hard I could work. It was about the kind of team that I could build that would determine a successful future for myself and the firm!(It’s a lesson I still occasionally need to relearn!)
— Marc Staut, shareholder, chief innovation & technology officer, Boomer Consulting
Yes. Early in my career as a consultant I suffered from what I now know to be an outdated mindset of isolationism—functioning as an island, viewing others as competitive vs collaborators, operating with a scarcity mentality. I said yes to client work I shouldn’t have for fear of not “having all the answers.” I was young, only 27 when I started, and I had come out of an environment of protectionism.
When Jennifer Wilson invited me to join the CPA Consultants’ Alliance in 2011, I remember hesitating because of the idea that I shouldn’t be in a room with a bunch of competitors. But as soon as I attended my first meeting I realized that my mindset had been holding me back. I recognized the significance of the mindset shift, but I didn’t understand all the ways in which it would eventually influence me and my firm. I have formed collaborative bonds, strategic alliances, referral relationships and quite honestly, deep friendships with a lot of those folks I once held at arm’s length. I stripped down our firm’s service offerings to make sure we were utilizing our team at their highest and best use, and referred out work we shouldn’t be doing. I embraced the abundance mindset, that there is more than enough opportunity for us all, and working together is the best way to lead change. It also is a much more fun and fulfilling way to work!
— Carrie Steffen, co-founder and president, The Whetstone Group
I was a practicing lawyer for the first 7 1/2 years of my career specializing in the defense of professionals - primarily medical professionals. A pivotal moment for me came in the late 1990s when I was approached about taking a position with an insurance carrier in their accountants’ professional liability claim unit. I was admittedly hesitant to accept the job, believing that the risk and exposure factors involving accountants would be too complicated and technical in nature especially when compared to the medical malpractice matters that I was used to defending. But I took a leap of faith, accepted the position and never looked back. I discovered that the accounting profession was both a dynamic and exciting industry. The risk issues were challenging, and I found that I enjoyed assisting CPAs solve complex problems. For the past 23 years, I have devoted my career solely to helping CPAs and the accounting profession navigate a myriad of risks ranging from technical issues, regulatory and legal changes, economic downturns to major societal disruptions.
— Stan Sterna, vice president, Aon
Many years ago, my current partner, Alan Feldstein, took me out to lunch. While at lunch he expressed the reasons why he wanted me to become his business partner. Alan expressed to me that over the years he has developed great relationships and friendships with his clients. He wanted to be partners with someone that he trusted would always take care of those people if something ever happened to him. That is what was important to him, he did not care about money or prestige, rather he cared about his clients and always wanted to take care of them.
It was such a selfless thing to say and left me absolutely speechless. I knew right then and there that this was truly what I wanted to do and the type of person I always wanted to strive to be in this profession.
— Mark Stewart Jr., president, National Conference of CPA Practitioners
I was fired as executive editor of Nation's Restaurant News, the industry's leading trade journal at the time, because of editorial differences with the publisher. After six weeks, the same company hired me back as chief editor of AccountingToday, when it was still a start-up.
I learned two things: Editors and publishers (and since then I've been both) thrive with the philosophical tension that comes from their sometimes conflicting roles. And when their roles can be harmomized, the combination is formidable.
— Rick Telberg, CEO and founder, CPA Trendlines Research
I have been entrepreneurial obsessed since day one. As a child, I created businesses around gardening services, cookie dough, and horseback riding lessons. I tried to solve any problem I could find that people would pay me to solve.
I went to college, and I knew that I eventually wanted to go down this entrepreneurial path. There wasn’t an entrepreneurship degree at the University of Kansas, but. I'd heard accounting was the language of business. I took my first accounting class my freshman year and loved it. I got both my undergraduate and masters degree in accounting. I also interned at both PWC and EY. I chose to start my career with EY in their tax division.
EY was a great place to start a career, but I went into public accounting knowing it likely wasn't a long-term fit since entrepreneurship was in my soul. However, I wasn’t sure when I would feel ready to start my own company, or what exactly it would be. In a way, I felt trapped in an accounting box and was waiting for the “perfect time” to create a change in my career.
A pivotal moment for me in my career was when I had a sudden and unexpected sickness which left me in the hospital for nine days. I realized you can be healthy one day and sick the next, and you just don't know how long life is.
There's never going to be a perfect time to go after what you want. If you have this burning desire to do something, then go do it. I ended up going back to work, sat down with one of the partners, and told them where my heart was. I asked them if they had a business development role, but they said it wasn’t available for someone as early in their career as I was.
I accepted that and decided I was going to try to do it on my own. It seemed like accounting firms would be a great place to start working with. It appeared that they were lacking a lot of marketing resources, so that’s what I focused on. And, from there, we have grown into what we are today.
