Honing the Skills That Pay the Bills

Young CPAs Committees Help Pave the Way for Promising Professionals

By Marietta E. Gentles

Young CPAs committees of the New York State Society of CPAs are an active vehicle for young professionals wanting to make work-related connections, as the committees strive to provide members with resources and opportunities that can help advance their careers in accounting.

The Society’s local young CPAs committees cater to members under 35 years of age. The committees coordinate picnics, golf outings and other social occasions throughout the year. However, the committees are more than just “club-
houses” for the Society’s young members. The events and activities they sponsor often feature professional guest speakers, and enable members to network with other young accountants, attorneys and finance professionals.

“The reason I joined the Young CPAs Committee was to become more active within the NYSSCPA as well as to network with other young professionals,” said Marie E. Umbach, a Nassau Chapter Young CPAs Committee co-chair. “Being a part of the committee offers young professionals the opportunity to have some input in the types of events planned for young CPAs…. We are always looking for new ideas and new members for the committee.”

Young CPAs committees also serve as important information outlets for CPAs who want to learn about the latest developments in public and private practice. Many of the committees host meetings to discuss proposed legislation and other laws that could affect the profession. Additionally, the committees offer continuing professional education (CPE) sessions to help young members strengthen their technical and nontechnical accounting skills.

“Without young CPAs, our profession will continue to decline. It is important not only to get involved with local chapters, but also to be a leader in that chapter,” said Anthony T. Abboud, Syracuse Chapter Young CPAs Committee co-chair. “Involvement is important because the profession is dwindling and it’s up to the committee to do its best in keeping the interest in the profession.”

For this very reason, young CPAs committees get involved with recruiting. Committee members often visit high schools and colleges to share their experiences as young accountants, inform aspiring CPAs of the career options available to them and provide advice and encouragement for entering the profession.

Young individuals who are interested in the accounting profession but who are not yet CPAs can join a young CPAs committee. CPA licensure is not required for membership to a young CPAs committee, but an NYSSCPA associate membership is. In fact, many current Society members—college students and entry-level professionals—are working toward their CPA license and are encouraged to join and utilize the resources of a young CPAs committee as they do so.

“We’ve probably had four or five people who have joined the Society who are not CPAs,” said Benjamin R. Mills, Mid-Hudson Chapter Young CPAs Committee chair, who noted that they became interested in Society membership after attending a committee event. “They thought (NYSSCPA) members had to be CPAs, and didn’t realize they could join through an associate membership.

“It’s good for them to meet other young professionals who they can use as a resource in their careers, whether they decide to go into public or private industry,” Mills said of belonging to the committee.

Although partners, sole practitioners and managers over the age of 40 make up approximately 70 percent of NYSSCPA membership, the younger members are a vital part of its progression. They will be relied on to protect the profession’s integrity in the future.

Nearly all of the Society’s 17 local chapters have a young CPAs committee or a committee that reaches out to future professionals. If you would like more information on these committees or are considering joining, visit the Society’s website, click on the Find Chapters link on the left-hand side of the page, click the link for the desired chapter and then click the Subcommittees link. Additionally, you can contact Xiomara Fox, upstate chapter relations manager, at (212) 719-8395 or xfox@nysscpa.org, or Sheila Griffiths, downstate chapter relations senior manager, at (212) 719-8391 or sgriffiths@nysscpa.org.

For more information on associate membership, go to the Member Center link under the Member Resources banner at the bottom of the page on the Society’s website at www.nysscpa.org.