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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Elizabeth Woo

Title: Managing Director of Audit Services Company: Crowe LLP City: Sherman Oaks Specializations: Audits As managing director in audit services, Elizabeth Woo develops and implements technology-driven audit strategies to achieve effective and efficient high-quality audits for clients of Crowe, the global firm formerly known as Crowe Horwath. She is also a lecturer in intermediate financial accounting at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she earned her MBA. Question: Why accounting? Answer: My interest in accounting started early. As a kid, I loved using my dad’s clunky old 10-key to help him total up deposits for his bookkeeping clients. In college, I was a cashier at the Gap and my favorite part of the job was counting out the cash registers at the end of the day and reconciling all the receipts. So, I decided to take my first accounting class at UCLA and something about it just clicked. I fell in love with accounting and never looked back. Favorite part of the job: That every single day is different. I think it might be impossible to get bored in a career in public accounting. I love working in a job that constantly challenges me to learn and take on stretch assignments. Biggest challenge: Definitely time management – there will always be more work to do, but there is only so much time in the day. For me, setting really clear priorities helps me to balance my workload and focus on the areas where I can make the highest impact, while still finding time for my family, friends and other interests. Most memorable experience: Being invited to teach undergraduate accounting at my alma mater, UCLA. Becoming a professor has been a dream of mine for a long time, and it is so satisfying to be back on campus, shaping and inspiring the next generation of young accountants as they embark on their career path. How does your personality make you good at accounting? I’m an outgoing and curious person by nature, which I think makes me a good auditor. I love talking to different people, asking questions and learning about new things. I’m also a bit of a rules-follower (and a bit of a rules-breaker), so I like that accounting standards are prescriptive yet also leave some room for interpretation. Biggest challenge for clients: Keeping up with the pace of change in our environment. Between changing standards and technology changes, the accounting industry is transforming more rapidly than ever before. Changes you would like to see: I’m actually encouraged to have already seen change taking place in the industry in just the past couple years, and I love working at a firm that has been leading that change. I see a lot of the legacy formality of professional services giving way to more flexible workplace policies, from where to work and what to wear, to how technology will transform the future of auditing. Advice to executives looking for an accounting firm: I would say to look for the team that eagerly demonstrates their interest in developing a relationship with you, the client. That will be the accounting firm and team who will be there for you and your company when you need them most. Advice to people considering a career in accounting: My advice would be to go for it! Working in accounting can be a demanding career, but you’ll absolutely get back everything you put into it (and then some)! I’d also say to be deliberate about choosing a firm to work for. Seek out a firm that demonstrates a commitment to its values and look for a firm whose values align with your own.

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