Carrie Minnich, CPA, MAcct, shares her thoughts on the CPA “image issue.”
Our profession has a problem.
And I am not talking about the additional time and cost to get to the 150-hour education requirement, the extra time and cost related to taking the rigorous Exam, the required continuing education courses, or even the long hours. These can all be considered barriers to the profession: reasons why someone would not want to start or continue the path to becoming a CPA.
The real issue…our image.
It’s no secret there’s a certain stereotype associated with CPAs: nerdy, introverted, lacking excitement, conservative and risk averse. In movies and TV, the CPA is typically portrayed by an awkward character who lacks social skills but is a whiz at math. Those of us within the profession know this is not true, but we do a poor job communicating it.
"There are so many career options we need to share with students (and non-students)—we aren’t limited to one specific role or industry."
We need to tell our stories! Tell people what we actually do. There are so many career options we need to share with students (and non-students)—we aren’t limited to one specific role or industry. We work in public firms, corporate, government, nonprofit, education, audit, tax, information technology, consulting, entrepreneurship, forensics, financial planning, ESG, managerial and more. Are you a sports fan? You can work for a sports team. Want to travel? Consider working for an international firm. You could even become an FBI agent with an accounting degree.
The point is: there are so many different and exciting opportunities for CPAs, but we don’t talk about them enough.
Now is the time to be talking. We are all aware of the pipeline issues into the profession. The pool of future CPAs is shrinking and will continue to do so while the demand for our services grow. Often students don’t even consider majoring in accounting because they don’t know what it is. How many are missing out on becoming a CPA because they don’t understand the opportunities that come with those three letters?
So as a CPA who works in public accounting, let me share a little about myself (and dispel some myths):
- I don’t do taxes. I spend 100% of my time working with nonprofit organizations.
- I am not a math genius. I never even took calculus.
- I don’t sit quietly in my office all day. I interact with colleagues, clients and other professional contacts. I even speak in front of boards to present audit results and train board members and nonprofit staff.
- I don’t work 70 hours in January through April. I am home every night for dinner.
- I get to help nonprofit organizations achieve their missions to make our communities better places to live.
What’s your story?