Some students may think accounting begins and ends with audit and tax, but greater exposure to the profession can open their eyes to a much wider range of possibilities. In this Insight magazine interview, Danielle Roberts, CPA, reflects on the opportunities she’s found throughout her career and how volunteering with the Illinois CPA Society’s (ICPAS’) High School Outreach Program allows her to challenge misconceptions and help students envision an accounting career that aligns with their interests.
[Amy Sanchez] Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role.
[Danielle Roberts] I'm Danielle Roberts, a senior manager at Eccezion, and I’m a CPA.
[Sanchez] You’ve worked in both industry and public accounting. What have those experiences taught you about the range of opportunities available within the profession?
[Roberts] In my experience of working in both industry and in public, I've really learned how agile the profession really is. If you have an interest in something, typically there's an avenue that you can take that leans into that. I was in industry first, and then I went into public accounting. I started in their CAS practice, but I also worked with their forensic team, and I was able to do both and wear both hats early on.
Being able to pivot has been the greatest reward in the profession for me, as someone who doesn't like to do the same thing all the time and likes to be that chameleon and work through situations with clients that you might not expect.
[Sanchez] Volunteering takes time away from an already busy schedule. What made you want to get involved with ICPAS’ High School Outreach Program?
[Roberts] I feel like I've always tried to give back a little bit, whether it was on an associate board for a nonprofit or volunteering at a food bank, but I felt that this called to something in me instead. I feel like we need more people in the profession—and for me to get out there and share my story, share other people's stories, share what I think of the profession, and how I've been able to grow, there was this new gratification that came out of it that I wasn't expecting.
[Sanchez] What surprises you most about your interactions with students today?
[Roberts] What surprises me most about my interactions with students today is that they're far more curious than you hear the generations to be. I feel like sometimes we hear that students aren’t as interested in the profession—I don't think that's the case. I think they just don't have enough information, and when I speak to them, they really do have these “aha” moments—and you can see them. You can see them happening as you're talking to them.
[Sanchez] What was your biggest misconception about accounting before you entered the profession? Are those misconceptions similar to what today’s students think?
[Roberts] When I started to go to school and in college, I was hearing what public accounting was or what the profession really was, and I think that’s where the misconception really came in for me. I heard a lot about audit, a lot about tax, but I never heard about anything else—and I think that misconception still stands a little bit with what students are hearing now. They hear, “OK, well, we're going to work on audits, we're going to do tax returns—but what about the rest of it?” And I feel like that's the important message that a lot of people are missing.
[Sanchez] Is there a moment from your volunteer experience that stands out to you?
[Roberts] One moment for me that was really special was a few years ago where I was going to speak at a high school, and I recognized the last name in the email. And sure enough, it ended up being a teacher I had in high school—and I did have a very good relationship with her then, so it was a very big full-circle moment for me. I went to the high school. My sister ended up teaching at the high school as well, so it was a crazy moment for me. I was there with all these people that I knew, I was very welcomed, and I got to speak in front of her class and share—and I just felt like this was the full-circle moment in life.
Want to learn more about Roberts’ experience of volunteering with ICPAS’ High School Outreach Program? Read more in her Insight spotlight.
