PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE RAY LANGHAIM, CPA

persisted with the realization that nothing worthwhile would be easy. My father kept saying that by becoming a CPA, I would never be unemployed. After taking some financial accounting and tax courses, I felt I was back on track.

Garo Kalfayan was my tax professor at California State University Fresno (Go, Bulldogs!). He made tax law come to life for me, and, as a result, I chose the tax discipline to begin my career at EY some 33 years ago. I passed the CPA Exam and was officially licensed to work hard. What I did not realize at the time was that the accounting and finance career options are broad and there are many areas in which you can work. There are numerous avenues with which to gain experience and you never know how your career might develop. Having more than one option is awesome.

I always knew I wanted to get to the finance side of business. I first spent several years doing corporate tax and auditing with EY and worked inside of a company doing those disciplines before making the jump to become a controller. I was fortunate that one of my mentors took a chance on me and I was able to make a lateral move to a position on the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) side of accounting and the rest is history.

The more experiences I gained, the higher my goals were set and the desire to move up to a CFO was always present. It eventually happened. I am grateful for the career I chose. Not only has it been interesting, but it has challenged me to keep doing my best work. This line of work has provided fun opportunities for my family as well. Thanks Dad! n