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In this week's Book Club Episode, the Twins discuss chapters 13 & 14 of "Advice for a Successful Career in the Accounting Profession: How to Make Your Assets Greatly Exceed Your Liabilities" by Jerry Maginnis! Grab your book, a nice cozy blanket, and read along with them!
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Link to Jerry Maginnis' book, now featured in the Accounting Twins' Book Club
Advice for a Successful Career in the Accounting Profession: How to Make Your Assets Greatly Exceed Your Liabilities by Jerry Maginnis
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Full transcript available upon request.
Book Club
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Full transcript available upon request.
Book Club
Creators & Guests
What is Accounting Twins Podcast?
To CPA or NOT to CPA? Public vs Private?
What if you could run an experiment?
Take twins, with identical DNA, life experiences, education, GPAs, majors, internships, and careers as accountants. Then have twin A go private and have twin B become a CPA and go public.
Follow Becky Steiger and Norma Steiger on their separate journeys in the private and public accounting worlds! Together they will compare and contrast their experiences and goals in the accounting profession.
S3E16 Bookclub.mp3 [Final]
Speaker1: [00:00:06] Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Accounting Twins podcast Book Club. If you haven't already caught along, we are reading advice for a successful career in the accounting profession How to make Your Assets Greatly Exceed Your Liabilities. By Jeremy McGinnis. Today we will be focusing on chapters 13 and 14. Chapter 13 is titled Embrace Change Technology is Your Friend and chapter 14 is called Relationships, Relationships, Relationships. Yeah, we have neither of those. We're fully committed to accounting. Accounting is my boyfriend. It's like that Taylor Swift song where she goes, Karma is my boyfriend. Accounting is my boyfriend. Accounting is a good Accounting is the breeze in my ennui. Accounting is a crazy thought. Yeah. Coauthoring a serial acts. I'm like, accounting is relaxing. That's why I said crazy. Okay everyone. So we'll get started on chapter 13. It's so funny. We just recorded a podcast episode and was talking about like, how technology is changing. It's your friend, how accounting is so much more than just numbers. There's technology in it. So first we're going to talk about the section of the chapter called Change is Happening People. And this is basically going over that I like, Oh my God, Chatgpt Robots, automation, like even Excel is updating and making life so much easier. Yes, sometimes it's it can be a little harder because you have to learn all of these new technologies, but in the long run it makes your life in accounting so much easier.
Speaker1: [00:01:48] Everything is electronic. You don't have to do heading or math in your head or write it out. Everything's electronic And on page 99, Luckin says technology advances will eliminate many jobs in the accounting profession. And in the 1970s, when computers were just being introduced, things were still done by hand. But it's 20, 23. 50 years later, everything is done by computers. Like Becky's entire job is a computer, right? Becky Like, do you ever have anything written by hand? Only if I'm, like, taking notes. And actually, next week I'm moving to the team and we do manual notes on paper, but that's literally it. I've never, ever, ever printed off a piece of paper or used a pen on paper unless it was for my own benefit because I was learning. So, yeah, no, it's all on the computer. So you always got to have your keyboard in your mouse. Yeah. And McGinnis says, like it was thought that Excel would eliminate accounting jobs, but it's actually just the opposite. Oh, yeah, we it helps accounting jobs. It does mean. Yes, Excel makes the process easier. You have formulas, you have the ability to do references, all of that. But now we need people to excel in Excel hahaha, but just Excel added value to the accounting profession and we've built off from that. Like technology within the world changes. So therefore the way that things get done in jobs change, even as we become more automated as a world, accounting will never go away.
Speaker1: [00:03:28] It's just how accounting is done will change. That's not going to change what accounting is. Yeah. So when it said like technology will eliminate jobs in a lot of professions or in the accounting profession, I think for the accounting profession specifically, it's going to eliminate the more manual jobs, but then there's going to be new jobs created because of the technology. Yes. And things are going to be done a lot more efficiently, but they're still going to need there's still going to need to be jobs to work on those systems and to actually just use and produce those systems. It's like you need someone who can audit or review what the computer doing. So again, it's just how we adapt and change to the changes of technology itself. Yeah. And speaking of change, McGinnis writes in the book that change is consistent and will continue. Like there's two. I've heard this saying before, correct me if I'm wrong, there are two like givens in the world. Taxes and change, you know? Yeah, taxes. Ha ha. Accountants. We love taxes. So that's always going to be there. But change is always going to be a constant in our life, whether it's big or small, and especially in accounting, there's going to be constant change. There's going to be new rules, new formulas, new ways to do things like what was it we were talking about? Like accounting standard concept 606 about revenue.
