Kevin Rhodes found a career pivot to the Master of Accountancy program at UTC’s Gary W. Rollins College of Business to be the boost he needed.
Kevin Rhodes wasn’t looking for a new career. He already had two degrees: a bachelor’s in business with a focus in organizational leadership and a master’s in consumer quality management. He checked the boxes.
Then, a single conversation changed everything.
A close friend’s stepfather, a CFO and CPA, walked Kevin through the financial processes at his company and asked a simple question: What are your long-term plans? Rhodes didn’t have a clean answer and that bothered him.
“The more I looked into accounting as a career, the more I realized it was a great opportunity to pivot into a stable and rewarding profession,” Kevin said.
He enrolled in the MBA program at UTC with an accounting concentration, combining his existing knowledge of business with his goal of accounting.
When the resume wasn’t enough
During his MBA, Kevin was eager to dive deeper into the accounting coursework.
He pivoted to the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, and the results came quickly.
“Once I updated my resume and LinkedIn profile to reflect the MAcc program, I started getting interviews almost immediately,” said Kevin.
The specialized credential proved to hiring managers that Kevin wasn’t just business adjacent. He had the foundation of an accountant and employers started to take notice.
Built for the work that matters
Today, Kevin works as a staff accountant at a fast-growing company where responsibilities pile up quickly, including receivables, currency exchanges, month-end close, tax compliance and audit support. During tax season, predictability disappears entirely.
“One day I could be preparing 1099s, and the next I could be answering internal audit questionnaires or helping gather support for auditors,” he said.
The MAcc program prepared him for all of it. Receivables forecasting, now a critical part of his role, became sharper because of concepts he learned in the program.
The coursework on AI tools and prompting techniques made him faster and a stronger communicator. Financial ratio analysis gave him the ability to understand why leadership makes certain decisions and to contribute to those conversations.
“I regularly find myself handling higher-level work that I would not have been prepared for without the foundation provided by the program,” he said.
The proof is in the promotion
This spring, the director of project finance personally selected Kevin for a new role within the department, a move he credits directly to the MAcc program.
He sat for the Audit and Attestation section of the CPA exam in March, with passing the full exam as his primary goal. As he finishes his final semester, he’s reflective but confident about what comes next.
“The RCOB MAcc program challenged me in ways my previous degrees did not and provided practical knowledge that I use almost every day at work,” said Kevin. “It feels like the end of the beginning.”
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