Meet TSCPA Chair: Jonathan Bailey, CPA, CGMA
Although many in the accounting profession are concerned about the CPA pipeline, Jonathan Bailey, CPA, CGMA, remains confident. “There is so much concern about the CPA pipeline right now, and those concerns are valid,” he says. “I am very optimistic about the future, though, as I am seeing strong accounting students entering the profession and leading the profession.”
A native of Sullivan Gardens near Kingsport, Bailey, who is beginning his term leading TSCPA as the 2023-24 board chair, first became involved with the society when he was a student himself. “I joined the Knoxville Chapter of TSCPA in 1988 as a student member after being sponsored by someone from that chapter,” he recalls. “I honestly joined to get a free meal at Calhoun’s each monthly meeting, but I enjoyed the speakers and meeting professional CPAs so much at the meetings that the meal became secondary. Those meetings helped me evolve into a professional, and I did not realize it at the time.”
Earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Bailey has been actively involved in TSCPA since early in his career. He has served as a member of TSCPA council, the finance and personnel committees, and the board of directors. “I am most proud of my involvement with TSCPA since 1994 and the relationships that I’ve developed with CPAs in northeast Tennessee and across the state and country,” he says. “I have helped individuals start their journey toward being a CPA, and I have been instrumental in mentoring CPAs through their career as well. It has been very rewarding.”
Mentors have been instrumental in Bailey’s life as well. “Notable Haslam College of Business alumni R.Z. Hensley, CPA, and Dr. Mark Steadman, CPA, are from Sullivan Gardens and were mentors to me throughout my career,” he says. Bailey cites his parents, sister, brother, uncle and aunt as his greatest influences and mentors. “They all encouraged me to seek higher education and supported me in those goals in various ways. My generation was the first in my mother’s family to attend college, and my generation was first after skipping one generation to obtain a college degree on my father’s side. Mom and dad made it very clear that we were going to college,” Bailey says. “My older sister and brother obtained their degrees and graduate degrees with several financial challenges and hard work. They mentored me and tried to make my path easier. My sister and brother are both successful individuals in their professions and community. My uncle and aunt paid for my five years at UT, and they gave me an opportunity to obtain something that no one could ever take away – an education.”
When Bailey was younger, he got his first experience in accounting while working for his uncle’s feed and hardware store. “My high school years were spent working at the feed store that the community nicknamed ‘Bailey University.’ I learned a lot about people, hard work, honesty and Tennessee sales tax as I worked to help my uncle with his books,” he says. “Working at the feed store, I developed an interest in keeping up with sales, pricing, profit margins and just the basics of running a business, so that may have been officially my start.”
Fast forward to today, and Bailey has worked in corporate accounting and tax for over 30 years. His current role is director of tax and treasury for Knoxville-based software company Inhabit. “Inhabit is a global PropTech software company serving the residential and vacation property management industries,” he says. “Our 1,100-plus employees drive strategic partnerships, deliver best-in-class software solutions and services, and foster innovation and collaboration with business leaders and industry experts.”
When he is not working, Bailey enjoys his hobby as a collector. He says he collects “bottles, yardsticks, coins, knives, UT stuff and Sunspheres, among other things,” but that “Coca-Cola memorabilia tops the list.” He also enjoys watching University of Tennessee sports, and he has been the treasurer and vice chair of finance for his church for nearly 20 years. But, not surprisingly, spending time with friends and family is most important to Bailey. “My nephews and nieces are my pride and joy,” he says.
As he begins his journey as 2023-24 TSCPA Board Chair, Bailey shares with us the best advice he has ever received: “A professor told me many years ago to always do what is right, work hard, stay positive and recognize the fact that learning never stops.” It is clear he has taken that advice to heart.
This article was originally published in the July/August 2023 Tennessee CPA Journal.