Serving up advice for those working towards a career as a CPA.
June 2024
Wes Becker, CPA
Senior Tax Manager, Americas, Bakelite Synthetics
KyCPA member
What reasons would you provide to encourage others to become a CPA?
There are a lot of career opportunities in the CPA profession. Accountants and CPAs can do so much more than what is typically thought of as bookkeeping or working for a public accounting firm. As an income tax accountant for an international company, I have the opportunity to travel to Canada, South America, and Europe frequently. In addition, I get to learn about other countries' legislation and accounting standards. When I was in college trying to figure out what career path I wanted to take, I never thought what I do on a daily basis would be possible in accounting.
Why did you decide to become a CPA? If there was a defining moment, tell us about it.
The moment I decided to pursue accounting as a career path is still fresh in my mind. When I was a sophomore in college, I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in. The business program I was in required me to take two Introduction to Accounting classes, which I honestly thought I would dread. However, after getting a professor for my Introduction to Accounting II class who was able to explain concepts easily, I started to very much enjoy the organization that accounting requires. It was then I decided to pursue a career in accounting and obtaining the CPA designation seemed to be the best path forward in the accounting career, which I still agree with.
What attributes and skills are good to have as a CPA?
Attention to detail and great organization skills are must-have traits to be a successful accountant. Also, as someone who always struggled with test taking, determination, and hard work were required to pass the CPA exams. It took me multiple tries to pass the exams and without determination, it would have been far too easy to give up. Being a good team player is also critical in accounting as in my career I have always worked with large teams. Without personal skills and knowing how to delegate tasks I would not have made it to where I am today in my accounting career.
What is your favorite thing about your current position?
There are a lot of aspects of my current position that I enjoy. As a new company that was created in 2021, I have been able to build out a North American tax function exactly as I want. This has given me the freedom and authority to make many decisions that impact the company not common for someone only 10 years into their accounting career. In addition to the tax work related to our North American operations, I also oversee income tax accounting under US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards disclosed in our audited financial statements. This allows me to work with non-US accounting standards and learn about tax laws and regulations in Latin America, Europe, and Canada.
What are your long-term goals related to your career?
I could see my career moving forward in a variety of different ways, which is what I think is so great about the CPA profession - there are countless career opportunities. I thoroughly enjoy working in tax so intend to stay in the field, but even in tax, there are tons of different opportunities. I would love to one day lead a whole tax team - but I could see doing that in a large multi-national corporation as part of an in-house tax department or even going back into public accounting and leading a team of tax professionals at a firm. I am not sure exactly where my future will take me career-wise, but I am excited to see where I end up.
What are some of your personal hobbies?
Outside of work, I spend a lot of time with my family. We love to go to the park and spend as much time as possible outside. My family and I also enjoy traveling and through my opportunities with work have been able to take our 2-year-old son out of the country multiple times including taking him all the way to Italy. In addition, I love to spend time over the grill in the summer and cooking in the kitchen. When I am not working, with my family, or preparing meals I like to spend time in the gym lifting weights or cycling on my Peloton.
What is a fun fact about you that would be fun to share?
I married my middle-school crush.
How have you been involved with KyCPA and what do you like about the experience?
I have been involved with college student programming through the KyCPA. I thoroughly enjoy spending time with college students who are trying to decide on a career path and the KyCPA does a great job providing accounting majors in the state of Kentucky with knowledge and insight into what a career in accounting could look like.
What is your day-to-day like in your current position?
The day-to-day in my current position varies depending on the time of year. A significant percentage of my co-workers are located in our Europe offices so with the time change my mornings are always full of meetings and one-on-ones. The afternoon, when my European co-workers have signed off for the day, is when I can get all of my work done. Since I deal with multiple accounting standards and tax returns for multiple jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada I have constant deadlines throughout the year that keep me busy year-round. I move consistently from deadline to deadline, but it keeps my job interesting.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to become a CPA?
I would tell someone looking to become a CPA to expect hard work, but also to expect a rewarding career with tons of opportunities available to them. With a large retiring CPA workforce, I expect there will be a high demand for CPA's in the future which I expect will lead to endless career opportunities.