The stereotypical CPA as envisioned by the media—the milquetoast dork with few social graces, passionate about numbers and little else—has rarely been an accurate portrayal. And few CPAs defy that image more than Rumbi Bwerinofa-Petrozzello.

In addition to her day job, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello runs marathons and travels the world. Sometimes she travels the world in order to run marathons. She maintains a vibrant social media presence on multiple platforms (you can find her on Twitter @TheFStudent—where you will discover that she will “judge you if you could care less”), as well as an active social life in New York City. She regularly takes courses to expand her skill set, and has recently started taking cello lessons. When people meet Bwerinofa-Petrozzello, they sometimes say they’re surprised she’s a CPA at all, that she is not your typical accountant. A few years ago, she may have agreed with them, but that was before she really got to know her fellow CPAs.

“I think when you generally see how CPAs are portrayed in movies, or in some conversations, you never would think it would possibly be an interesting person,” Bwerinofa-Petrozzello said. “And, at times, even at the beginning of my becoming a CPA, I felt I was different. I do these other things, like have a social life and run and take lessons. But then I met other CPAs doing really incredible things. Some of them act or are musicians or jump out of airplanes! I realized that there’s no stereotypical CPA.”

Still, while not a complete anomaly within the accounting world, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello nonetheless stands in the vanguard of a rapidly changing profession, enthusiastically embracing a future that others approach more cautiously. 

The NYSSCPA recognized her pioneering spirit by inviting her to join its Young Leadership Circle (YLC) shortly after she became a member. This is a program that identifies rising stars within the profession and gives them opportunities to learn from and interact with Society officers. Since then, she has become even more active in the NYSSCPA. She recently served as president of the Queens/Brooklyn Chapter. Now she chairs the Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and speaks about diversity and inclusion on behalf of the Society at outside events.

Working without an office

While working from a virtual office began as a pragmatic choice, as time went on, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello came to see that there were real advantages to skipping a typical office altogether. She usually works from her home on the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City.

“I actually spoke with a couple of other people in forensics and valuation services about how they were set up, and, you know, the conversations were often about them going to clients, not necessarily needing to have a brick-and-mortar presence,” she said. Going without an office “took a little pressure off. And then I realized it really was not necessary.”

She noted that today, you can connect with clients anywhere using any number of methods such as Skype or Google hangouts, which has helped Bwerinofa-Petrozzello deal with a problem commonly experienced by sole practitioners: isolation from other professionals. She has used social media to develop a robust network of colleagues, which has yielded new opportunities, both professionally and personally.

“I think it’s really exciting; sometimes I interact with people on social media and then go to an event and meet them, or I know someone else is going and I can connect with them, and it becomes a great way to [network],” she said.

She was honest, though, about one of the big drawbacks of the virtual firm: It requires a lot of self-discipline.

“In some ways, it’s very hard. Especially now that I live at the beach. I live at the beach!” she said. One particularly beautiful day, she tried bringing her laptop to her terrace to try and get some work done. This did not work. After a short while, she went back downstairs to work at her desk.

But she added that, really, any professional anywhere needs to have a lot of self-discipline: “Sometimes, you just have to [say to yourself], ‘I’m not going to think about …how nice it is outside. I’m just going to get some work done.”

Bwerinofa-Petrozzello’s practice area—forensic accounting—has been experiencing rapid growth over the past few years. Business research and analysis firm IBISWorld noted in a 2017 report that forensic accounting services make up a $4 billion industry, with an estimated annual growth rate of 7.2 percent. Driven by technological advancements and increased fraud activity, forensic accounting has gone from a relatively obscure niche specialty to an in-demand service with wide-ranging applications in litigation, law enforcement, business valuation and more.

“You have a lot of cybercrime, financial crime, money laundering; you have [people] finding that operating financial crimes is less dangerous than others they could be involved with, and that increases the need for people who have an understanding of accounting in a forensic sense,” she said.

An atypical pathway to CPA

Bwerinofa-Petrozzello did not set out to become a forensic accountant—or any accountant, really—when she was in college. After earning math and economics degrees at Mount Holyoke College, she went to work as a research analyst at an investment bank. Her boss recommended that she consider accounting, saying it would be a practical skill to have in life, so she then went to work at Deloitte in Zimbabwe (where she grew up) as an auditor. While at Deloitte, she went back to school and got a degree in accounting. She said she “found accounting to be more tangible than some of the other topics I’d studied,” which relied on more theoretical models. It was the catalyst for a whole new life path she hadn’t considered before. After leaving Deloitte, she went to work at a series of investment advisory firms back in the United States, rising to the position of controller.

Her supervisor at one of the firms recommended that she become a CPA. She studied for and took the exam, while continuing to work, getting her license in 2011. “It wasn’t fun, but it had to be done, I suppose.”

