The Right Ingredients.

If you ask Andrea Cope if she has anything cooking, she literally might be. The 2023-24 chair of the CalCPA Education Foundation has a degree from the California Culinary Academy and worked at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Xiguel after 15 years in the CPA profession, and ran her own catering business for a couple of years while getting back into public accounting.

Cope, a retired partner--Family Office for BPM LLP since 2022, has cooked up success as a CPA. Prior to joining BPM in 1998, she worked for various accounting firms, a business management firm and was assistant controller for the Houston Symphony.

An active member with CalCPA, Cope served as deputy executive officer for CalCPA (2018-19) and has served on various leadership positions with the organization, including San Francisco Chapter board member and president, CalCPA board member, CalCPA chair, PAC chair and a member of various conference planning committees.

Q: What do you find the most rewarding about the CPA profession?

A: The people and the opportunity to pivot in areas of expertise. Fve met and worked with so many wonderful people during my career--staff, colleagues, clients and other professionals. It's been fun being part of the team that surrounded our clients. The collaborative thinking and problem solving needed to help clients reach both their financial and personal goals. I adored all my staff over the years and wanted to do what I could to help them became the professional they strived to become.

As an active member of CalCPA, I've developed wonderful relationships with other CPAs up and down the state, across the country and in far-off places. Being a CPA has afforded me the opportunity to change direction in my area of expertise.

I've focused on the hospitality industry for years and then pivoted to the real estate industry. I was working with clients doing client accounting services before it was a popular service line. I've led a group of professionals working in the family office space. I couldn't have been proficient in any of these areas without continuous learning. I've taken countless courses through the Education Foundation to upskill. I've been on many conference planning committees to help our members and participants stay on top of their industry expertise. I realized early on that I needed to be a continuous learner so I could address my clients' concerns and be able to collaborate with my colleagues.

Q: What advice do you have for younger professional...