Ms. President.

• Position: Finalentry - Interview

There will be a changing of the guard as Sarah "Sally" Anderson, CPA nears the end of her term as president of die California Board of Accountancy. Anderson, appointed lo die CBA by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in May 2007, served on various CBA committees and as CBA vice president before being elected president in November 2010. She is a retired Ernst & Young 'assurance partner and served as the managing partner of the Orange County and Riverside offices. Before Anderson steps down, we caught up with her to learn a little more about her and California's regulatory organization for CPAs.

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When did you decide being a CPA was the profession for you?

I always thought that I wanted to work in the business world. I went lo college to earn a business administration degree. I intended to be a marketing major until I look my first class in accounting and it just clicked with me. After joining the accounting club Beta Alpha Psi and learning more about accounting as a profession and the career options, I knew it was for me. After interning with the IRS upon graduation, I accepted a position with one of the Big Eight. I thought public accounting would provide me with broad working experiences that I could use to position myself in industry. I never dreamed that my public accounting career would take me through to retirement. I was always challenged, always continued to grow and learn and never bored.

How has the profession changed since you became a CPA?

There is more diversity in the profession. When I started my career most of the professionals were white males. Also, business is more complex and the profession is much more prescribed. There were only APB standards when I took the CPA exam no EASBs, EITFs, IFRS or PCAOB standards. Computer auditing was just emerging. There were no personal computers and performing and documenting audit steps was more time consuming. As a result, many more stalf auditors were required on any audit engagement then. That also meant, it was very competitive to be promoted to manager or senior manager, and experienced hires were very rare as there were more staff in the pipeline.

Born on the East Coast, how did you end up in California?

I wanted to live someplace different; it was an adventure at first. When I came to California in the late 1970s I felt that the business opportunities were better here and I appreciated the entrepreneurial spirit I lound in Orange County You also ean'l beat the...