Julie Klewer to be Honored as Life Member

Julie S. Klewer, CPA, MBA, has been a respected leader serving the Arizona accounting profession for more than 30 years. The Arizona Society will honor Klewer in May at the ASCPA Annual Meeting.

AZ CPA: Congratulations on your ASCPA Life Member honor, Julie. You were chair/president of both the Board of Directors of the Arizona Society of CPAs and of the Arizona State Board of Accountancy. How did those experiences compare?

Klewer: They both were equally amazing experiences. During my time at the Society, I had a chance to get to know Cindie (Hubiak) and all of the staff there. Cindie is an incredible leader and a wonderful, warm human being.

The Arizona State Board of Accountancy was a challenge, interesting and ver y educational. I got a chance to work with some really smart people there, as well. Getting to know Monica (Petersen, the Executive Director of the State Board) and learning her management style, was great. So, I’m humbled that I’m getting recognized for just doing the things that I like, and I’ve grown personally and professionally as a result. Both Boards provided such different experiences. It was cool to be at the decision-making leadership

Julie S. Klewer, CPA, MBA, is the

partner in charge of the audit and

assurance practice with LUDWIG

KLEWER & RUDNER CO PLLC in

Tucson. She began her career with

Coopers & Lybrand in 1988 and has

worked in both national and local

public accounting firms throughout

her career. Her practice areas include

a focus on assurance services with

specific concentrations in nonprofit

organizations, construction contractors

and benefit plans. She taught

undergraduate courses in marketing

and business administration, as well

as graduate courses in accounting,

at the University of Arizona. Klewer is

also active in the community having

served as chair of the 2006 Tucson

Heart Ball benefiting the American

Heart Association, and is a past chair

of the ASCPA Board of Directors,

and immediate past president of the

Arizona State Board of Accountancy. level for both sides, the association advocacy membership side and the regulatory rule-making side. Arizona CPAs are fortunate that we have such a good relationship between the Society and the State Board.

Getting to know Cindie was one of the highlights for me. I learned a lot from her in terms of managing conflict. The Society has a big, diverse board every year, so getting to watch dynamics in a board room was educational. I saw how the chair made sure that everybody in the room gets a chance to talk. I also learned the nuances to group consensus building.

It’s different at the Accountancy Board. I’m not saying that the stakes can be higher at the Accountancy Board, they’re just different. They can be more intense and more technical. At the Society, it’s a larger group of people, and what you’re dealing with relates to the profession as a whole. In terms of the decision making, we’re more focused on how the Society makes itself relevant going forward and what we need to do to fulfill our mission. On the Accountancy Board, it can be highly emotional and it’s a smaller group of people. The stakes are higher for a single participant. In terms of my impact at the State Board level, there were people at the table that had much deeper technical expertise than me, but I think I contributed in meeting management and being able to make sure everybody was heard, being able to navigate difficult conversations and keep everyone on point.

AZ CPA: What was the most challenging thing about those opportunities?

Klewer: Honestly, the distance (working and living in Tucson) was a challenge. Also, keeping the boards focused on structural strategic goals and steering people away from the personal and operational side of things. If people get very passionate about something, especially when they’ve been involved for a long time, it can get challenging. My time on the Society board prepared me for the Accountancy Board. “It takes different skills to lead the ASCPA and the Accountancy Board. Julie’s leadership effectively adapted to these different environments, providing significant value to both organizations. Her wise counsel continues to provide me insights on ways to support the CPA profession,”

—Cindie Hubiak, CPA, ASCPA President & CEO

AZ CPA: Have you experienced a shift in your career being a woman in accounting? Has the profession changed for you?

Klewer: Yes, and no. I see more women in leadership, just because more women should be in leadership. There are so many great, qualified women, and they shouldn’t have blockades to being leaders. Diversity for diversity’s sake is not okay with me, but breaking down barriers so that people who have the qualifications to do the work and be effective leaders — that’s what it should be about. In the profession itself, I see more women partners and more women in leadership roles.

I can’t say that I’ve experienced the same degree of progressiveness in the business community at large. I still find myself, on occasion in a meeting with one of my partners where I ask a question of a client and the answer is directed back to one of my male partners. There are very clearly still times where I feel that being female puts you five steps behind the same person who is a man.

AZ CPA: Do you like being a role model?

Klewer: I have a hard time seeing myself in that light. You know there’s a part of me that says, “How did I get here?” Even with being a partner in a firm and being able to run the show a little bit. I get to work with great people, mentor

young people coming up and work with students. I have a hard time owning that whole “role model” role, but I’ve been told that and yes, I’m grateful. I’m grateful that there are young women out there who aspire to be in a position of leadership, whether it’s in public accounting or other areas where they might have an impact. I’m thrilled. My favorite part of the job is hands-on training with the younger staff and interviewing students.

AZ CPA: So what does the future look like for you now that you are “board-less”?

Klewer: My kids are grown up, and I recently became a grandma. We’re done paying for school/grad school. My husband and I, ironically enough, are both finding ourselves working harder than we have worked in a long time right now. And I don’t understand how we got here. Why is that? I mean, for me personally, it has to do with the fact that the firm has grown, and retaining people in our industry is tough. We’ve had great success, and I’m so grateful for that. People at the higher levels are under pressure because the higher up you get in this profession, the more stress there is.

I have been honestly so blessed to have been in a partnership with Chris Ludwig and Eric Rudner. We’ve always functioned as a team and there’s no silo mentality.

Ultimately, in a perfect world, I’d love to spend more time on doing nonprofit consulting, and that’s where my area of expertise is. I love being able to work with the boards and management. I would also like to go back to the University of Arizona to teach. I taught in the master’s program there a couple of times and I loved it.

My husband and I want to travel more as well. We took a few great trips this year, but it was either travel or work 60 hours a week, there was no in-between.

I’ll always be connected to the profession. I think some of the stress and commitment comes back to being a woman. It’s a mom thing. I’m used to taking care of other people and making sure everyone else is okay. You tend to put everybody else first when you’re in that space. I’m learning later in my life that it’s okay to put me first. So, I think I’m trying to figure out how to do that and feel good about it. That’s my big challenge.

This profession has been so incredibly good to me. I decided to be a stay-athome mom at one time, went back to school to get my MBA and started a whole other career in the marketing consulting arena. During that time, I never let my CPA license lapse, and the CPA profession was waiting for me when I came back.It has been a great career and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. — Patty Gannon. l

Join the ASCPA at the 2020 Annual Meeting on May 12 when we honor Julie Klewer for her commitment to the profession. Go to www.ascpa.com/annual.

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