Speaker1: [00:04:54] We talked about that like a few weeks ago or a few months ago, right? Becky We did, yeah. So that was more recently known. Things are always changing. Yeah, That's why there's so many trainings within accounting. That's why. Cpe you have to have your CPE credit. And it's just funny like. Accounting. You're always learning. And that's why I think accounting is a great. Job and profession because you're always learning. Things are always changing. You're always learning. Things are always changing. I feel like, again, this is my third time repeating it. As technology changes, the profession has to adapt to it. Therefore, new accounting standards and new accounting rules are going to be implemented to keep up with those changes. Yeah. And McGinnis says like, don't be surprised by change when it happens. Anticipate it be one step ahead of everyone and think, okay, yes, I'm doing my job now, but how is this going to possibly change into computer and be an early adopter for change? Don't wait until you're told like, Well, why aren't you doing this? Like you need to do this. Once you hear about something, do it. You want to be ahead of the game. You want to show to your employer and to everyone that you're accepting of change and you want it to happen. So don't wait for it to happen.
Speaker1: [00:06:11] And he says, like, volunteer to be a guinea pig. Yeah, be the guinea pig. You get to see how things work and perhaps help with it. Help with its implementation. Exactly like it may be harder for you if you were the guinea pig to understand the new software, but at the same time you get to help provide feedback on it. You get to help be the change that the company wants to see. If we're stagnant as people and we're stagnant within our minds, we're not going to go anywhere and everything in life is going to be you. But if you have a growth mindset and you are the one who's willing to make change and be a part of change. You're going to be a part of changing the accounting industry in itself, whether it's small or it's large. Yeah. So I will personally say that I believe our generation has an advantage when it comes to technological change because we grew up with technology. Like whenever something new happens, it's our parents who are the ones who are asking us how to show them. Therefore, because we grow up with it and we know how to deal with changes and how we can help think forward about it, we can help change the accounting profession with technology at the same time. Also be curious with technology if you are just waiting for things to happen instead of being curious and wanting to adapt that change, everything is going to come at you and it's going to feel like it's going to hit you at a bus, hits you as a bus, hit you with the bus.
Speaker1: [00:07:36] Don't know you're just getting hit by a bus. Well, plan. But if you're wanting change and you're curious about it, it's not really going to smack you across the face as much like when you're expecting something or you're thinking about it, it doesn't really hurt you as much. But if it's not even on your radar and it happens, it's kind of like the whole world stops. Yeah. And McGuinness brings up a great point. Like, at humans, we are creatures of habit and routine, but don't get too comfortable. The world is constantly changing, so we need to stay up to date with it. There's always, especially as accountants, there's always new accounting standards that are coming out, new principles, new applications never get comfortable. And we need to stay up to date with what's being changed, what's being taught, and we don't want to fall behind. And especially this is so important as accountants, because if we fall behind, our financials are going to be wrong. They're not going to be accurate or up to date and or we could be doing it like an accounting procedure. Wrong. Just you got to stay up to date, folks. You got to stay up to date. Exactly. And.
Speaker1: [00:08:48] When things are changing, there are some things you could do to be a part of it, to be a leader and not just be a follower. Lay out the fish and explain why the change is necessary. For example, at work, a year or two before I joined, they changed platforms and it was extremely important. I know because the old ways were just way too manual and things were taking a lot longer to complete than they honestly should have. So explain why the change is necessary. Repeat the message. People need to hear things multiple times for them to understand. Norman I can vouch for that. We would write down things multiple times in school to understand it. It doesn't automatically change when you become a part of corporate America and you work. You need to have the message repeated to you multiple times to understand the importance of it, why it's needed, and what you can do to be a part of it. Be open to feedback. Nothing comes out in as perfect on the first try, like thinking about a book. There's multiple revisions being done when you're a part of an engagement and there's a word paper, multiple people check open check over your work to make sure that it's correct. So be open to feedback if you're you're receptive, if that's a word. If you're not willing to accept change and to accept things that need to be fixed, it's not going to go anywhere.
Speaker1: [00:10:04] And that's something I struggle with. I always take feedback so personally. But it's I'm going to say this and I hope I take this in. I hope you guys take it. And feedback is not personal. It is there to improve you. If anything, feedback is should be personal in the sense that this person is giving it to you because they want to see you succeed and they're telling you how to now just accept and be open to the feedback and then celebrate your progress and milestones because change is constantly happening happening. You're going to feel like it's going to change, this is going to happen, blah, blah, blah. But if you celebrate your progress and milestones with the change, it seems more significant. Provide updates to everything that's happening when change is happening. Everybody's scared, if that's a good word to describe it. Everybody's curious about what's going on. So everybody should provide feedback on what is going on within their change. Hey, I found a way to do this and it's fabulous. Walmart, everybody. Hey, I found a way to do this and it actually isn't very good. It does take a long time to get done, provide it to other people because the more you communicate with things and the more you tell people updates on what's going on, the sooner things can be implemented better, the sooner people will understand things and just. Everybody should be updated.
