Jenn McCabe has more than 25 years of experience in outsourced accounting and financing. Today, she is the partner-in-charge of Southern California at Armanino, succeeding Ken Coelho after he retired at the end of last year.
Prior to joining the firm in Century City, she founded and led Team Jenn Corp. The firm worked with startups and small businesses.
She spoke with the Business Journal about uncertainty in the market and AI.
Speaking generally, how in your eyes is the accounting industry faring in Los Angeles and Southern California right now?
Accountants continue to be in huge demand, and there are simply not enough of us. Finding and retaining talent is a huge priority, and to do that our firm continually works to make quality of work-life better. This is a hard job! Not everyone wants to do it anymore, and the people who do this work should be proud.
With the second Trump Administration now underway, do you anticipate any changes to the business climate that will keep accountants busy working with their business clients?
The uncertainty around tax legislation has everyone anxious. Tax people are on their toes waiting to see what happens with the TCJA. Clients are waiting for guidance and when it comes, we’ll all go great guns.
We are also hoping there will be a pick-up in deal volume. Smaller entities will see more M&A activity, and the talk is all about an increase in IPOs. That deal work is fun and exciting for all of us.
What steps is your operation taking – if any – to implement new technologies such as generative AI software?
We have an AI team here that is continually focused on using AI in our business – and not just on our clients’ businesses. We have been rolling out AI products and internal training. Our team have access to the tools and also know how to put them to use right away. Meantime, those internal training cohorts provide valuable feedback to the AI teams who are helping our clients adopt new AI tools too. We are getting smarter internally, and then sharing that know-how with our clients right away!
Given the turnover options in the accounting industry, what do you do to increase accountant retention at your office?
We are focused on developing excellent Learning and Development programs so that the people who come here can build their competency to any level they feel up to. Gen Z cares more about their intellectual growth than they do about money, and we’re ready for them.
We are also building teams of employees into “Culture Committees”; they work with our leaders to create fun events where people who work together can also play together. Our goal is to have many opportunities for our people to be together.
What is your outlook on remote working in 2025?
We believe in a hybrid work environment, but we want to get our people to come in at least 50% of the time. We want them to rub elbows, break bread, and generally learn from each other while they are learning about each other.
Working together is important. Our more junior staff need the in-person time so that they can be present when work situations evolve that are interesting and new. They learn communications skills when they are given a chance to listen and participate.
Our more senior staff need to be in the office to teach, and to lead. The data says people stay at their job for the relationships they have at work with their colleagues and their leaders. Therefore, we are working on facilitating those very relationships.