For any accountant who feels like they’re stuck in a box, you aren’t. Accounting provides you with such a great background and skill set to help many.
— Katie Thomas, owner, Leaders Online
A pivotal moment in my career was getting the NJCPA to be viewed as a resource and thought leader in New Jersey for the broad business landscape, and not just be seen as a tax and audit reference. Reaching the point where the NJCPA can influence real change in the New Jersey Legislature was a key achievement for me. When state influencers have come to ask our opinion on various business issues, that has been something to be proud of. For years we have worked towards being an objective resource on broad business challenges facing the state of New Jersey but also on issues confronting the entire accounting profession. It has been an accomplishment to get to the point where our member surveys are used as a pulse read on the business environment and what is impacting the accounting profession. I was proud to be asked to sit on the Economic and Fiscal Policy Review Workgroup by Senate President Steve Sweeney in 2018.
— Ralph Thomas, CEO and executive director, New Jersey Society of CPAs
Yes, when I became CEO of IMA in 2008 under very challenging business conditions. I was not necessarily trained to become a CEO in a traditional sense, but I know how to lead and make a difference, and in our turnaround, I put equal emphasis on “cash” (strategy, tactics, people and process to fund the mission) and “culture” (core values for volunteers, staff and partners). The ability to make a difference for thousands of members, volunteers and staff around the world is challenging, but as a leader, it is my duty and obligation to serve.
— Jeff Thomson, president and CEO, Institute of Management Accountants
Throughout my 20 years as an accounting professional, I have had many pivotal moments where I've been proud of my contributions, but three, in particular, stand out.
The first was seven years ago when, together with my business partner, I built a unique accounting firm, Twenty Eighty Financial, that utilized cloud accounting and technology stacks to enhance client relationships. By leveraging technology, we could have current, accurate financial data at our fingertips, which allowed us to focus our efforts on providing advisory services for small businesses. This meant interpreting their numbers in a way that they understood coupled with our financial expertise, empowering them to make informed business decisions in real-time. Creating this firm unlocked my builder mentality and further pushed my career down an unmarked path.
My second pivotal moment was when I co-founded and successfully developed a software application for accounting professionals to use with their clients. At Helm, I learned the power of my network and the exponential value that community could bring. I started my work by asking questions to accounting professionals throughout North America, the UK, and Australia, listening to pain points and learning where they saw the industry and their client services going. We adapted and iterated our product and soon realized that successful technology companies aren’t solely the ones that launch a product - products are born through an active listening process to address a pain point identified by audience groups. And because I had experience creating a modern firm and successfully delivering advisory services, I had valuable insights that accountants and bookkeepers were eager to learn from.
Suddenly, I found myself at the forefront of our accounting evolution with a chance to exponentially increase my value to the profession by shifting my focus from working with clients to working with other accounting professionals (who work with clients of their own). And this is where my third pivotal moment came to be: I decided to join FreshBooks.
At FreshBooks, I've been able to combine everything I've learned through my career as an accountant, community builder, entrepreneur, technology enthusiast, and champion for change. Once I learned of the company's mission and vision and realized they aligned with my personal values, I jumped at the chance to extend my reach and make a bigger impact. My mission is to elevate my contribution to the success of accounting professionals and their collaborations with their clients.
— Twyla Verhelst, head, accountant channel, FreshBooks
Yes - one of the most life-changing moments in my career is when I moved from leading tax operations for a single line of business at a global financial institution to building and leading tax compliance functions for all lines of business at a bank. Financial institutions are inherently plagued with more significant tax withholding and 1099 reporting obligations because the
majority of their products and services produce taxable income. The exposure that I received to so many financial systems, products, and transactions, and the related tax issues catapulted my knowledge and it taught me how to design and implement organizational solutions - rather than
departmental ones. This knowledge enabled me to achieve big impacts in short periods of time - enabling us to quickly reduce risk and improve customer experience.
As I left the financial services industry and transitioned into the software industry, I have built upon that knowledge by interacting with so many industries - so that whether I’m working with a digital asset exchange or a gig platform company - I can help them navigate the tax issues that are specific to the transactions and products that they are involved with.
— Wendy Walker, solutions principal, Sovos
Yes, When I started L&H with my two partners. For me it was pivotal because I spent a lot of time looking for the right people. I realized the significance.
— Kyle Walters, partner, L&H CPAs and Advisors
Yes. When the firm I was at, Mann Judd Landau, was acquired by Touche Ross in 1989, I decided to stay in the middle market and went to Richard A. Eisner & Company (now Eisner Advisory Group LLC). I did realize the significance of that decision, but I never fathomed the unbelievable career journey in front of me.