Speaker1: [00:11:22] All things. For example, in school professors would keep us updated on exams when they were coming. Imagine if a professor just never told you that, hey, the exam is going to change and it's going to be the week after. And you're like, All right, well studied. Why didn't you tell me? Like, you had to keep people updated on things and you need to celebrate progress in milestones? I know that everybody's focused on the end result, but you have to think of everything that gets you there. Yeah. For example, like with my CPA studying, I'm. I think what really helped me with my audit exam study was if I finished a unit or took a practice exam and did well, I would like go get myself a coffee and celebrate. Granted, I needed an excuse to buy myself coffee because I just love it. But like, celebrate your progress. I passed my oral exam. I wasn't worrying about. Okay, now I need to study for my rec exam. I'm like, I'm going to go celebrate with friends. I just passed an exam. It makes the change much more impactful in my opinion. Exactly. So to give it as a broad example, Norma's end result is surpass the CPAs. But her milestones are passing, all four of them. And her progress is every single one of those units within their. You have to celebrate everything. Because if you don't like, what's the point? Honestly, like if you're not taking time to recognize the work you've done, what's the point? Yeah, and I think I've said this before, I love how in like in his book, how he brings up his own personal experience with every chapter that he writes.
Speaker1: [00:12:57] And here in Chapter 13, he writes about a time when his role changed in a major way, and he was asked to lead his firm's audit practice, perform engagement audits. And during this time, he embraced that he had to learn new skills, take on new challenges and manage his resources. It was a big jump to lead this practice. And instead of being scared of all the change that was going to happen, he embraced it and he had an open mind. And what I think he really emphasizes during this time is to have a growth mindset, because every opportunity you take is a learning opportunity. Yes, it comes with a lot more responsibilities and you have a bigger team to run, but you also have to understand how important and impactful moments like that are. Yeah, that's super, super important. And that was the wrap up of chapter 13. Overall, she had one takeaway away Embrace change A technology and be a part of the movement. Yeah, technology like we all benefit from technological changes. Like just look at our phones and laptops and all that stuff, but then think about it in a professional setting.
Speaker1: [00:14:05] There's always if there's technological changes in your personal life, there's probably technological changes in your professional life that led to everything. So, yeah, embrace change. Exactly. Now, moving on to Chapter 14. Relationships, relationships, relationships. And no, we're not talking about your love life as much as we would love to. We're talking about your work relationships, networking, being friends with people, your engagement team, all of these relationships. A matter. Relationships help you? As a professional, as a person, as an individual, honestly, they help you grow. You can become a better person professionally. Like if you didn't have other people to network with and to grow off of, you would be stagnant. And again, we don't want to be stagnant. We want to be great. You want to be powerful. We want to be great workers and we want to change the world. One of those steps includes building relationships with people. It can be the coworkers at your firm or your company. That's typically the easiest place to start. Like when you think about it, my LinkedIn connection list has grown exponentially since I started working at Axon, and I feel like a majority of my connections now are from Axon. When I had over 500 before I even started working there. Like I constantly am just hitting except connect. Except connect like. That work. Those you work with find a mentor within all of those connections that you have. One of the biggest pieces of advice that I was given a few months ago and I can't remember who, but it was find a mentor with someone who has your ideals, who is within a similar age range as you or at least has input from when they were your age.
Speaker1: [00:15:52] Same goals, same lifestyles. That way they can help you with how you want to succeed with your work while also maintaining who you are as a person. For example, my coworker Megan, I call her my work mom. We have the same ideas. We both want families. Well, she has family and kids, obviously. I don't. But she has a very successful personal life with her family and her kids. She was once my age. We have the same goals of who we want to be as workers. And so she is my mentor because we cross off all the same boxes within the same places. Yeah. And even yes, they can be like your age or someone, but also can be someone like you have nothing in common with. In a sense. Like when I had my internship this past summer, I would say that my senior Jeff, I considered him like my mentor because we had absolutely nothing in common, but he helped me to learn and grow so much and I could ask him questions and all that, and it was just a really great mentorship. But also I would say a big thing is that especially if you're starting a new job, if you're just entering the work field, make sure that your company has like some of those mentorship programs.
