The Accounting of Becoming An Accountant 📚
There have been many discussions in the accounting world lately, making me question my professional journey's twists and turns.
First off, accountants seem to be losing players. AICPA's 2021 Trends report spilled the beans, revealing a 17% dip in employed accountants since 2019. The number of CPA exam candidates also took a nosedive, dropping from 48K in 2016 to 32K in 2021. Many news and professional outlets document this decrease in the number of accounting professionals and accounting students.
Conversely, AI has waltzed onto the scene, taking over some traditional bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Startups and finance giants are rolling out automation software like the red carpet, handling everything from transaction categorization to insightful analysis (I proudly work for one of the best finance automation startups, Ramp ).
Now, here's where things get spicy in the professional kitchen. Heated debates are cooking up, suggesting that accounting careers might be losing their glitter compared to the dazzling allure of finance. Accountants are being painted as less strategic than their finance and FP&A counterparts. Our roles are deemed transactional, low-value, and repetitive. Are we debit-credit machines? How many times have I had to close the books in my career? Too many, my friends, too many.
These discussions have left me doing some serious soul-searching. As a proud champion of the accounting cause, I am at a crossroads. Do I keep waving the accounting flag, urging students to embark on this thrilling adventure, or do I gently nudge them towards potentially more profitable and higher-ego pastures? And to add another layer of complexity to this professional puzzle, there's the looming threat of AI job-snatching.
Let's take a break and rewind to my accounting odyssey – a story intimately linked to my immigrant experience. I will be going over my journey in my future newsletters.
Being a CPA and accountant isn't just a career choice for me; it's been the sauce that balanced my life (and financed my many moves). I'm hopeful that by sharing my tale, many of you will find echoes of your journey, fortifying the case for anyone considering accounting.
Part 1 - The Accounting Chronicles: Deciding to Dance with Numbers 💃📚
Picture this: a young dreamer in Haiti aspiring to become a world-famous romance novelist. My parents weren't exactly thrilled with my literary dreams, which only fueled my rebellion as I immersed myself in the world of forbidden novels. I even dabbled in crafting a few intriguing short stories that I slyly exchanged with my captive audience of bored teenage girls.
Fast forward to college in the US and Canada, where I initially enrolled in management information science. The internet boom had convinced me (read: my dad) that this was the path to follow, creating web infrastructure and whatnot. Little did I know that my days would be filled not with dreamy princes but with harsh, sterile codes that felt as alien as a Martian language. It was like I had entered a parallel universe of 0s and 1s, and my dreams of romantic escapades were replaced with debugging nightmares.
As an immigrant navigating a new culture and language, I was in a sea of already-formed groups, struggling to fit in. Joining an international student group proved futile, as I was the fifth wheel, deemed unnecessary. To add to the challenge, the scarcity of women in my program left me navigating the male-dominated territory of programming and coding, feeling like a triple outsider.
The turning point came during the summer of my second year when I stumbled upon the accounting world. In a work-study role at the University of Ottawa Accounting Department, I assisted three seasoned accountants responsible for a section of the balance sheet, inter-department payables, and receivables. I became the backstage crew for the financial opera of the university, entering invoices, filing documents, making multiple bank trips, and digging supports in the attic for the auditors. I spent many summer days in the attic of Tabaret Hall, being the Sherlock Holmes of financial mysteries.
The ladies in the accounting department adopted me as their protege, and it didn't hurt that they were mostly Francophone, and I didn't have to speak English. Being part of the financial operations made me feel like an insider, privy to behind-the-scenes agreements, contracts, and financial tales. I was contributing to the financial history of the university, a narrative told through gifts, tuition, salaries, new buildings, and budgets. It was like being a financial archaeologist, uncovering the artifacts of the university's economic history.
By the end of that transformative summer, I switched my degree to accounting (this time with no parental intervention). My world started making sense through debits and credits, opportunities I said yes to, and fears I left behind.
Me - Parliament Hill (Ottawa) - 2006
Accountants, I realized, are the unsung heroes behind every number, decision, service, and product. My journey echoed the sentiment shared by other accountants I talked to - we all chose to pursue a career in accounting because it permeates every logical aspect of our lives.
So, as I reflect on the state of the accounting world today, I can't help but celebrate the richness it brought to my life. My immigrant story and my accounting journey are intertwined, creating a tapestry that speaks to the universality of accountants.
Whether you're a seasoned accountant, a curious student contemplating your career path, or someone just stumbling upon the world of numbers, join me on this adventure. Let's debunk the myths, dance with the balance sheets, and find humor in the accounting world. After all, who said numbers couldn't be entertaining (especially as we enter another busy season) 💃📚✨
Share your thoughts, stories, and favorite accounting anecdotes in the comments below. Let's turn this into a lively discussion that brings together the diverse perspectives of our community. Happy accounting, everyone!
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