When I took my first accounting class in college, something clicked, and I knew accounting was the career for me. As I’ve continued to work towards earning my degree, I’ve never wavered in my choice. The next big decision I need to make is where I’ll work when I graduate. Fortunately, I have a lot of options, and for that reason, I’ve taken the time to think about what I’m looking for in an accounting firm.
I’m currently interning at Hare CPAs, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not your typical accounting firm. I say that because Hare CPAs is not only dedicated to helping clients succeed, it also has the same commitment to their employees.
Based on my experience, here are the top five reasons an accountant should choose to join Hare CPAs.
#1 – Supports Employees with On-Going Education
Hare CPAs strongly believes in and supports the continuing education of all employees, regardless of their position. The firm doesn’t just talk about the importance of investing in employees – it’s actually developing a program called Hare Academy to provide additional training and education to employees at all levels. Hare Academy offers instruction for interns and associates who are beginning their careers and need to learn new processes, and it includes deep-dive training on accounting topics for more experienced professionals. The program will offer a variety of certificate programs, including the Hare Certified Dental CPA and the Hare Certified Construction CPA, which will help employees gain the skills and working knowledge necessary to boost them up the career ladder.
#2 – Builds Positive Team Culture
Hare CPAs believes the team that plays together, stays together. One of the ways the firm promotes teamwork is by regularly hosting meals for employees to enjoy together. Whether these meals are to welcome a new team member, celebrate a milestone, such as getting through tax season, or simply as a way to enjoy each other’s company, the firm ensures that the time spent together is used to cultivate stronger relationships among colleagues. The philosophy is simple, teams with strong relationships work together better compared to teams that don’t. Working at Hare CPAs connects you with coworkers who make you feel welcomed and part of something greater than a team.
#3 – Promotes Good Health of Employees
Hare CPAs encourages and supports employees’ health because it’s good for the employees and good for the firm. Healthy employees are happier and provide a better quality of work. The firm recently implemented a health board, an idea championed by associate Megan Kosciolek. In this voluntary program, employees are invited to write their weekly health goal on a white board where everyone can see it. Colleagues can offer encouragement, accountability, and hopefully celebrate achievements. The goal is to help employees achieve their maximum health potential. Working at Hare CPAs gives you the chance to have additional accountability to meet those New Year’s resolution goals and develop a healthier lifestyle to improve your overall working abilities.
#4 Committed to Community Service
While Hare CPAs is committed to delivering value to our clients, the firm also looks for ways to deliver value to the community outside of work. One of the ways it does so is by promoting a culture of volunteering and service. Many of the employees choose to serve their neighborhoods through a variety of Michigan-based organizations such as Michigan Association of CPAs, The Library of Michigan Foundation, EO Detroit, Michigan Parent Teacher Association, Head for the Cure, and many more. In addition to these organizations, employees find a variety of other ways to serve. For example, as a blackbelt in karate, CPA Ryan Burke offers his free time to serve at his local dojo, Bushido Martial Arts Dojo, as a karate teacher and to teach self-defense to women. Senior associate Paula Kennedy offers her services to Gleaners Food Bank and Make-a-Wish Foundation. As someone who has volunteered at Habitat for Humanity, Hare CPA’s support for community service really resonates for me. At Hare CPAs, I know I’m surrounded by colleagues who share my commitment to serving both clients and community.
#5 – Strives for Efficient Operations
At a CPA firm, it’s easy for employees to get overloaded with numerous projects all at once. To deal with this problem, Hare CPAs holds weekly team meetings to review what each employee has on their plate for the week and adjusts as needed. Brian Hare, the founder and chief visionary, likes to make the comparison to a manufacturing facility where each week the factory manager decides what gets put on the assembly line. It’s an apt analogy because while the assembly line is finite, if everyone’s workload is properly allocated, overall productivity goes up. The team meetings are one of the strategies Hare CPAs has to maintain maximum efficiency. Everyone gets debriefed on any tax or accounting updates, then each team member is given an appropriate workload to ensure efficiency without having an overwhelming amount of work. It is an intentional process that delivers good results for employees and clients.
In my opinion, Hare CPAs is not a typical accounting firm. It believes that investing in its employees allows the firm to better serve clients. If that approach appeals to you, visit Hare CPA’s career page as well as our values + culture page to learn more about what it’s like to be part of the team at Hare CPAs.