Speaker1: [00:17:06] Like I know we had like they call it buddy programs a lot. Becky and I had it in our internship two years ago. I had it in my internship last year. Just have a buddy who's someone sometimes it's not just like who can help you grow in a sense, but someone who is just there for you to ask all your questions too, because those can slowly turn into your mentor over time. You can also create relationships with clients and customers, vendors and suppliers Just because you may not work in the same company as them doesn't mean that they cannot be a great, great asset to you. For example, our dad is two of his best friends come from when they didn't even work in the same company together. Eventually they ended up working at the same company, or at least being. Partners, I guess you would say, like on a project. My dad was just like randomly call them up and be like, Hey, I need your advice. How do I proceed with applying for this job? How do I proceed with this dilemma at work? Like, my dad gives me great examples of how clients, customers, vendors and suppliers can be absolutely beneficial and monumental to your relationships. Yeah, and McGuinness also says, which I really like, I think it's great that he says this in his book is if you're looking for like someone to have a relationship with a professional relationship, look at the alumni for your schools like that is whether it's people that you worked with or like your in your program with or it's people who, you know, like graduated ahead of you, even if you just have that common ground and can go and ask them to, not to.
Speaker1: [00:18:42] I mean, you could formally say to be your mentor, but just like you can ask questions too, about the profession, do it. There's someone in Cairo who was in the sorority that Becky and I were in. She's 3 or 4 years younger than Becky and I. And I saw on her LinkedIn that she just got into LR for accounting and operations, I think, and was like and I reached out and I was like, Hi, if you don't remember me, I'm Norma. I was in the same sorority as you. Congrats on getting into LR, and if you ever have any questions or need help networking, perhaps want to hear about my path and my job. If you ever want like an internship or anything, please reach out to me so you don't have to be at the same point of life at or point of career. But it's great. A great networking and relationship thing and even professional associations or industry groups are great way to create relationships.
Speaker1: [00:19:38] People who have CPAs and they go to conferences. Some of your biggest mentors and your biggest assets for relationships can come to those, like people who have their CPAs. Obviously you guys all share the same values. You put one as your CPA. Meet them, introduce yourself like grow your relationship in unconventional ways. Just because you meet at a conference in Vegas doesn't mean that you can't be great relationship builders and have extremely ideal similarities. Yeah, and my goodness talks about the importance of networking and having these relationships. And I think you always need to have it as a priority or mean. Mcginnis says that it always does need to be a priority in your mind. These are real professional relationships don't happen unless you want them, and you take the time to make the initiative reach out or even respond back to someone who wants to connect with you. And he says to not always spend all your time talking to people you already know, but to branch out. If you meet someone really briefly for a few minutes, reach out to them on LinkedIn. If you really enjoy them, or even if you're looking at someone on LinkedIn and you can reach out and be like, Hey, we have a lot in common, let's connect, blah, blah, blah. And McGinnis also says the importance of maintaining these relationships as accountants. We're busy, busy people, especially during busy season or quarter clothes, year end, all that stuff.
Speaker1: [00:21:07] It can be kind of hard to maintain your professional relationships with people, but you still need to make an effort to do so. Exactly. Touching base on the importance of networking and not spending your time on people. You know, when I first joined the LDP that first week, we had a ton of LDP alumni events and it was really hard to branch out from our group of people because we were the newbies. We were like, Oh, I'm scared to talk to all these new people. Do it. Go out, talk to those new people. Message them. Say thanks for meeting with me like it's so important. And sometimes it is hard to network outside of your own work schedule, but make time for it. Message someone and say, Hey, would you like to have a quick Zoom or grab a coffee? Because I'd love to talk to you, hear about your experience and I'd love to be a part of your network. Do it. Yeah. And I think to end this chapter, Lazanis at the end of the chapter always has that verse, his personal experience. He says, how keeping in touch with a college friend slash peer actually helped his firm grow. He had a college friend or coworker leave a firm when they were both working together and he was moving. They both were moving up in their jobs in the future.
Speaker1: [00:22:29] And 20 years later, McGinnis and this professional had kept in touch and that that person was the CFO of that firm and called Jerry up and asked him to bid on being their company's auditor, and they won. And that was yet again another professional relationship built and kept. So I think this example just really shows the importance of maintaining these professional relationships because to say the least, like someone's always got to get something out of a professional relationship, whether it be immediately or in the future. And that's exactly what happened. He kept in touch with this former coworker and then was the auditor for his company. Exactly. You can get anything out of a networking relationship and it could just be a new peer reaching out to someone new. Or it can be something as big as being asked to bid on being a company's auditor and winning like do what you can to benefit yourself. But also on the opposite end, think about what you can do for networking to benefit someone else. What can you provide to somebody else? Yeah. So that's the end of this book club episode. Twinsies. We hope you enjoyed. If you don't already have the book, the link will be in the comments below and keep reading and we hope that you tune in for our next episode of The Book Club where we talk about chapters 15 and 16. Hope you have a splendid day. Twinsies. Be great. Bye. But.