When Benson Dana, a retired CPA and Certified Internal Auditor, started his career in 1983 there were no computers. 40 years later, Benson finds himself retired, sitting on the edge of his seat watching if the world is heading hopelessly to a Colossus & Guardian scenario or not. If you didn’t catch that reference, keep reading.
So, with 14 years as an IT internal auditor for Maine's state government and a laundry list of ten different companies under his belt, Benson knows a thing or two about the ins and outs of accounting. He's seen it all—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly—while witnessing the world change before his eyes.
While he claims not to be a fortune teller when it comes to predicting the future of accounting, Benson was more than happy to chat about the here and now. We sat down with him to dig into why accounting struggles to attract fresh talents and explore the challenges that come with a constantly changing landscape.
How did you start your path in accounting and why choose this career?
After high school, my first 2 years in college were a disaster. I was terrified about having to support myself, and although I was always a good student, I had no real worldly experience. Everything had always been provided for me. My solution was to join the Army for 4 years.
During this time, 3 close friends I had known virtually all my life chose the path to public accounting and their CPA license with the BIG 8 (we’re now down to the Big 4). On leave when I would visit, I was enthralled with their varied and interesting stories of work and decided I wanted to experience stories like that.
These 3 friends were my peers and equals, academically, so I was not concerned about my ability to meet the standards of the industry, including the exam. I was always good at taking tests. I also knew that the CPA training would make me employable almost anywhere in the world. So I took a leap of faith and committed to that path.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in your career?
My biggest challenge was my own personality. I was fearless to some extent, but that sometimes made me arrogant and reckless, and those are bad career behaviors. Although the fearlessness allows me to try all sorts of new and challenging things, I went through perhaps 10 different jobs over the course of my career, looking for a good place to settle at.
I experienced failure many times, but I never let that stop me. I always picked myself up, tried to learn a lesson, and moved forward.
How have you seen the accounting industry change over the years?
Apart from the fact that there were no computers when I started out in 1983, and we had to prepare tax returns in pencil and then copy them for filing, the next most significant change might be the pace of change. It seems like every other day, there's a new tax law, a fresh accounting practice, or an updated financial reporting standard.
I wonder how any small firm can function or exist because you need to have someone (or a full team) devoted to doing nothing but keeping current with these changes. That means no billable hours.
What separates a great accountant from a good one?
Might seem obvious but the first thing is to have a solid foundation in the technical details of accounting basics. You need to get an “A” in your accounting classes. It can sound fussy, but it’s not engineering, medicine, or architecture. I earned a “B” in cost accounting and advanced, but I aced all the others.
The next step is developing a solid understanding of the relationship between the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. I found this difficult to do in school because of all the other demands, but in the first 2 years of public, I would focus on this. It sounds easy, but it can take some time and experience.
Also, the drive and ability to keep current by continuously learning new standards and technology will serve you well.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the accounting industry today?
My answers are, naturally, simply my own opinions, and many people would have many different answers. Mine probably seems unusual, but my quick answer is greed and fraud, and they go hand in hand.
Starting with the largest firms because of the scale of the risk, the partners are driven by the urge to accumulate personal wealth, which means short-changing the staff for the work they do, cutting corners to cut other costs, and failing to adequately service the clients. I think examples of the consequences are shown in the catastrophic failures of firms like Arthur Anderson, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Enterysis and now the recent bank failures. These were, of course, driven initially by the greed and fraud of corporate management.
Have you heard about firms struggling to find high-quality accounting talents? Why do you think that is?
That would be my second answer: the decline of abilities in the newest people entering the profession. This opinion is probably shared with each succeeding generation, but between the pandemic and the stress it placed on education, and the distractions of social media et al, the new generation of accountants may lack some basic skills and determination to perform as well as they could or should. I think in particular, critical thinking skills in general have diminished. It’s too easy to google the answer to a question so you don’t necessarily need to memorize the answer or even understand its significance. From the beginning, they’re told what to do instead of figuring it out for themselves and learning to think. They develop an intense fear of failure, which makes them timid and ineffectual. One of the things I’m most capable of is failure, AND the ability to recover from it and still move forward.
About this talent shortage, why do you think the accounting industry is failing to enchant new students?
I think among all my answers, if they’re taken together, it begins to paint a picture of why people may find the industry intimidating.
What do you think about new technologies like AI or automation, are they a threat to the profession?
I don’t think we know enough about AI yet and I certainly don’t, but I’m reminded of the movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project. It’s a 1970 American science fiction thriller film directed by Joseph Sargent, based upon the 1966 science fiction novel Colossus by Dennis Feltham Jones.
The movie revolves around a supercomputer called Colossus, designed to control and protect the United States' nuclear defense systems but its artificial intelligence takes over and sets up a global surveillance network. Talk about unintended AI consequences! It’s a terrifying and entertaining example of the dangers of AI. I highly recommend it!
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in their accounting career?
This may not be the most important, but the others are almost worthless without it. You need to be universally friendly, kind, helpful, generous, and forgiving when dealing with everyone you meet. I would urge anyone to do whatever it takes to find one or more mentors they respect to help teach and guide them in their careers and relationships. It often comes down at the end to relationships, not technical ability. The amount of business that gets transacted, both informally and formally, on the golf course, never stops astounding me.
One thing that has served me well is not paying attention to how anyone else lives their life or manages their career, and so not having to feel that I need to compete. My house is the first one we ever bought. My 3 old friends (After 60 years, we still see each other occasionally!) who led me to the CPA path all have 5 to 10 times my net worth, but my life has been easily as rich in experiences and happiness as theirs.
