It’s time to change the way we think about CPAs and what they bring to a business. When hiring or training a CPA for any role, business owners are getting an ethically minded, strategic and responsible professional with strong accounting and financial expertise that can help a business scale in a fiscally manageable way.
Gina Arsens, FCPA, FCA, is the founder of Yumasoy Foods. After building a wealth of experience across the accounting and technology sectors, she leveraged her CPA experience to start her own business and pursue her passions. “When you’re in the CPA profession, you get exposure to so many different types of businesses,” she says. “In the back of my mind, I always felt a little pull toward trying something myself.”
Yumasoy Foods is an all-natural plant-based food start-up, founded in Vancouver in 2021. In just three years, Arsens has established a loyal fan base in stores across Canada and its products are offered in restaurants across BC, with plans to expand nationally. Arsens attributes this success to her CPA training and experience, in particular her critical thinking skills and solid foundation in decision-making principles.
“The rigorous training taught me to make well-supported choices, an essential for navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship,” she says. “Working in public and private firms exposed me to diverse industries and showed me how financial leadership drives strategy, marketing and logistics.”
Prior to launching Yumasoy, Gina was the inaugural CFO of Ideon Technologies, and before that, the CFO of the DIGITAL Innovation Cluster, an independent not-for-profit organization that accelerates the advancement of digital technology in Canada.
To support building the DIGITAL Innovation Cluster from scratch and balancing the needs of government, funders and industry, she focused on understanding the stakeholders, as well as the company’s purpose, risks and resources.
“My CPA training taught me to make decisions based on solid principles and analyses to maximize the opportunity but minimize the risk and communicate those decisions to stakeholders,” she says.
Arsens has also used her skills to build community as a board member of Prospera Credit Union, where she championed digitization. This played a critical role in advancing the organization’s success. As a director with YWCA Metro Vancouver, she led an auditor appointment review and created a contingency reserve planning structure, helping the organization achieve and maintain robust financial health.
She says the road to following one’s passion while building professional acumen is an open secret.
“I believed in the people I met and their organizations, and they inspired me because they were out there with their necks on the line doing something to create value and support others,” she says. “The only decision I could make was to say ‘yes’ to any support I could provide.”
What will your success story sound like? Find out more about becoming a CPA.
All photos courtesy of Bobo Zhao Photography
Originally published by BCBusiness.
