There are so many “myths” about the accounting field — from the hours worked to the traditional pathways. My real-life story breaks all of them!

• Myth 1- Need to love math. Let me tell you what I love about my career in accounting; it’s not math.
• Myth 2 - Need to be happy with a boring job. Read my story to break this myth.
• Myth 3 - Need to stay in public accounting. I initially had plans to stay but another opportunity came along.
• Myth 4 - Need to work long hours. Perhaps sometimes there are extra hours to put in at times but there are also lots of alternatives to that.

Where it Began

My story began with majoring in accounting at Montclair State University. Upon graduation I worked at Coopers & Lybrand in their audit department. I spent eight years in public accounting as an auditor and loved it. I met so many interesting, friendly people and saw so many different companies. It was an adventure I am so glad I experienced. For example, I had clients that made Band-Aids (it was really neat to watch how these were made); companies that harvested bones for use in the medical field (what an experience I had doing the inventory there!); several colleges as clients (it was so fun to stroll through campus on my way to work). With all of these interactions, I learned a lot about the business world and developed the skills I needed to make the jump to my next job.

Next Steps

My next step was to get a job at a large publishing company as an internal audit manager. I was able to travel across the U.S. meeting the people who ran the operations of these company units and receiving an understanding of how businesses ran outside of the numbers. It was a great way to see the country, too!

Next, I took several years off to have children. I decided to go back into the accounting world part time. To accomplish this, I started cold calling local CPAs and small accounting firms. It did not take long to find work. My first job back was working for a sole practitioner doing accounting and tax returns. He was happy to get the help and was very flexible with my work schedule. Once he retired, I decided to go to a small firm. I have been working part time at small firms for almost 20 years, doing reviews, tax returns and estate work. The firms have been flexible with my work schedule — I have been fully remote now for five years.

Becoming a CPA today opens many doors. It’s up to the individual to enter them and find out what they like to do best.