By Kate Prouty

Janeen Sutryk, a Southern Tier Chapter member and CPA for Piaker & Lyons P.C., was surprised to look out over a roomful of middle-school students who, when asked, had no concept of what an accountant actually does.

“You keep track of money. And work in a bank,” one creative mind ventured.

Sutryk explained to the sixth, seventh and eighth graders that being a CPA encompasses a bit more than donning a suit and crunching numbers at a bank all day long. She joined a policewoman, lawyers, a massage therapist, doctors and other professionals to present their industries to students and answer questions about their career paths as part of Vestal Middle School’s annual career day May 16.

Facing about 20 students in each of three sessions, Sutryk was pleased that although they knew little about the actual profession, the students were very curious and interested to learn more about accounting. Some practical-minded kids were audacious enough to ask what an accountant actually nets after taxes. Others, also thinking of their futures, asked what kinds of classes they should take in high school and whether or not you had to accelerate in math to be successful. While Sutryk did her best to skirt salary specifics, she explained that accounting is about understanding the relationship of numbers and not necessarily the actual mechanics of mathematics.

With help from a video made by the American Institute of CPAs, Sutryk detailed what a CPA’s educational path is like and how the profession’s outlook seems for the near future. She was grateful for the chance to explain to the kids what accountants really encounter on a day-to-day basis. She only hopes that this sort of career day will also take place at high schools in order to reach out to students who are closer to choosing their careers. Regardless, representing CPAs as a profession at the career day in Vestal, N.Y., was time well spent assuring the successful future of the industry.