LET ME START OFF MY TERM AS WSCPA CHAIR WITH A HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to all WSCPA members on just simply making it through a very wild ride. This past year reminds me of the mega coaster rides at a theme park. If you were like me, you walked up to the loading zone all confident and cocky—brushing away nerves and anxieties of those around you. “It’s just a carnival ride for goodness sake! What’s the big deal?”

Next, it was your turn to be seated in the car. Then things started to get real and the tone started to change. You got locked in the car with a small group of people—your bubble, your pod. You had no idea what to expect, no idea what was ahead. It started smoothly enough as you waved tentatively to the crowd and pulled away from the boarding gate. That was totally how I felt—a two-week shutdown and this whole thing will pass, a mini “work from home vacation,” right?

Tighten Your Lap Belt

Oh, were we wrong! In those early days of March 2020, I would come home from a relatively normal day at work to an entirely different reality. My wife had been to Costco stocking up on supplies and canned goods and meat for the freezer. Lots of meat for the freezer! As the pandemic played itself out during the following months and quarantine boredom set in, we started to binge watch one too many shows on heathy eating. And, now with freezers full of frozen meat, we have shifted to plant-based diets—go figure!

The ride took us on more twists and turns and loops than we would have ever imagined—canceled graduations, delayed weddings, skipped family holidays, and don’t forget online school. There were so many points when we just wanted off the ride so badly. But there was no way out, no easy exit, and no one to stop it. You had to rely on your own courage, connections, and faith to keep on moving forward. Now, fortunately, we are coasting along that final straightaway to the exit platform. We are catching our breath and realizing we have likely made it through the worst. And behind those masks we are starting to smile again.

You are survivors and you are helpers. Against the unpredictable headwinds of a global pandemic, you dug in and did your part to help your families, friends and clients. Whether it was navigating PPP loans, forgiveness applications, adjusting tax planning strategies, advising on business model changes, scheduling vaccine appointments for parents, teaching kids in the dining room, or delivering groceries for those in need, you were always available when your clients or friends needed you most. You served to the best of your ability with limited preparation, almost no warning, very little authoritative guidance, and deadlines that just kept on moving. But … you did it!

You made a difference and you helped blunt the economic impact of the most sudden economic storm of our lifetimes. Your efforts likely saved companies, saved jobs, and certainly re-affirmed why CPAs are the most trusted business professionals.

While it has certainly been a scary, unpredictable trip we have learned an awful lot as a profession and as individuals. Family and peer connections proved to be so important to our mental and emotional well-being—even if they had to be nurtured over Zoom or from 6 feet away. Let’s not forget these relationship lessons as we begin to build back.

Our Work is Not Done

Thanks to the valiant efforts of scientists and medical professionals, vaccines are gaining the upper hand and case counts are dropping throughout most of our country. As turbulent as shutdown was for all of us, the economic snapback will have its own challenges. Most of our firms are preparing for some yet-to-be-defined “new normal.” As leaders, we will need to expand our thinking of where we work, how we work and who our workforce will even include. From what I can see, there are some choppy waters ahead. College accounting enrollments are down. A recent Harris Poll showed that 59 percent of middle-income workers are considering a job change.

How will we adjust and continue to serve with these dynamics?

As our employees make new life choices with pandemic motivated new priorities, we will likely have to embrace more robust, flexible work options that will include talented employees providing client service from wherever they are. We will need to keep expanding our workforce to leverage para-professionals, project managers, data analytic technology, and artificial intelligence tools to get better results, while lightening the load on the CPAs and freeing them to play to their strengths.

And our profession needs to finally get serious about expanding the reach of our recruiting programs and growing the talent pipelines. 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the first black CPA and still only two percent of our profession is black. We can do better engaging role models, advocates and outreach ambassadors for all under-represented communities.

Once we get the attention of a new generation of accounting candidates, we must tell the vibrant story of our profession: the story of how we change the world, make a difference, and fuel the economic engine of society so people’s dreams can be achieved.

Let’s listen closely to the returning workforce and do the hard work to adapt. I have two college-age sons just entering the workforce. They want to make valuable contributions, but they don’t want to work the way I did 30 years ago … and, quite frankly, I don’t want them to. They want a full and balanced life with their work as one important piece of their bigger plan.

I certainly don’t have the answers to how we are going to get there, but I do know that I am honored to be associated with an innovative group of more than 7,000 WSCPA members who will help and support our profession through the next evolution of how we serve.

Yes, we have much work to do. But in the weeks ahead do take some time to reconnect this summer as you have earned it, do plan some trips as you deserve it, and do schedule some backyard barbeques with friends as they miss you. Just don’t order meat for that barbeque … instead contact me directly as I have plenty for you in my freezer!

Tom Sulewski, CPA, is the shareholder in charge of the audit department for Clark Nuber PS and WSCPA Chair. You can contact him at tsulewski@clarknuber.com.

This article appears in the summer 2021 issue of the Washington CPA magazine. Read more here.