A stint in public accounting is often viewed as the launch pad for one’s certified public accountant (CPA) career—an intense but temporary stop on the way to something else. But for Scott D. Steffens, CPA, that anticipatory pivot never came. Instead, he found variety, challenge, and purpose in public accounting for 34 years, serving in various roles within the halls of firms like Deloitte and Grant Thornton.
“I think many of us start off thinking that we’re going to be in public accounting for a few years before moving on to do something else. That was certainly my thought,” Steffens admits. “But the longer I stayed, the more I was interested in what the job had to offer. Each job was more challenging than the last, and I never got bored with it.”
In reviewing Steffens’ client base, it’s easy to see why his work never felt stale. He spent much of his career serving nonprofit clients—and among them, some very prominent organizations, including the Archdiocese of Chicago, AARP, PGA TOUR, World Central Kitchen, and the Field Museum (the year they purchased and debuted Sue, the famous T. rex dinosaur fossil).
Steffens’ path into the nonprofit sector wasn’t deliberate at first. What began as helping a partner on a one-off engagement soon evolved into a steady stream of other nonprofit clients: “One became two, two became four, and before I knew it, my whole schedule had become nonprofits. I really enjoyed it, and I found that I had a natural connection with those types of clients.”
A big part of that connection stems from his earlier roots at DePaul University, where he was part of one of the early cohorts of the Strobel Honors Program. As a first-generation college student, Steffens credits his time there for laying the foundation for what he needed to thrive outside of school.
“I was very fortunate to have smaller class sizes, which gave me access to hearing from a lot of former business leaders and gaining exposure to a lot of firms and businesses,” Steffens explains. “DePaul really went out of its way to prepare us for what we really needed to be successful.”
Along with setting Steffens up for business success, DePaul also demonstrated what it meant to give back and help others. At the midway point of Steffens’ college career, his family encountered a health matter that caused some financial stress: “I didn’t think I’d be able to finish my time at DePaul, but I had some conversations with the honors program leadership, and they helped me find some money to stay—that moment has forever endeared me to the school.”
Since that time, Steffens has set up a number of scholarship funds with DePaul and continues to support the school’s athletics and accounting programs. Additionally, he currently serves on the DePaul University Board of Trustees.
Steffens’ experience at DePaul also instilled a sense of responsibility to mentor and support the next generation of accountants. After all, it was there where he met one of his lifelong mentors, Dr. Robert Peters—who also happened to be the one that helped him uncover the necessary funds during that period of financial hardship: “Peters became a great friend and mentor during school but even more so afterwards. It was one of the first foundational relationships I had.”
Early in his public accounting career, Steffens also had partners that made a big impact: “They would often counsel me to make sure I didn’t leave public accounting too early, making sure I would maximize my time and get as much out of it as I could. It was good advice, and I always try to counsel that same thing to young professionals—there are so many things you’ll learn with each passing year, and you don’t want to jump off the public accounting train too soon.”
Another piece of advice Steffens shares with younger professionals is to not rely on only one mentor. He suggests building a personal board of advisors: “It’s important to have a few different people that you go to. If you rely on one person and one person only, they might have only one perspective.”
That mindset—the importance of seeking out multiple perspectives—has carried into Steffens’ other passion of advocating for greater diversity within the profession. The way he sees it, having more diverse perspectives allows for better solutions: “I’ve been able to see that idea be manifested in multiple engagements I’ve worked on, and the more I saw that, the more I continued to be a champion for it.”
It’s this commitment to the profession—not just through client work, but through mentorship and advocacy—that helped earn Steffens the Illinois CPA Society’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Today, Steffens is happily retired, but makes clear that he hasn’t completely stepped away from the profession, referring to himself as “CPA retired.” During his next chapter, he plans to keep coaching, mentoring, and giving back to his community and profession: “I’ve planted seeds with a lot of people that I know, hopefully paying it forward and setting up the next generation to do the same. It’s a theme I’ll be carrying throughout my golden years.”
