Only a phone call away

Recently I have had the pleasure of speaking on a number of topics before various local AAA-CPA chapters. I also had the pleasure of assisting in the hosting of an Ohio AAA-CPA meeting in Cleveland, Ohio in October of this year.

At these regional meetings I have met a number of younger Attorney-CPAs and I was reminded of the struggles I faced when I began my career. These younger Attorney-CPAs face similar and perhaps even more heart-wrenching challenges today due in part to the increased number of attorneys and CPAs and the spread of competing industries and professionals into the accounting, legal and financial planning disciplines.

As I exchanged ideas with these newer members of our organization, I recalled my sense of isolation when I achieved my dual designations. Was I an attorney with a CPA designation or a CPA with a law degree? Or was I something different and somehow unique? If so, how was I to find my way in building a career? It was a frustrating and confusing time for me and I failed in many areas before finding the right career path for me.

I was fortunate in that I had guidance from professionals with whom I was not in competition, who were older and more experienced in business than 1, and who freely shared their ideas and counsel with me. Ultimately, I found my way to AAA-CPA and discovered an organization filled with unique professionals eager to answer my many questions and happy to offer me much needed advice.

Many of these younger Attorney-CPAs with whom I've met have not yet discovered where they want to go with their careers. Some have expressed to me their frustration in trying to seek career guidance from their immediate superiors in their accounting or law firms. Many are also clearly frustrated in being employees, and perhaps they have not yet realized how difficult it is for any Attorney-CPA to be an "employee."

To the younger Attorney-CPAs, please don't abandon hope. It is a frustrating and difficult process deciding how to maximize the benefits of your dual designations. It is supposed to be so. After all, not many have come before you on this journey and those who employ you may have a whole host of reasons why they can't (or won't) help you find your way. Perhaps they simply don't know how to advise you. Perhaps there is envy or jealousy involved. Or perhaps, your immediate supervisor is seeking to maximize your benefit to the organization placing your needs and desires, at best, in a secondary position. Regardless, whether you have realized it or not, you, my fellow Attorney-CPA, have embarked on what is, at times, a lonely career path. To be sure it can be an exciting career path but, rest assured, it can be lonely, too.

You, therefore, are primarily responsible for your own future. This, of course, should be no surprise. You do not, however, have to go it alone without any guidance or without support. There exists an organization of 1300 fellow Attorney-CPAs very eager to help you. Its members are but a phone call away. Indeed, not only a phone call away, but also a fax, email, or list serve away. I encourage the younger Attorney-CPA to contact more experienced members for advice and guidance. These, more seasoned, AttorneyCPAs know what you're going through. Additionally, they are eager to help. After all, your colleagues were helped in their careers somewhere along their way. I have the pleasure of knowing a great many of my fellow Attorney-CPAs and I can't think of one who would not help a fellow Attorney-CPA with the answer to a question, the imparting of some advice, or even the imparting of words of encouragement to the occasionally under-appreciated Attorney-CPA.

I've never believed those who claim that they "have made it on their own." Whatever success I have achieved and hope to achieve is as a direct result of having received assistance and guidance from others. I continually seek advice from those who are smarter, wiser, or more experienced than I. The members of AAA-CPA are uniquely qualified to fill this roll and they have always come through for me. I encourage all my fellow Attorney-CPAs to take advantage of this tremendous resource as well. After all, it's only a phone call away.

Mark R. McBride, Toledo, Ohio

Copyright American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved