One CPA Who Doesn't Know the Meaning of "No"

Renee Bell is not your ordinary retired CPA. While most professionals in her shoes would be relaxing on the beach somewhere, she’s the kind who needs to keep working. Bell, age 88, is still an active notary public — a certification she is proud to hold for more than 50 years. “Even though I’m no longer working, I did maintain my notary public license and my CPA license. It’s convenient to have them. Many times, it was needed.”

Renee always had a can-do approach to work, beginning in high school when she was a part-time bookkeeper after school. Those skills came in handy years later. After grad­uation from high school she married, had two children (Julie and Laurie) and moved with her husband and children to California. She eventually returned to New Jersey with her family and went to work for an industrial builder, whose clients included BFGoodrich and Bank of America. “They saw frankly that I knew what I was doing. I ran the office and I attended settlement meetings with and for clients after they purchased the building since the owners were too busy and I knew what was required,” she says.

While working for the builder in accounting during the day she helped her husband Herman (now deceased) run his True Value hardware store at night. She didn’t mind working in both places — in fact, she seemed to thrive on it. But eventually she slowed down to raise her daughters, Julie and Laurie, when the couple moved to Margate, New Jersey. “I gave up working at that point but that was not my style,” she admits.

It wasn’t long before she eventually returned to the workforce when her children were much older and on their own. While working for a private CPA firm (Richard Paterson, CPA) handling a variety of tasks, she explains, “I came home and said, ‘I can do what these guys do.’”

And, she was right. So, she went back to school, while continuing to work, to finish the necessary requirements for a college degree in accounting. In 1994, Renee received her Bachelor of Science in accounting from Stockton University — several years after her children had already attended college elsewhere. “They graduated college before I did,” she admits.

What came next for a woman that doesn’t let much stand in her way? A CPA license, of course. After doing most of the accounting tasks in corporate as well as public accounting already, she realized she needed the formal license to move up at her firm and continue to maintain a great relationship with her clients. After receiving her CPA in 1997 at age 66, she was subsequently offered partnership in the firm she worked for.

Beyond Accounting

So, did the numbers guru want to do anything besides accounting? One might have to go back a bit far. Before any number crunching, Renee studied sculpture at Stockton. Like anything she put her mind to, Renee was able to succeed. She sold her first life-size sculpture of a woman reclining in a beach chair. “Every artist wants to sell their sculpture,” she says, noting however, that accounting is a better way to pay for college educations. Though she admits she is not physically able to reproduce pieces of this size anymore, she still appreciates art and fine sculpture — along with accounting, of course.