'We Have to Be Bold': Eric Hansen, CPA, CGMA, Incoming Chair of the AICPA, Sees Opportunities in Changing Times for the Profession
Days started early for Eric Hansen growing up on his family's farm on the outskirts of Independence, Mo. His duties included milking the family cow, cleaning the barns, feeding and caring for livestock, and performing all kinds of "inside" chores. The work helped instill in him the values of discipline and accountability, which have served him well in his career as a CPA. His day often included time with his Scout troop as he worked toward becoming an Eagle Scout, an achievement that later opened doors for him at the accounting firm where he would spend his career. And many days, on his way to his grandmother's house for piano lessons, he would ride past the home of former U.S. President Harry Truman, whose remark that "The buck stops here" still is hailed as one of the great declarations of accountability in American politics. "What that tells me is, 'Don't push the responsibility off on somebody else,'" Hansen said. "You're responsible for it. And that resonates with me. That's how I was raised. It was one of the core values that my parents instilled in me." Those values continue to shape Hansen's thinking as he prepares to succeed Kimberly Ellison-Taylor as chair of the AICPA. Hansen was scheduled to be inaugurated in October at the AICPA Council meeting for a term beginning in February. In many ways, this is a great time to be in accounting. Employment is high. Technology and the interconnectedness of the global business environment are giving CPAs and CGMA designation holders a chance to serve clients, businesses, and the public in new and exciting ways. At the same time, the furious pace of change demands that members of the profession adapt and embrace new ways of working. "Most people don't like change, and they don't want to necessarily initiate change," said Hansen, a partner and the COO of BKD CPAs & Advisors in Springfield, Mo. "And yet here we are in a marketplace where, if we don't change, we will become less relevant and less valuable in a very short period of time. We have to be bold and be more proactive." HARDWORKING KIDS On his 18th birthday in 1943, the late Gene Hansen, Eric's father, enlisted in the Navy. Fulfilling a sense of obligation to serve his country, Gene Hansen left high school and departed on a train from Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., to San Francisco. He served on a destroyer that provided naval support in two of the most devastating battles of World War II, at Omaha Beach in Normandy and at Okinawa. Eric Hansen remains in awe of his father's service to his country and considers his own trip to Normandy a few years ago to be one of the most poignant experiences of his life. Gene Hansen worked for Standard Oil for 36 years, building his own house on a family farm where their garden produced many of their vegetables and their fields produced the alfalfa that fed the cows. He married Carol Hodges, a free spirit who earned her pilot's license in her younger days. During a recent visit, she looked at an old portrait of her four sons and recalled with a smile that they fought one another all the way to the photographer's studio. Eric Hansen is the third of the four children, and they all were required to complete their chores before they were allowed to play--and all rose to the rank of Eagle Scout. "They were hardworking kids, I'll tell you," Carol Hansen said. Even as a teenager, Eric showed signs of the attention to detail that would help him succeed as a CPA. When packing for Scout camp, he would meticulously write out a list of everything he would need to bring with him. After graduating from high school, he spent time working at Standard Oil and a grocery store before enrolling at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo. As good fortune would have it, his brother Brent transferred to Evangel from the University of Cincinnati for his senior year. Eric didn't know what he wanted to study, and it was Brent who suggested that accounting would be a good fit because of Eric's math skills. …