Susan Wolford

I have worked within public accounting in an Information Technology specialty for a little over 13 years. During that time, I have mostly focused on performing audits to determine whether data produced from financial applications is complete, accurate, and can be relied on by management in order to make key decisions. This involves evaluating processes in place for each of my clients for changes to those applications and the security in place for each of these applications. While this can sound highly technical and intimidating, it's not at all what you would expect. In addition, we have a great support structure in place to teach individuals how to do what we do, allowing for those new to the work to learn quickly. Just for note - I graduated with a major in Accounting rather than IT and have been able to pick up the IT concepts along the way. If I can do it, so can you!

In addition to auditing, I've also participated on quite a few assessment and improvement projects. These are a lot of fun because we're specifically helping clients to solve problems, which ultimately helps them to be successful. For instance, a client may be aware that there are issues with security practices, but may not fully know how large the issues are or what to do about them. We can help them identify the biggest trouble areas and give recommendations on how to fix. It's great to wrap up a project like this and see the value we've been able to provide!

As a Senior Manager in public accounting, I'm an executive who wears many hats. I participate in the decision making process for who will serve which clients or be on which projects. I act as a counselor to help guide the careers of our people. I provide oversight to multiple ongoing projects, and am often the final authority on project decisions. I'm also responsible for making sure that our teams deliver exceptional client service. I have found that the higher I've progressed within my field, the more I truly enjoy my job.