MEMBER STORY
How a Mother and Son Chose to be CPAs — at the Same Time BY KATHLEEN HOFFELDER, NJCPA CONTENT EDITOR
Elena Klarberg, senior associate at Sax LLP, did not take the traditional route to obtaining her CPA. After marriage, divorce, raising three boys and holding a series of part-time jobs, Elena decided she wanted a career. So, in her 40s, she enrolled in Caldwell University’s adult undergraduate program to obtain her bachelor’s degree. In 2018, Elena completed all four parts of the CPA Exam, and she now awaits her CPA license. While passing the CPA Exam was a test of “resilience, fortitude and stamina,” according to Elena, it was well worth the journey. “I started studying and took the first part of the Exam before I started working at Sax,” explains Elena, who is an NJCPA scholarship recipient and a CPA Candidate member. “I was coming home from work and studying. I would study on the weekends all day. My kids basically
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saw my back for months. It was definitely grueling, but I had the goal in my mind. I wanted it done.” Taking an alternative path to an accounting profession and working among younger professionals did not discourage her. According to Elena, “my professor told me that 15 years or so ago, there would not have been a place for a person like me in public accounting.” But today, having already had plenty of experience as a teacher, camp counselor and working in business development for a transport company, Elena brought something different to the table than someone just starting out in the workforce. “The people I’m working with are my son’s age,” she admits. But in a testament to Sax, she says, “I was treated like all the other first years, no special treatment. I’m just like everybody else. It was a fantastic experience.”
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 | NEW JERSEY CPA
More the typical age of a first-year accountant, Elena’s son, Zachary, staff associate at Citrin Cooperman, knows first-hand how determined his mom can be. Having graduated from William Paterson University of New Jersey in 2017 and being well on his way to his own CPA, Zach often studied at the same time as his mom. A familiar sight around their house was them both holed up in their study caves: Elena in her office and Zach in his bedroom. Like most moms, though, she often passed along study notes, but he had some good advice, too. So, what’s it like having one’s son prepare for the CPA Exam at the same time you are? It makes for a very chaotic but quiet household when studying, according to Elena. “There were two separate occasions where we both received scores on the same day,” adds Zach, who notes that they made a point of never taking the same exam section on the same day. And despite their mutual affection for accounting, they ended up in different specialties: tax accounting for Zach and audit and accounting for Elena, who works in the firm’s real estate niche. ALL IN THE FAMILY Elena’s positive take on accounting did hold some sway over her son’s decision to enter the field. As Zach notes, after his mother took some accounting classes, he started getting interested in the topic. “Her decision to get her accounting degree definitely had some influence on me. We both had very positive school experiences, such as good mentors and teachers,” he said. Zach took his last part of the Exam in December and is awaiting his score. Not all of Elena’s sons, however, are headed for accounting, but at least one more Klarberg could be joining them. Her youngest son Matthew, aged 18, is studying finance at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, and he is considering a minor in accounting. However, her middle son Jacob, aged 21, currently at William Paterson, favors more finance. Both younger brothers have learned not to be in the house when test scores are released.