The scarcity of Black people in public accounting is a fact. There are many reasons for that but discussing these reasons won’t solve this issue. Here are some suggested solutions and actions.
I wrote about the issue in a recent column, and this post is in response to quite a few emails I received from readers. While there are many opportunities for young Black people looking for careers, a lack of knowledge about public accounting is going to doom that person from choosing accounting. The knowledge would come from knowing someone already working as an accountant, from outreach at high schools that could steer the student to consider public accounting, or from an accountant who looks like them (or any accountant) seeking out high school or college students to explain what our great profession is about and the opportunities it offers.
Speaking to high school classes
A suggestion is for people of color presently in accounting to “deputize” themselves to reach out and speak to high school classes. This can be arranged by your state society or by contacting principals or guidance counselors directly. If you are not Black but want to do something to open the eyes of high school students to public accounting, then you should also do this.
If there is a young Black accountant in your firm, bring them with you and have them describe how they spend a day or what their work consists of. In the absence of a Black staff accountant, then still bring a young person and possibly a woman or anyone of a diverse background. I always bring a younger person so the “face” of an accountant will include young staff. Try to target schools with a predominately Black student population. Anything you do is a lot better than not doing anything.
Role models
A difficult issue is the lack of role models. Most firms presently do not have many Black people in leadership roles. A white person cannot play this role. A suggestion is to identify Black leaders in the profession and discuss their career paths with the younger Blacks in your firm. There are many very impressive Black people at the heights of our profession, and information is readily available about how they got to where they are. The object is to expand the horizons of the profession beyond the walls of your office for your young Black staff.
Partners and senior staff who are not African American can also explain their career path, and while it is not directly that of a Black accountant, most of it is typical of how growth in public accounting develops. The important part of this is to let young staff know of the possibilities in our profession and how those can be realized. This is good advice for all young staff, not just Black accountants. I feel this is a shortcoming on our part that hurts retention of staff.
Be an ambassador
Another way that I think is effective is to seek out high school or college students or even younger people and be a blabber mouth. That is what I have always done and possibly too much. (Oops, there is Ed, so let’s go the other way!) However, two things happened:
1. They found out about accounting;
2. Some actually studied it in school and became public accountants and are partners at many firms or have their own successful practices.
The point is to get the word out about public accounting. There are really no TV or streaming series about CPAs except Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, who is a CPA, but he never practiced, or Ben Affleck’s day job of being an accountant in one of his movies. We are not seen as a glamorous profession. Anyway, if you know Black kids, talk to them about public accounting — share your exciting career. If you do not know any, you can easily find some to talk with. Hint: They are all over the place — you just need to start talking to them.
Summer internships
Another way is to hire a summer intern. I do not believe in having them work for free. Pay them and excite them. If you do it right, you’ll get great value for your money, along with sharing an opportunity for them, for you and for our profession.
Just start
The suggestions here can be used by you as a start while you develop your own methods. Starting is easy if you have a resolve to accomplish expanding our profession to include more African Americans.
Go for it!
Orumé Hays, CPA, assisted in the preparation of this column.
Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.
Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People list. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” He also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. He is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where he shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. He welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.
