Written by: Elaina Hamilton (ENT 640 – Summer 2020)
For some, looking at numbers can feel the same every day. Not for Vanessa Tyson. For Vanessa, there is not a typical day. She loves numbers because “they tell a story”. She says “The fun of it is you can go back and look at the spend and how it has changed. Financial statements and budget should support what your mission statement is about.”
She has worked in public accounting for 20 years. She’s so good at what she does that she molds and directs others to “see the financial story”, as well. In her current role, she is a Financial Reporting and Budgeting Manager. What that means is that she is creating budgets and analyzing spending.
She is passionate about providing opportunities for her team to develop and take on different accounting functions. She has done her job when she has promoted her team out to a new endeavor.
That’s right, she analyzes and manages the budgets and accounts of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Before she was slaying numbers for IU Health, she was a student at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana where she majored in Finance. During her time at Butler University, she joined a service organization called Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. As a young college student little did she know that one day she would be the next Grand Tamiochus for that same organization, sitting on the International Board of Directors as the chief financial officer of this multimillion-dollar organization.
She uses her talents from her professional world for the betterment of Sigma Gamma Rho and her experience in Sigma Gamma Rho has helped her grow professionally. Professionally, she brings Sigma Gamma Rho her skill of attention to detail and the love for accounting and numbers – on a volunteer basis. What her professional organization has taught her professionally is how to manage and build relationships. She has mastered calling the right people to the table in the right language.
When it’s all said and done, she would still love to wake up every day with accounting a part of her daily routine – on her own time.
The advice she offers, as a professional accountant, is to “Stay the course. It might not make sense in the beginning, but stick with it.” Her advice is also relevant for entrepreneurs, but she takes it a little further. “If accounting isn’t your thing, find someone that you can trust. Learn the basics, a general understanding of the accounting world. And file your taxes on time.”
VANESSA TYSON (Interviewee)
Financial Reporting and Budgeting Manager
IU Health (Indiana University Health)
