Women in Accounting Wednesdays - An Introduction

Insightful Accountant is kicking off something new for 2018: Women in Accounting Wednesday. This new column will consist of contributed articles from women in the accounting, finance, bookkeeping and business advisory professions dealing with everything from careers to home life. 

We not only want to provide meaningful content to our readers, but from our readers. That's right, we want 'YOU' to contribute toward this effort, and I will tell you more about how you can do that near the end of this article.

To kick off this new venture I begged, pleaded, twisted arms and cried on the doorsteps of two of our favorite contributing authors, Liz Scott and Amanda Aguillard. They consented, even over the busy holiday season, to produce a companion article centered around a common set of questions. 

"Getting to know you, getting to know all about you..."1

In my way of thinking the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune "Getting to know you" which was written for the Broadway musical The King and I, is not only the perfect way to introduce this new By-line, but our first contributing authors of this new column. If I could sing it to you I would, but then everyone would never tune-back in to Insightful Accountant.

So rather than sing "Getting to know you" I will just let Amanda and Liz introduce themselves.

Amanda:

After starting my career in Big Four and as a corporate controller, I had two babies in sixteen months and left the workforce.  I found myself divorced in 2012 and knew I would have to go back to work, but I couldn’t imagine going back to the lifestyle that existed in the accounting industry when I started. 

We were all going through this huge change, and I had to be here for my kids who were seven and eight at the time.  I took on some contract work, thinking I would work out of my guest bedroom and prolong the inevitable, but I kept getting more work. 

My first employee worked in my guest room beside me, and when I needed to hire a second person, I figured I had better get office space, so she didn’t have to work at the kitchen table.  That’s how my accounting firm started.

About three years ago, we realized there was a real need for Xero training for our small business clients.  We were doing it directly one at a time, but I knew there were thousands of freelancers and startups who were trying to wing it on their own and could use our help. 

We started writing webinars and practice exercises for them, but as I told other advisors what we were doing, they would constantly ask “can you train my staff?”  That’s how Elefant was born.

Liz:

If I had to describe myself in three words they would be; devoted, energetic, mom.

After having my three kids, with my husband, I wanted to return to the work force but I was unwilling to have a traditional 9am-5pm day-in day-out job. That’s when I met my business partner Ann Lee. She had an established CPA firm and was willing to let me come on-board and just be me. One of my favorite office sayings is - "Yes, we break for field trips, birthday parties and school awards."

Our firms focus is QuickBooks, and really QuickBooks Online as far as I am concerned. We train, convert, provide support and do a lot of 3rd party APP integrations.

Every day is exciting with new challenges. I find the small business community is full of fascinating and dedicated people with whom I never get bored.  

Accounting, hmm, as a young adult I certainly I didn’t see this as my career field. I thought I would be a counselor so I fought the field for the longest even though my education and every prior job was in accounting.

But now, I love taking an accounting mess and creating order and harmony. So, in a weird way I think I do serve as a therapist of sorts. My favorite reward is hearing the words “you changed my life”.

Murph:

No, I am not introducing myself, but I am certain that you realize that both Liz and Amanda are regular contributors to Insightful Accountant.  You know Liz as my source for all things QuickBooks Online, after all she writes almost every single QBO Monday Minute.

As for Amanda, well she is just as much my resource for anything Xero as Liz is QBO. Amanda has hosted our two Xero Zone webinars, and also contributed several articles on Xero features and workflows.

It's funny, you get to think that you know people by how you see them in the business setting, or perhaps as a speaker at a conference, or even as a writer for an e-magazine but the reality is that people are so much more than that.  And nothing could be more true of the women we encounter in our lives.

I guess some people may think I'm 'sexist' because I I tend to think that 'Dads do Dad things' and well, 'Moms do everything else' and I do mean everything. While many dads will say 'I pitch in', let's face it we almost always think of 'pitching in' as the comfort of our recliner while we watch a ballgame on TV. Then we let the women in our lives do everything else.

When it comes to women in the workplace it seems the work places never stop whether that's in the office, in the car, or at the school, at a sports event, or in the kitchen, even in the middle of the night when someone's 'tummy hurts'. 

So, getting to know someone is really about getting to know them in every environment, and that is so true of our 'Women in Accounting'. That's why I asked Liz and Amanda to describe their daily lives in a couple of 'high impact' words, and then elaborate:

Liz:

Honestly...demanding but rewarding.

My daughter is 14 and my twin boys are 10 which means my husband and I are taxi drivers most evenings.

On especially demanding days I have to remind myself that being a mom is a treat and that the demands of today will be over sooner or later. Then there will be those moments to relax with a glass of wine at the end of such a long day, until someone shouts out, "Mom!"

Amanda:

Two words, in two words...well then, hectic and happy!

My two kids, now thirteen and fourteen, are both really involved in athletics.  Practice schedules and games rule our lives. 

I try to bring the kids to school and pick them up myself every day.  In the beginning days of my practice, I had to use sitters, but now that we have a great staff and processes in place, I try to leave the office by 3:00 every day.  Even in the depths of busy season when that might not be realistic, I absolutely pick them up on Mondays and Fridays. 

Mondays are tough for everyone, so your mom should be there, and Fridays are filled with the anticipation of fun, so your mom should be there.  I might very well work from home later in the evening or on weekends, but I try to leave by 3:00 during the week, so 'this mom, can be there.'

Are you starting to see a pattern here? It's a pattern based upon balancing all of their life responsibilities.  From just this simple introduction we can see that Amanda and Liz are both performing the balancing routine very well. 

But we are not through with our look into the lives of Women in Accounting, in fact we are not even through looking at the lives of Amanda and Liz. You will want to tune in next Wednesday for our second installment of Women in Accounting Wednesday to find out more about these outstanding professional women and moms.

From the Editor

As I mentioned early in this article we are looking for contributors who want to share their lives with our readers. We want women who are willing to open up about their professional practices and home lives, who want to 'tell it like it is' when it comes to their balancing act in meeting the demands of every single day. 

If you would like to participate, just post 'Count me in' within the comment section of this, or any future Women in Accounting Wednesday article.  Your comment will record your email in confidence, and we will then reach out to you about becoming a contributor.

Footnote(s):

1- "Getting to Know You" is from the 1951 musical, The King and I. It was composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. One little know fact about this song is that the melody was actually taken from a tune that Rodgers originally wrote for the musical, South Pacific. It was not used in that musical and the lyrics we know as 'Getting to Know You' were written by Hammerstein for the new adaptation.  The song has been recorded more than 20 times, by as many different performing artists.