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Natasha Schamberger

Senior Technical Manager – PCPS/Firm Services
AICPA (that's us)
Durham, NC

 

Think that filing papers sounds like a dream job? Maybe not, but it can get you there. While in college at Kansas State University, Natasha Schamberger interned at a local CPA firm where she assisted with a software conversion project and, you guessed it, filing documents. Eventually, she was given more responsibility and prepared some basic tax returns.

After school, she moved to San Diego where she got a job as a staff accountant at the largest local firm in the city. After eight months in the position, she “realized the opportunity for advancement was slow at that firm so I switched to another local firm where I took a position as a staff accountant in tax. I was exposed to all areas of tax and quickly advanced to the supervisor level.”

She spent five years doing tax and decided it was time for another change, but she loved the firm she was with. So Natasha took a stab at the auditing side of public accounting. “While my superiors weren't extremely happy about my desire to change to audit, they were supportive and I basically started over as a staff accountant in audit,” she said. “This turned out well and I moved up to the supervisory level quickly and was happy with my choice.”

Knowing there’s a lower cost of living on the east coast, Natasha and her husband made the decision to move to North Carolina. But before they touched down in the Tarheel state, they jetted off to Italy for three months “just for the experience.”

After settling in on the east coast, Natasha was ready for “a complete career change, and interested in something challenging in a different way and with more work/life balance. I found that as a Project Manager with the AICPA. It was a little scary doing something completely different but I went for it and am glad I did!” Natasha was quickly promoted to Technical Manager and is “looking forward to what the future holds.”

She has come a long way from a paper-filing intern in Kansas to the Senior Technical Manager of PCPS/Firm Services at the AICPA, but for Natasha, that just adds to the excitement. “I am constantly looking for opportunities to continue learning.”

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