While working as a Deloitte auditor, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello became interested in forensic accounting. She worked special assignments that involved investigating allegations of wrongdoing at a company. She found that she was more excited about this than any of her audits, and that it fit well with her natural inclinations: “I’m huge into solving mysteries.” She likes being able to look at unique problems and come to a solution over time. “Coming out of it, I feel like I have done something good, which is also very important to me,” she said. “When I wake up in the morning, I think I’m going to do something good today that I like to do.”

As sole proprietor of Rock Forensics, which she founded in 2015, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello finds that a lot of her work revolves around financial restatements, fraud investigations and family matrimonial issues that need  forensic work. 

She became involved in the NYSSCPA through volunteering at a Hurricane Sandy relief event. The people she met there were friendly and encouraging, she said, and it was really inspiring to see these professionals so engaged in helping people. Members invited her to more events, where she’d meet more members who, in turn, would invite her to more events and, eventually, to become more involved with the Society. Shortly after serving as a judge for the NYSSCPA Excellence in Financial Journalism Awards, she was selected to be part of the YLC. As part of this program, Bwerinofa-Petrozzello was invited to speak at numerous events, particularly about personal development and leadership, within the NYSSCPA. She cited this program’s support as “absolutely” a major factor in her continued involvement with the Society. She also appreciated the networking opportunities it provided her.

“I have met fellow members of the YLC, and that has been great. A big challenge is being able to connect with fellow circle members who are not in the city. However, I do get to meet some and communicate via email,” she added. “It certainly makes it easier to be active in the State Society because sometimes you go somewhere and you know you have ‘friends’ who are like you!”

Advocacy for diversity and inclusion

Bwerinofa-Petrozzello is also a vigorous proponent of the many efforts within the industry to increase diversity and representation in the accounting profession. As the chair of the NYSSCPA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which launched last year, she actively explores different ways in which traditionally underrepresented populations can gain access to the many opportunities that an accounting career can bring. In this respect, she has been particularly interested in the NYSSCPA’s Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) program, which, for the past 30 years, has worked to introduce young men and women of color to the profession.

“Meeting students through the COAP program, learning more about them, telling them more about your life and [having] these interesting interactions with young people who probably haven’t heard much about the benefits of being a CPA—when you have these conversations, it becomes an option for their future, and I think that’s where it becomes important for me,” Bwerinofa-Petrozzello said.

She’s encouraged by the progress that she’s been seeing from programs like COAP. When she attends events and sees the next generation of accounting professionals, it’s a more diverse group of people than it used to be. Bwerinofa-Petrozzello remains frustrated, however, by the pace at which progress is being made. Studies have shown that diverse businesses tend to make more money—even beyond the social justice impact of a more equitable and inclusive profession, there’s an important bottom-line aspect, too. When asked where she thought the current crop of programs have fallen short, she gave a laugh and said she wished she knew, but she doesn’t. “This is why the Diversity and Inclusion Committee looks at everything and anything to see what works. Does sponsorship work? Does leaning in work? If not, why not?”

Sometimes, she said, it comes down more to who is in whose professional network, noting that some of the most important deals are made not in the boardroom, but on the golf course. This raises the question of how those spaces can be less exclusive and more welcoming, so that more people can benefit from this network effect.

It’s important to “work with women and men of color and LGBTQ members, so they feel comfortable in those spaces, so they don’t feel like they … can’t enter those spaces because they’re uncomfortable in them,” she said.

Bwerinofa-Petrozzello observed that many of the solutions around diversity and inclusion that present themselves will likely involve a lot of difficult and uncomfortable conversations, which aren’t always skillfully navigated.

“It’s a challenge across the board to have these conversations. Sometimes, a conversation can be a little uncomfortable, and who likes that?” she said. “Sometimes, I watch those conversations, and one person is saying something, and the other person is saying something, and they’re not necessarily understanding what the other side is saying—words are being said in the air and then get heard in a different way, which makes the conversation even more uncomfortable.”

The great challenge, according to Bwerinofa-Petrozzello, is this: How do people come to an understanding? CPAs rely on being able to understand their clients. The same attitude needs to be applied to achieving an understanding within the profession about what’s important to everyone. Often, the barrier to this goal comes from misunderstandings of what diversity and inclusion actually mean.

“People … will often talk of ‘special treatment,’ which I think plays into not fully understanding what diversity and inclusion is about, and that [is] making [the workplace] more equal,” she said.

She noted that professional organizations such as the NYSSCPA can be a great support to men and women of color and to LGBTQ members by helping them build professional contacts and by providing opportunities for leadership. But, at the same time, for these organizations to be truly effective, they must have an active commitment to diversity and inclusion: An organization must make itself useful for all of its members, not just make token efforts to ward off criticism.

“It has to be a priority for them. So that’s the first step. [It can’t be] an afterthought,” Bwerinofa-Petrozzello said. “That’s like saying we have this program, but nothing is happening.”

“When I think about the State Society and its programming, often I think about how to make it useful to all of our members—that includes younger members and student members and new CPAs—and … what we can do for every stage in [their careers], because that’s what keeps people engaged.”



Photo: Ebby Agu

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