— Charles Weinstein, CEO, Eisner Advisory Group
Yes, the day I made partner in a local Atlanta CPA firm was the first time I asked myself if I was happy. I decided at that precise moment (after 15 years of striving to make partner at different roles) that I needed to be more fulfilled and resigned to go into high tech. My next role at a software company provided me my first presentation opportunity which was the first time I felt like I belonged, that I could inspire and motivate and that maybe I could be good at something.
On that day, I knew it was terrifying to give up on a dream I had held since 7th grade, but I also knew I was dying inside and struggling daily to do work that I was not born to do.
Every leap of faith I have made since has gotten easier and I have always landed on my feet with no regrets.
— Geni Whitehouse, countess of communication, Even a Nerd Can be Heard, The Impactful Advisor, Solve Services, www.bdcocpa.com
There have been many, but one that stands out is when I met Gary Boomer for the first time and decided to take a leap of faith and go to work with him. The honest truth is that I thought I would most likely work for him for about a year and then find something else, but obviously that changed. Twenty five years later, this is a dream job in a dream company and I had no idea that is how it would work out.
— Sandra Wiley, president, Boomer Consulting Inc.
Yes, I have had several. I survived a toxic leader in a very big job. After the board removed him, his misdeeds were uncovered and my many concerns about him validated. He gave me the context for “bad boss” and the courage and skills to address bad behavior at work. I use both often to help firm leaders address their own leadership behavior issues.
— Jennifer Wilson, co-founder and partner, ConvergenceCoaching LLC
My career changed significantly when I launched our annual conference called Scaling New Heights in 2009. At the time I didn’t understand the impact of this decision. I thought the conference would be an extension of my SMB advisory practice – a time when I could gather with my peers once a year. By 2011, fueled by the success of the conference, accountant education became my primary business model and changed the course of my life and career. This change in focus birthed our current vision at Woodard “to transform small business through small business advisors.”
— Joe Woodard, CEO, Woodard Events
After graduating law school and getting my LL.M. degree in taxation, I began my career practicing corporate and securities law on Long Island, N.Y. While I enjoyed drafting partnership operating agreements, much of my time was devoted to what I considered the laborious task of ensuring the accuracy of securities documents. I also wasn’t getting any significant opportunities to practice tax law. One day, following a wave of non-stop securities work, my supervisors called an “emergency all-hands” meeting to ostensibly distribute even more work.
Having been very conscious of what I wanted to do with my future career, I walked into the meeting and resigned on the spot. After the shock in the room wore off, my direct supervisor and I met. To my surprise, he asked that I stick around until the firm found a replacement. I ended up staying another six months, received some terrific, honest feedback on my skills, and the experience gave me the opportunity to eventually transition from a law firm to an accounting firm in which I was able to concentrate on tax issues. In other words, I took a bold yet calculated risk to follow my passions, and I’ve never looked back.
— Jamie Yesnowitz, principal, state and local tax leader, Washington national tax office, Grant Thornton
I really have to say the pivotal moment in my career was getting my first job out of college as a sales tax auditor for the state of Kansas. I had no idea of its significance at the time but what made it pivotal is that I have spent my entire career in sales tax, built a successful business providing sales tax consulting and education and truthfully found my passion in my professional life. Had I started in public accounting which had been my goal, I never would be where I am today. I wouldn’t have changed anything I’ve done over the course of my career as each step enhanced my skills and perspective about sales tax.
— Diane Yetter, president and founder, Yetter Consulting Services & Sales Tax Institute
When I was working Societe Generale, I had a boss who often challenged my work as an internal auditor while its quality was being complimented by co-workers, others at the bank, and clients. I was writing audit reports and findings and my efficiency gave me time to go to the gym, write songs and attend my MBA classes part-time at night. During this time, I wrote "Dear IRS" and one of its verses is about tax arbitrage (which was one of the business models the bank had set up that I audited). Its chorus and one of the verses is: “Dear IRS, I can’t sleep at night! I cheated on my taxes, just a tiny oversight. Enclosed find a check, I know you won’t protest.” (And if I still can’t sleep, I’ll send the rest. .. I have a corporation and a subsidiary. Party A loans money for shares in party B. The interest is deductible and dividends are tax-free; and all the money funnels to a bank account owned by me!" This song was played on radio stations around the country and provided more visibility to me as the Singing CPA.
In November 2014, I was sitting by the pool at an accounting conference in Boca Raton Florida and I started talking to the guy sitting next to me. He had some great ideas for growing my firm and encouraged me to be myself when I’m singing and CPA-ing. This was Ed Mendlowitz, CPA who has since become a trusted advisor and good friend.
— Steven Zelin, managing member, Zelin & Associates CPA
The day I quit my day job to start a company. The U.S. was built on top of entrepreneurship and people chasing their dream. It was super scary to do at that time, but now I get to enjoy waking up every day helping to make it easier for all future & current entrepreneurs to envision their business ideas and to maximize their potential.
— Martin Zych, CEO, Jirav
