Why Accounting?
William & Mary's Mason Accounting Programs Board is a group of professionals who have joined together to contribute their wisdom, influence and financial resources to support W&M's accounting programs. Here, we talk with eight of our Board members about how they got interested in their chosen careers and what advice they have for students just now considering their options. Interview participants are:
Steve Baker, Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers
Candy Duncan, Audit Area Managing Partner at KPMG
Jen Flinchum, Principal at Keiter, Stephens, Hurst, Gary & Shreaves
Wendy Hambleton, Partner at BDO Seidman
Dave Haug, Auditor with Ernst & Young
Jere Shawver, Partner at Baker Tilly
Alison T. Spivey, Partner with Ernst & Young
Stephen Theuer, Audit Partner at Deloitte & Touche
Q: Some of us may have played fighter pilot or doctor when we were 10 years old, but we probably didn't play accountant! When did you know that accounting was the right field for you?
Some of those interviewed figured it out right away. Alison, Steve and Wendy all were convinced early in their college careers. Alison says, "I knew accounting was the right field for me during my first semester of Principles of Accounting. I had great success in that class, and I realized that a career in accounting was the best place for me!"
Steve is even more specific: "Sept 1984 -- Accounting 201 with Professor Bill Geary. Professor Geary made the class interesting and made me curious to learn more. The more I learned the more I liked."
For Wendy, Principles was both a surprise and a relief. "I knew in Principles class. I realized it made much more sense to me than organic chemistry," she laughs.
But not everyone fell in love right away. Some had to be pulled away from other interests, such as Jere. "I went to W&M in order to prep for law school," he says. He had heard from a number of attorneys -- mostly friends of his father -- that accounting was a great background for law but it wasn't until a little later in college that he decided it might not be a stepping stone so much as a career for him. By the time he graduated, his desire to go to law school had been "set aside."
Jen tells a similar tale, though she chose accounting a few years after graduation. "I always wanted to do something in business and wanted to go to law school, so I was advised to have an accounting background and get the CPA. After a few years though," she says, "I realized how much I loved public accounting and never made it back to law school.
And then, there are those who converted suddenly and fully to the accounting life. Stephen jokes he chose accounting "when my father told me that I couldn't live at home, after graduation."
Q: Even in this tough economy, our accounting students are still getting lots of great jobs. Why is the accounting profession so much more stable than some other areas of business?
All the Board members agree: why the accounting field is still growing is no mystery. Accounting really is the language of business, they stress. Accounting professionals are always needed to help businesses of all sizes offer and interpret sound financial reports.
"[It] is the bedrock of all business and business decisions," Steve says.
"Good sound financial advice is always needed," Jen explains, "and an accounting background provides a true sounding board for a variety of business matters."
Accounting's fundamental role explains, the Board agrees, why accountants are even more sought after in difficult economic times.
Dave says, "The accounting profession is not all about compliance - accountants and auditors are also key business advisors. Tough economic times mean challenges for businesses and opportunities for accountants and auditors to help clients. We, as accountants and auditors, are best able to move between keeping our clients out of trouble (compliance) and bringing them advice and perspectives to improve their business processes, leading to a relatively stable environment."
Alison agrees. "Even when the economy is not stable or growing," she says, "businesses need to report the results of operations. Accounting skills are necessary to plan, manage, grow and report business activities."
"In a time of financial crisis no profession is more respected for objectivity and conservatism than accounting," Jere adds. "Companies need prudent financial advisors, and I continue to believe that the best accountants are the best financial advisors. Likewise, when things are better, accountants can help companies see the problems before they become issues."
Economic downturns can even present "exciting opportunities for businesses to reinvent themselves," says Candy. "Some businesses emerge from the recession stronger and healthier than they were before." Accounting professionals can play a critical role in such transformations, she says. "In the accounting profession, we're constantly looking for new and better ways to help our clients succeed. New business models and innovation spur economic development and employment.... It's an exciting time to be entering the accounting profession."
