Accounting Alumna Speaks to IMA

Commentary Editor

   The Institute of Management Accountants invited a former University of Arkansas-Monticello student to speak to its members in Babin Business Center Room 302 Nov. 10.

   Deborah Bays, a Certified Public Accountant, talked to students and faculty about her life, becoming an accountant and gaining her Certified Public Accounting certificate.

Photo by Linna Jones

Guest Speaker- UAM Alumna Deborah Bays, Certified Public Accountant, speaks to students and faculty of the Institute of Management Accountants in the Babin Business Center Room 302 Nov. 10.  Bays spoke about the Accounting industry and the importance of having a CPA certificate

   Bays graduated from Fountain Hill High School in 1974 and graduated from UAM in 1989 with an accounting degree.

   She decided to go back to school to get an education to help support her family after her husband received an injury while working for Georgia Pacific.

   After graduation she worked for eight years at Richard Maxwell and Associates in Crossett, worked as an industry accountant for another company and then decided to open her own accounting office in Hamburg. 

   She worked to earn her CPA certificate soon after and her office became an accounting firm.  After 10 years, the firm grew from a small accounting firm with Bays, five full-time employees and four part-time employees. She works with tax industries, businesses, corporations, partnerships and non-profit organizations.

   “I worked many, many hours to build my company, but that maybe something you don’t want to do,” Bays said. “You may want a 9-5 job, 8-5 job or part-time job, but still the accounting degree in itself will open so many doors.”

   She described how big companies have to have someone on the inside and said one way to move up faster is to have a CPA certificate. She talked about how she sees less and less people passing the CPA exam and how people with a CPA certificate will earn more money.   

   According to Dexter Gulledge, professor of Accounting, only 10-12 percent of accountants hold a CPA certificate and out of the 30 percent of accountants who start taking the exam ,10 percent do not pass at all.

   She described several areas an accountant could work in including the automotive industry and a pro-football league and said everyone needs an accountant.

  She advised students to take the CPA exam soon after graduation because it is easier than having to go back and relearn the information.

  She encouraged students to think about what they want to do and get a part-time job in the area of their choice. When students find a job, they will not be settling for something.

   She advised students to start building a network, so they might find someone to turn to for advise and get references.

   She also advised students:

•  To create a bond and try to build relationships with people

•  Be positive

•  Keep people wanting to receive your calls

• Start building numbers

• Keep yourself knowledgeable about what is going on in the county

• To have clients to think you are aware

   Bays described what students needed to have, including a time management system and ethics.

   “In the end, if you are not in harmony with yourself you are not going to be happy,” Bays said. “When you get out in the real world, there will be lots of stress, lots of demands and you’ve got to find balance.”

   She talked about how the accounting profession is looked at with more respect from the general public than any other profession.

   She also talked about how she was impressed with the “Feed the Pig” campaign by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and The Advertising Council. The goal of the campaign encourages 40 million Americans age 25- 34 years-old to take control of their personal finances. She talked about how the campaign holds classes in Little Rock to teach individuals how to manage their money.

   Bays said the accounting field has so much to offer and accounting students have so much to offer and give back to the community.

   “I truly do enjoy being a public accountant,” Bays said. “I really like helping people, and that is what I get to do everyday.”

   Bays answered questions asked by the students and faculty in attendance. She received a School of Business polo from the IMA.

   “She was very informative and gave us a lot of insight into the accounting profession,” Junior Jaimi Solorio said.

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