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Heidi Brundage

Technical Manager - Human Capital
AICPA (that's us)
Durham, NC

 

If you were thinking of getting a CPA certification so you can hide in a cubicle all day, Heidi Brundage has some bad news for you.

“It’s all about people in this profession. You’ve got to have people skills.” Good accounting requires research, she explains, and that means asking questions, getting answers, and clarifying issues with clients – in person.

Which makes sense: Clients look to their CPA as their most trusted business advisor, Heidi points out, and they’ll ask for advice on anything from taxes to investments to major business decisions. That’s not the sort of thing you discuss over a couple of emails.

She’s certainly used her own people skills over the course of her career so far, which has seen her handling Ernst & Young’s orientation program for a third of the United States. Today Heidi combines her talents in accounting and human resources as manager of human capital for the AICPA. It’s a challenging position that involves her passions of client service and public speaking.

Think becoming a CPA means being buried in spreadsheets without any human contact? Think again, says Heidi. “When I look around at my team, I see friendly, smart professionals. Just by the nature of what we do, we are all definitely ‘People people.’”

Got questions of your own? Ask a CPA.