And, as Stephen points out, changes in worldwide accounting practices are only increasing the need for new practitioners in the field. "The financial accounting language becomes more complex each year in US GAAP and IFRS," he says. "So the need for recently trained practitioners will always exist."
Q: Are accountants boring? Will I become boring if I major in accounting?
The Board answers this with a resounding NO!
"You can be boring in any field, or you cannot - that is up to you," Steve laughs. "Don't get caught up on stereotypes. Accountants are generally very principled and have a well defined sense of right and wrong but that doesn't mean they are boring."
Alison heartily agrees: "Accounting is never boring!" Accountants have a "seat at the table" in complex business arrangements, she explains. "It's a thrill to read in the Wall Street Journal about business transactions and events with positive results that you were involved in."
"You constantly meet new people and get to learn new things," Jere confirms. "I have been to every major city in the U.S. for work. This is a high people contact business."
Dave agrees. "What other industry or profession allows you to work at a different client in a different industry each week?" he asks.
"Keeping many balls in the air is never boring!" Jen attests.
Q: What would you say are the most important characteristics necessary to have a successful career in accounting?
The consensus is a combination of curiosity, intelligence, and a keen sense of honesty but each Board member has his or her own thoughts to add on what it takes to make it in this fast-paced and demanding profession.
"High interest and energy levels, with a strong desire to learn and grow professionally." -- Dave
"Intellectual curiosity, communication skills, drive, and backbone." -- Steve
"The ability to see the forest for the trees. Accurate accounting depends on understanding the underlying business transactions." -- Alison
"The ability to listen to clients and apply your experience and expertise to their business, helping them grow and, sometimes, make tough decisions." -- Jen
"Intellectual curiosity, a willingness to listen and an analytical approach. Learning about new businesses, how they operate and why they are successful are what the career provides - you just have to be interested." -- Jere
"The ability to think critically, adaptability as you will face many differing situations, listening skills as you learn the most when you really listen, and being a team player." -- Wendy
Stephen sums it up this way: "Think, be skeptical, like people, and accept responsibility." He explains: "Think because the underlying standards are not necessarily intuitive and the framework becomes more complex each year. Be careful and skeptical, because accounting values facts and auditing is a verification process and so you can't be emotional about ideas but need to get the facts. Like people because accounting is interpersonal and convincing others in a humane way is critical. Be responsible means you need to be ethical, report bad facts and good facts, drive your career and be willing to blaze your own path."
And don't forget to look to those who come before you, Candy says. "Every successful person will tell you that somewhere along the way, a mentor-or multiple mentors-have made a difference in his or her career. In a professional setting, guidance from a mentor can have a profound effect on your career development and advancement. Mentors can inspire you to meet challenges and achieve success. They enable you to see a wider realm of opportunities, and they provide valuable advice to help you excel in your career."
The mentor-mentee relationship is one that Candy feels so strongly about that she says "Developing people has been my proudest professional achievement." Working with a new generation of leaders, she says, has not only benefitted those she has helped "but, in turn, has enriched my own career and contributed to my success."
Q: I know that auditing and tax are the two most frequently pursued career tracks, but where else could an accounting background take me?
"Literally anywhere around the world!" Wendy says quickly.
Dave adds that an accounting background can be "a launching pad to everything business: law, IT, management, entrepreneurship, and countless other possibilities" because auditing provides a great perspective on the business world.
Alison has seen a start in accounting lead "to a promising career in finance or management in general."
While Steve says he has seen accounting grads take on "the obvious answers - finance, banking, consulting, law, government, and insurance" as well as the "not so obvious answers: military, priesthood, medicine..."
Indeed, it's this flexibility that answers for Steve the most important question of all - Why have you stayed in accounting? His answer, he says, can be found in the title of the Dr. Seuss classic: Oh, The Places You'll Go! "Accounting is the base for all sorts of decisions, understanding how the information is assembled and presented gives you the ability to interpret it and use the information to make decisions," he explains. "My degree has taken me a lot of places within PricewaterhouseCoopers," he says happily, "and prepared me to go to many others."
