By: Sarah Bruce
As a CPA four years removed from my undergrad and graduate days at East Carolina University, I have moved from Eastern NC to Charlotte and back to Eastern NC to live on the Outer Banks. I have also moved my career as a public accountant from a large international firm to a much smaller one. My need for community involvement on the Outer Banks, as well as a desire to teach, led me to NCACPA and all of its resources! I would like to start out by thanking the association as a whole, and to the folks of NCACPA—the helpful and knowledgeable leaders and staffers I’ve gotten to know over the past few years!
As a member of the Albemarle/Outer Banks chapter board, I volunteered to present to a school during Financial Literacy month in April 2012. Both NCACPA and the AICPA reached out and provided sample PowerPoints, financial literacy calendars, and other “swag”—which the high schoolers were thrilled over. But the point is… I was able to travel to this school alongside one of the partners of our firm and present to a classroom of 20 seniors about to embark on their freshmen year of college. It was a valuable experience to provide some lessons in savings to these kids, from contributing to Roth IRAs with their summer jobs, to their 401Ks when they start their careers in their 20’s. Many had questions as we ended our presentation, and I thoroughly enjoyed having that opportunity to connect with the young adults. I was in their shoes just ten years before! This presentation got my partner and me excited to do more! He suggested we take part in the Outer Banks’ popular St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2013! I was in! And I was determined to get our whole firm as excited as I was.
NCACPA graciously provided us with a fresh banner and a pig costume (whom our newest employee wore with a great big smile) to represent the campaign of saving for the future. For adults, “saving” means putting money aside in a checking account, but for children it’s the classic PIGGY BANK! We created a made-from-scratch banner that read “Help Yourself—Feed the Pig” in bright colors, fake coins, and images of money and piggy banks. It was a lot of fun to put together with my coworkers. The most fun was ordering piggy banks to pass out at the parade to all the children; we even cleaned pennies and stuffed each one with a bright new coin to get their savings started. To see each kid light up with excitement when they received one was priceless. Despite the cold and windy day, our firm had a great turnout and we all enjoyed passing candy and piggy banks out to all, and representing our association and the campaign of financial literacy. We even had our families join us for the 1 mile march! We look forward to doing this again next year—thank you again, NCACPA, for your continued support!
Sarah Bruce, CPA, works as a tax and A&A professional for Hutchins Canning & Company, PA, in Kitty Hawk, NC. She especially enjoys the consulting side of the business and one-on-one interactions with clients. Sarah graduated from East Carolina University with her BSA and MSA in Accounting in the Fall of 2008 and misses the faculty and her classmates the most! She and her husband, another ECU graduate, enjoy living on the Outer Banks, sailing and exploring all that the coast has to offer them. Sarah also volunteers her time as the current treasurer of the Virginia Dare Business & Professional Women’s Club, President Elect of the Albemarle/ Outer Banks Chapter of NCACPA, and is active on the Accounting & Attestation Committee!