Business Law Interview Paper

Cole Erny 4/17/2021 Bettencourt

Informational Interview For my informational interview, I interviewed Abel Peter, a CPA certified accountant. He

was a long time family friend who showed me the inner workings of his field. We have known Peter for years, and before COVID-19 I was even able to go to his office to see his job on a day to day basis. As a business marketing major, I strive to attain his current status. Even though my major was marketing, he also studied marketing with a focus in accounting. He agreed to do the interview when time allowed, and we did a live session on zoom as opposed to a phone call.

When asking him about his path to being a CPA, I learned that he gained his marketing degree with a focus in accounting, and later went back to school to study for his accounting degree. He spent a total of 6 years at UC Berkeley to gain two degrees. Mr. Peter made me question my own major, and whether I should switch to accounting myself. When I asked Mr. Peter about the prospect of me switching my major, he told me that he himself wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do either. This made me much more assured, hearing from a successful man that he also wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to do when he was in college. I then moved more into his business, and asked him the steps that he took in order to gain his CPA. Mr. Peter told me about not one, but two tests. The Uniform CPA Exam and the Professional Ethics exam for CPAs were required for him to gain this license. He also told me about the year of experience he needed under his mentor, John Gray. Mr. Peter completely understood the requirement, noting that he gained extremely valuable experience during this time. Furthermore, he concluded my question by saying he never would have learned some of the things his mentor taught him in school.

The next question I asked Mr. Peter was about the services his company provides to the market. He told me that one of the most important services is the advice and recommendations he gives to people who use his services. He can mostly predict markets, allowing him to give recommendations to his clients on what moves to make in the business market. He also provides services to see if a company will break even depending on changes they make in their business strategy. Mr. Peter also said that he had been used by future business owners to see if a business idea is profitable and attainable