October 31, 2022
As the inaugural blog post for the Technical Accounting Professionals website, I thought it only fitting to talk about how it all started. The short answer is that the idea/need has always been there. The journey to make it become a reality is a whole other story. Allow me to provide more context.
I have been doing technical accounting for most of my career. I chose this path because I enjoy problem-solving, seeing the big picture, and being involved in different complex transactions. We technical accountants have a special skillset. We analyze complex transactions, break them down into distinct issues, perform research and come up with a conclusion. Our conclusions can have a major impact on the Company. Most people don’t understand what we do. However, this is changing. I remember many years ago, I interviewed for a Director of Technical Accounting and Financial Reporting position. The core requirements focused on SEC reporting, preparing the Company’s S-1 and establishing the financial reporting process as a public company. However, what the interviewer really wanted to know, was about my technical accounting knowledge. He said, “while you need to have SEC reporting skills/experience for this job, the technical accounting is key.” He recognized the value in technical accounting back then.
Throughout my career, I’ve dealt with many complex issues. Most of the time I know enough to ask the right questions, figure out the appropriate guidance and apply the guidance to come up with my conclusion. However, there have been times where the fact pattern left me scratching my head because it was so unique. In those situations, I’m not ashamed to admit that I occasionally turned to my trusty friend, Google. I would search for examples of my situation, not expecting to find the answer, but to get more perspective on the fact pattern. Most of the time, this went nowhere. On rare occasion, I would come across a random article or even a post in a CFO forum that had a similar situation. While there would never be any concrete examples or answers, it would be enough to guide me in the right direction and I would feel like I won the lottery.
This has always been a grievance of mine. Who or where can I turn to if I have a technical accounting question? If you work in industry, you are most likely the one with technical accounting expertise. If you are part of a consulting firm, you may have a whole group dedicated to technical accounting, but you may not have easy access to SMEs to run your question by them. They may also want to charge your client for their time.
Fast forward to my current gig as a consultant. I am fortunate enough to work at a professional services firm that has a technical accounting group. While all companies have messaging apps, one of the many great things about working at my firm is their internal website. There is a forum for employees and consultants to post questions and there is a forum specific to the technical accounting group. Having the ability to post a question in a forum format is extremely valuable. Again, not everyone will have experience related to your question or have answers, but even their initial thoughts can give you food for thought. It acts like a sounding board. And voila, the idea for the Technical Accounting Professionals website was born.
I knew this would be a valuable tool for technical accountants. But would there be any interest? Are there enough technical accountants out there to make this the next SEC Reporting Professionals group? The answer is yes. The demand for our skillset has grown tremendously over the last 5 years and there are many more of us out there. Between the technical accounting managers, directors and chief accounting officers in industry, and the technical accounting consultants and auditors that work at professional service and public accounting firms, there is a whole network of technical accountants out there, in the U.S. as well as outside of the U.S.
The forum is only as good as the questions being asked and responses from the community. Imagine the kind of collective brainpower a forum like this could provide. We just need to get the word out.
If there is anything you would like to see on the website or topics for articles, please leave a comment below. Stay tuned for more posts on the trials and tribulations of technical accounting from this technical accountant.
