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Background
Current title, organization, and location: Member and Risk Advisory & Assurance Services Practice Leader, Warren Averett, LLC, Birmingham, Alabama
Educational background: Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting with an Information Systems emphasis, Troy University
Professional credentials earned: CPA, CITP, CISM, CDPSE
Years in the profession: 22 years
Career Journey
How did you first become interested in accounting and technology? I decided to pursue accounting in high school after taking a few debit and credit classes. While in college, I became excited about adding information systems to my degree and exploring how accounting and technology could work together.
What key experiences, opportunities, or career transitions led you into Technology Advisory? I began my career as a financial statement auditor and spent more than 11 years serving clients across a variety of industries. Over time, my work expanded into information technology projects, risk assessments, internal controls, internal audit, cybersecurity, data analysis and SOC engagements. Those experiences led me into Technology Advisory and ultimately to my current role leading Warren Averett’s Risk Advisory & Assurance Services practice and Data Analysis Group.
What does your current role involve, and what types of projects or challenges do you work on most frequently? I advise clients in the areas of internal audit, internal controls, cybersecurity, information technology assessments and reviews, artificial intelligence governance, and system and organization control reports. Sometimes that means listening to a problem, needed solution or expected outcome and recommending the discipline best suited for the situation.
What do you find most rewarding about your work? Helping clients understand the risks they face every day and how to combat or respond to those risks in ways that benefit the organization and its people.
Insights & Advice
What skills do you believe are most important for success in Technology Advisory? Understanding the intersection of technology and the advisory and assurance trust that comes with being an accounting and finance professional.
What advice would you give to a CPA or accounting professional interested in pursuing a career in this field? Look for where problems exist within organizations from a risk and controls perspective, and combine that understanding with your interests in business and technology. The combination of both is where the magic happens.
Why did you choose to earn the CITP credential, and how has it benefited your career? The credential immediately gives credit to your knowledge and experience as a tech-savvy CPA. It helps set the tone for your involvement with a project or client and provides a strong foundation for presentations and professional discussions.
Anything Else?
Are there any additional experiences, accomplishments, lessons learned, mentors, career pivots, or perspectives that you'd like us to consider including in your profile? Learn to be a public speaker in this space. Accounting and finance professionals are often seen as detail-oriented professionals, but we also need to become conveyors of information and solutions for clients and projects. Speaking on the domains covered in the CITP body of knowledge has propelled me into rooms and conversations that were previously closed. Today, I deliver more than 20 presentations each year on technology- and control-related topics to groups across the United States and Canada.