Stan - Accounting Manager

If ever there was a person who was a perfect fit for his career, it's COA Accounting Manager Stan. Numbers captivate him. He's always looking for ways to be more efficient. And, he never stops learning new things. Learn more about Stan – who has worked at COA for just over four years  –  in our Q&A.

 How did you enter the field of accounting?

"Since grade school, I've had a thing for math. It's one of my better subjects. I could spend hours just looking at numbers and analyzing them." Although he wasn't familiar with the vocation of accounting as a child, he eventually went on to receive a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Cincinnati, and later earned his CPA and then an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Were you familiar with COA when you applied for your job here?

"I had no knowledge of COA until I had an interview and I started looking at the website and seeing the logo, and then remembered the folder that was always on the table at my mom's when people would come in and sign off on things." It turned out that Stan's mother was (and still is) enrolled in the Elderly Services Program, but Stan didn't realize then that COA was the program administrator. He has helped to care for his 94-year-old mother for years.

What does being COA's accounting manager entail?

"One of my biggest roles is that I manage the accounting department staff. We handle all the inflowing and outflowing of funds for the agency. We work with other program managers to make sure they are in compliance with submitting information for billing. We also pay all the vendors and providers and send statements to clients."

What do you enjoy about working here?

"Providing the service to the other departments, making sure that they're able to fulfill their goals to the clients. Also, development of the accounting department staff. I hope I can live out my career here."

You seem like a person who likes to challenge himself, true?

"I always challenge myself like 'how can I get this done 15 minutes faster.' It's just that challenge to continually improve the process. I'm continually learning new techniques, and I try to show my staff different techniques to be more efficient."

One of his first projects at COA was to work on a huge indirect journal entry that would allocate salaries of staff who don't work directly with a program. "When we first started doing it, it was taking me like eight hours to get it done. I challenged myself to get it down to five hours, then four hours. I got it down to like 3-and-a-half hours." Now one of his staff members can complete it in less than two hours.