Episode Details

“As an auditor, you learn how non‑financial events end up having a financial impact.”

Accounting ARC
With Liz Mason, Byron Patrick, and Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

On this episode of Accounting ARC, Liz Mason, CPA; Byron Patrick, CPA.CITP, CGMA; and Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA, revisit their first accounting jobs. The conversation underscores how early exposure to operations, technology, and industry economics cultivates the judgment accountants need to interpret business realities. 

• MORE Accounting ARC: Gen Z Redefines Careers | Bootleggers, Baptitsts & CPAs: Rethinking Licensure |CPA Firm Ownership Under Fire | Walking Violation: When Showing Your CPA Gets You in Trouble | Audit Bags to TikTok Tags, Gen Z Talks Success | Students Challenge Accounting's Traditional Career Path | True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes | More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z - And How to Fix It |Your Identity is Not a Liability | What Happens in Vegas… Gets Reported on a Tax Return | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough | The Ultimate Business Hack You’re Probably Ignoring | Resilience, Real Talk, and the Road to Mental Wellness | Blockchain Could Still Reshape Accounting | What Gen Z Wants from Business | Firm Differentiation Depends Upon Client Service

From hustling down the beach with bags of money to deploying field laptops with new tech to counting millions of dollars over 15 hours, each host shares a unique accounting beginning, but all have the same clear messaging.