Getting to the Story Behind Tax Season

When Charlotte Cullen graduated from Maryland Smith in December 2019, she did so at the perfect moment – the prelude to tax season.

“Before coming to Smith, I knew that I really wanted to work in a public accounting company,” said Cullen, who graduated from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business Master of Science in Accounting program. Her journey began with a high school teacher who got her excited about the topic. “She was a former accountant and the stories she would tell about the experiences she went through – there was something I was interested in. She was really passionate about accounting.”

But Cullen didn’t know what type of accounting to pursue. After completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the United Kingdom, she decided to further her education at Smith and pursue tax accounting – something she hadn’t had much exposure to prior to Smith.

“One of the first projects that I worked on when I came to Smith was a financial statement analysis project,” said Cullen. “We were a group of four. That project showed not only the accounting side of working through numbers, but also how to analyze those numbers. [The project] was hard, but very rewarding.”

Later, Cullen moved on to a Business Communication for Accountants and Auditors Course, dedicated taxation track courses, and a role as president of the Graduate Student Accounting Association (GSAA).

GSAA hosted social events, study and information sessions for graduate accounting students. “One of GSAA’s main events during the year is when a Becker Campus Ambassador provides study materials for the CPA exam,” said Cullen. The event provides students pursuing the Certified Public Accountant exam with additional exposure to the best ways to study and review.

Her GSAA leadership now behind her, Cullen these days can be found working in her dream job as a tax associate at KPMG. She credits the Smith Office of Career Services (OCS) with helping her get there. “I went to OCS’s Meet the Big Four Event where I connected with KPMG’s campus recruiter,” said Cullen. Her job was waiting for her before she even walked off campus in December.

Connect with Charlotte Cullen on LinkedIn.