Ep. 26 - Ashley Matthews: Senior Manager at Rea&Associates - a podcast by Peter Margaritis, CPA & C-Suite Radio

I spent 10 years in higher education, with eight of those years at The Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio. One of the great benefits of being a professor is seeing your students graduate and start developing wonderful careers. Today, I’m excited to be joined by one of my former students, Ashley Matthews, Senior Tax Manager at Rea&Associates.
A constant struggle in public accounting is that work is always being added, but never subtracted – and this issue was exacerbated by the economic downturn in 2008. Public accounting practices became leaner and hiring slowed down to a crawl. The result is a gap in experienced senior managers, because there were so few new hires 5-8 years ago. CPAs rising in the industry need to be adaptable and maintain an open line of communication with the people they work for, in addition to their clients.“I found that you have to be stern and you have to mean what you say in order to be taken seriously. People have a tendency to pile on and see how much you'll take, and so pushing back is always appropriate.”
People who are not in public accounting, and clients, may not think of the word adaptability and CPA in the same sentence, but CPAs must be adaptable to everyday occurrences in order to be successful. If you're not adapting, you may be way too rigid and start losing clients and business.“This definitely is not a profession for someone who wants to come in and sit at their desk and have their day planned out and be predictable and get their to-do list done every day and punch the clock and go home.”
CPAs like Ashley, who are often Millennials, are fighting the stereotype of an awkward business person chained to a desk counting beans. At Rea&Associates, they want clients to view them as trusted business advisors who understand all aspects of the clients’ businesses so that they can help the clients improve their businesses. Ashley and her associates are trying to break the CPA mold not only in the eyes of the outside world, but also in the eyes of their clients.
“We're working, especially here at Rey, for our clients to view us as their trusted business advisor.”The role of a trusted business advisor is changing, and that’s why CPAs are providing excellent value to the firm and to the client when they’re able to adapt. Ashley discussed what her ideal public accounting firm will look like in the future. A successful firm will:embrace changing technology
be transparent about partner succession and upward mobility with its employeesbe smart about the work that they do and when they do it
realize that the best decisions and some of the best relationships are made when CPAs are out from behind their desk and really talking to people“If you're doing the same thing today as you were doing three years ago, then you're missing the boat.”
I really enjoyed talking to my former student Ashley, and she offered an enlightening glimpse into the minds of a hungry generation of young professionals who are currently working their way up the ladder, in every industry. I expect we’ll be learning more about communication, technology and business relationships from Partner Ashley Matthews in no time at all. 
Resources:Rea&Associates
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