Scott Klitsch grew up in the Midwest and earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting at the University of Notre Dame. He completed an internship at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chicago before entering into his master’s program, securing a full-time position in the Chicago office upon graduation. He worked in the Financial Institutions Group for seven years working primarily with banks, broker-dealers, and investment companies. Upon his promotion to manager, he decided he was ready to make a big career change and find a better work-life balance for himself. He fell in love with Boise and began working at CliftonLarsonAllen for their audit practice in 2011.
Over the last five years, Scott has found ways to apply his SEC knowledge to his career at CLA, moving his way into the National Assurance Technical Group. In 2015, he was advanced to Principal in Financial Institutions for the firm. He now primarily works on assurance services through second reviews and technical consultations, and assists in making decisions related to engagement acceptance for higher-risk clients.
Outside of his work at CLA, Scott serves as the treasurer for the Boise Bicycle Project. He got involved about four years ago as a volunteer once or twice a week. When asked to join the Board, he was excited to be able to give back by doing something he’s good at. He mainly helps the group with their accounting and payroll and says he still, “likes to wrench on bikes when I can.”
When asked what drew him to accounting, he said that he always thought he would end up in finance or management information systems. After taking his first accounting class he found that he enjoyed it and was really good at it. He discovered that the career opportunities were tremendous in accounting and could allow him to do almost anything or live anywhere he wanted. He liked the opportunities the industry presented. He says that for any current accounting student, he would tell them to find the aspect of accounting that they are passionate about. He suggests finding the right industry that makes you excited, and to not just go into public accounting because you think it is the “right” or “only” option. He encourages students to find the career path that will make them happy, and owning it!