JOURNAL ENTRY THE

How Utah Teens Are Learning About Careers In Accounting

Managing Editor Amy Spencer as@uacpa.org

2023 – 2024

UACPA Executive Board

President: Dustin Wood, CPA

President-Elect: Jason Tomlinson, CPA

Vice President: Dan Frei, CPA

Treasurer: Mark Anderson, CPA

Secretary: Shalaun Howell, CPA

Member-at-Large: Annette Andersen, CPA

Member-at-Large: Marci Butterfield, CPA

Emerging Professionals: Ariane Gibson, CPA

Immediate Past President: Ray Langhaim, CPA

AICPA Council: Stacy Weight, CPA

CEO: Susan Speirs, CPA

UACPA Staff

CEO: Susan Speirs, CPA

CPE Director: April Deneault

Communications & Marketing Director: Amy Spencer

Financial Director: Tom Horn, CPA

Cover Image of Loisanne Kattelman with Money Camp alumni Isabella Romero and Preston West by Chris Wood, robertwoodphotography.com

As I considered my message for this quarter — pipeline considerations and discussions are still prevalent — I’ve settled in on urging those within the profession to flip the script on negative narratives and be advocates for change. The AICPA has launched an image initiative and campaign, but it is going to take all of us collectively to affect meaningful change.

Many years ago, I used to watch the nightly news with my family to be aware of what was going on in our community, state, nation, and the world. As I grew up, I made a conscious decision to stop doing that, not because I didn’t want to be informed, but primarily due to the overwhelmingly negative headlines and stories. It may be that such stories bring viewers and attention, but they don’t motivate or inspire. As I review online news sources from time to time and see accounting-related headlines, they typically seem to carry a negative tone and connotation. Many of those headlines recently have related to significant layoffs of team members at large accounting firms, artificial intelligence (AI) replacing accountants, and fines for missteps by accounting firms.

We don’t have the ability amongst ourselves to eliminate all negative narratives, but we can take steps to offset