One CPA’s Passion to Drive Change

BY KATHLEEN HOFFELDER, NJCPA SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR

James ( Jim) C. Bourke, CPA, CITP, CFF, CGMA, managing director of advisory services and partner at Withum as well as a past president of the NJCPA, has collected every regular season Topps baseball card ever issued, except for one — card number 311, a 1952 Mickey Mantle Rookie card, which he still has his eyes on. That steadfast determination comes natural to him whether it’s in collecting baseball cards or transforming the accounting profession.

The son of Irish immigrants from Jersey City, Jim was driven to be the first in his family to attend college. High school helped shape his interest in accounting. One accounting professor at Sayreville War Memorial High School, Mr. Caliendo, who has since retired, was a CPA who brought practical stories into the classroom. “I think I learned more about real-world accounting in that class than in my whole college career. When I was a senior in high school, I knew I wanted to be an accountant; there wasn’t a doubt in my mind,” he says.

Jim went on to be one of the first CPAs in the nation to receive the designation of Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP®) from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). He also was elected chair of numerous AICPA committees and conferences connected with technology, including the AICPA’s first ENGAGE conference. He was one of the first CPAs in the country to receive the AICPA’s system and organization controls (SOC) for cybersecurity certificate.

With that number of “firsts” behind him, it’s no surprise that Jim is credited with using technology to advance the accounting profession. An early embracer of working remotely, data analytics and optimization, automation, artificial intelligence and cyber and information security, Jim routinely speaks to a national and global audience about how technology is helping to propel accountants into becoming the business strategists and trusted advisors that clients and companies need. “Our profession is now able to attract all of those next-generation professionals who embrace technology,” he says.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the technological change that was already occurring in the profession, he says, as clients needed immediate assistance with everything from loans to budgeting — and they needed help remotely and with their technology. “We are seeing a shift in the way firms derive revenue,” he notes. “CPA firms that find ways to transform their practices and offer advisory services will continue to see accelerated growth.”

Jim is also the global technology and advisory leader at HLB International, a global accounting network of which Withum is an independent member. “I have engineers. I have data scientists. You don’t have to be a CPA to be involved in many of the services offered today in our advisory group,” he says.

EARLY INFLUENCES

So, how did a determined CPA first embrace such technological advancements? Jim’s love for all things tech dates back to his obsession with technology and computer games. “I knew I was either going to be a CPA or a programmer and write video games because I had a passion for both,” he explains. “In college, I would write and design my own computer games.” Years later, when Jim first entered accounting, he noted there was a lack of technology in all of the day-to-day functions. “I started setting everything up on Lotus 1-2-3,” he recalls of the early days.

Today, he still loves a good video game and continues to drive himself and those around him — both on the job and with CrossFit every morning. Sometimes, he’s even joined by his three grown children — Emily, who works for a real estate company; Kate, a junior at Auburn University; and Brandon, the only accountant/technologist in the bunch, who works in the SOC group at Withum — or his wife, Jody, also a degreed accountant, who is now a real estate agent and restores furniture.