OCEAN CITY — Jerry Maginnis, a CPA who has worked for decades at one of the nation’s top accounting firms, was inspired to write a book after he began mentoring students at Rowan University.
Maginnis, who vacations in Ocean City, was a resource for students, answering their questions about a future career in his profession. It was these encounters, both short and long, that convinced Maginnis that he should write a book about his experience in the accounting field.
The result was “Advice for a Successful Career in the Accounting Profession.”
“I decided to put some of the advice I was giving the students into the form of a book. I hoped it would be helpful to students and early career professionals beyond those at Rowan,” Maginnis said.
Maginnis has spent 36 years of his career at KPMG — Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler — one of the Big Four accounting firms. Maginnis is a certified public accountant (CPA) who rose to the role of audit partner. Later in his career, he served in various leadership roles, including being the office managing partner of KPMG.
Maginnis also serves as the senior adviser for strategy and growth to the CEO and leadership team of Centri Consulting LLC, a professional services firm.
Although he has had a successful career, Maginnis said it wasn’t always easy. He uses that journey in his book.
“Each chapter in the book includes a personal story from my career. It’s intended to reinforce the advice. Some of the stories include good things that happened to me and some are hard lessons I learned,” Maginnis said.
Since the book came out, Maginnis has been speaking at universities across the U.S. including Saint Joseph’s, Temple, Villanova, Rutgers, Lehigh, Scranton, Notre Dame, Fordham, the University of Alabama, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, University of Massachusetts, Saint John’s University, Kutztown University, Robert Morris and Duquesne University.
“I always make it a point to stay around after these talks and speak with individual students who have questions, typically as part of a book signing,” Maginnis said.
He struggled throughout the writing process with doubts whether the book would ever amount to anything.
“The drafting took a long time and there was the uncertainty of whether or not a publisher would have interest, but I tried to persevere and remind myself that the goal was to create a resource that would help others and that was worth the continued effort,” Maginnis said.
“I am a first-time author, so it took me about three years to write the book. Thankfully, I had help from a gentleman who served as my editor. I also had about 15 people review a draft of my manuscript and provide feedback. When I finally completed the drafting, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it published. I reached out to Wiley and they told me they liked it a lot and offered to publish it. It was released nationally and in Canada in the fall of 2021, Maginnis said.
Wiley is a publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials.
The reviews so far on the book have been positive.
“I met the author of ‘Advice for a Successful Career in the Accounting Profession,’ Jerry Maginnis, on the first day of my audit internship with KPMG in 2006,” a review on Amazon stated. “At the time, he was the office managing partner for KPMG in Philadelphia. While I was at the client site, Jerry took the time to sit with me and talk to me about my career … and offered some advice. Being a 21-year-old accounting major, his advice was immensely appreciated. I mention this as evidence that the author of this book genuinely cares.”
“This review is coming from someone who used to work in accounting, both in public and private accounting,” another writer offered. “I currently teach as an accounting professor both at a community college and a highly ranked four-year university.
“I just finished reading the book and found it to be extremely informative. The book is well organized, concise and easy to read,” the review continued. “I read this book for about 30 minutes each day and finished it in one week. … It provides a lot of valuable advice to people who are still in school as well as those who are currently working in the accounting profession.
“This is the type of book I wish I read back when I was in college and when I first started working. I liked it so much that I have already highly recommended this book to other accounting faculty and to students that I mentor. I will also be encouraging future accounting students to read this book. Not only have I purchased a copy for myself, but I also purchased some as gifts to students,”
By CAMRYN SCHULTHEIS/For the Sentinel