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Marilyn Wilkins

Vice President, Accounting Policy
Marriott International
Bethesda, MD

 

For Marilyn Wilkins, becoming a CPA was a matter of getting from point A to point B. “I thought I wanted to go into international business when I was in high school,” she says. “In college it seemed like the best path to achieve this goal was to get a degree in accounting.” Today she’s the Vice President for Accounting Policy at Marriott International, the international chain of more than 3,000 hotels.

After earning her CPA, Marilyn set about achieving her goal. “I went to work as a staff accountant in the audit practice for Arthur Andersen LLP, which was a large public accounting firm, just out of college,” she says. “Then I left Arthur Andersen to become a professional accounting fellow at the Securities and Exchange Commission, eventually making my way to the Chief Accountant’s Office.” In 2006, she made the leap to Marriott.

Today, Marilyn counts her job at Marriott as her favorite yet. “I don’t spend much time looking at numbers,” she says. “I spend most of my time meeting with other people in the organization to discuss various accounting matters.” A big part of her job is helping business leaders at Marriott understand the results of their decisions in terms of accounting. It’s not enough to have a knack for numbers – Marilyn relies on her deep understanding of the business and her communication skills to be successful. “Accounting is definitely not just about how you add up the numbers,” she says. “It is more an art that it is a science.” And part of the art of accounting involves working with colleagues to help improve the business. “I love working with our business people here at Marriott,” Marilyn says. “They’re bright, creative and articulate – and they challenge me to come up with new and fresh ideas to help them achieve their business objectives.”

Marilyn says that a degree in accounting is a good investment. “It provides good job security – businesses need accountants when times are good, and when they’re not so good,” she says.

And that job security means that Marilyn can enjoy the good things in life too, like traveling with family and friends. “Every year, we try to plan at least one good trip,” she says. “Last year we went to Australia and New Zealand. This year we went to Scandinavia.” And when she travels, there’s a pretty good chance she can get a room upgrade when she needs it.

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