Have you ever wanted to know how to become an accountant in the tech industry?
Over the past month, The Accounting Path has had the opportunity to interview key members of the accounting team at Airbnb. These discussions have helped us learn how to become an accountant in the technology industry. Use our interviews to see how you can become an accountant in tech, or just to get a better understanding of accounting in a startup.
To start, we sat down with Melissa, Airbnb’s Technical Accounting Manager. She has vast experience, from Big 4 accounting to Airbnb. During the interview she talked about how she got into accounting and why it’s important to get Big 4 experience. We also dive into how to make the transition into a private company, and what accounting skill sets tech startups are looking for.
Ashley is a senior general ledger accountant at Airbnb after previously working at both PwC and Lucasfilm, where she worked in Financial Planning and Analysis. As someone who started in accounting before moving to a finance role and then going back to accounting, she provides a unique perspective and currently works across several groups to ensure that the close process runs smoothly and that management has the insight it needs to understand the business.
Herman is a Financial Consolidations Manager at Airbnb who took a unique path over the course of his career. Instead of entering public accounting out of undergrad, Herman started in industry at Zynga, cutting his chops in the tech scene. He moved up quickly and now runs consolidations across the global footprint of Airbnb’s business.
Jennifer is a Tax Manager at Airbnb with a broad background. She started her career in accounting at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where she spent several years as a Senior Tax Associate. When she was ready to pursue other roles, she tried a few things before ending up with Zynga and now Airbnb. In her current role she is responsible for developing the complicated tax framework used by Airbnb to do business across the globe.
Carlton is a Senior Manager of Revenue Operations at Airbnb. He started his career working across a variety of clients at the mid sized firm Frazier & Deeter. The broad experience he gained there provided him the skill set necessary to jump into the dynamic atmosphere at Airbnb. There, he has helped build out the Finance function and grown into his current role, which encompasses Revenue Operations, AR, and Cash.
Are you interested in becoming an accountant in the technology industry or a startup? See our school search page to get started today!