What’s a college kid to do when the track he planned doesn’t seem like the right fit? Just change the track.
That’s exactly the step that Alex Flores took, which has landed him at Kosovsky, Pratesi & Co. in Farmington as staff accountant.
“It wasn’t that premeditated,” he said. “I entered college as a pre-med major but in sophomore year transferred to business school undeclared.”
Flores started with the prerequisite classes in business and enjoyed the accounting classes.
“It was the most challenging of the business majors for me,” Flores said. “After graduation, I thought, ‘Why not give it a try? I like it.”
And so he did. The Glastonbury native graduated with an accounting degree from Fordham University in 2005. His first job out of college as an accountant was with Slade and Co. in East Hartford, where he worked for two years. Now, the 24-year-old lives with friends in Cromwell and has been getting used to the new firm for the past three weeks.
“I’m trying to learn the three or four software programs used here,” Flores said. “My last firm was old school and the work was all done out in hand.”
Flores is dealing with one client so far and has also joined in the firm’s tax planning for the coming months. It’s been a balance of hands-on experience and mentoring when Flores meets with partners in the afternoons. It’s then that he can ask questions and get assigned new projects.
“It’s easier for me to go out, see clients and interact with them,” Flores said. “I really like doing analytical stuff, seeing why expenses are going up and figuring that out.”
Flores is also applying to graduate programs, where he hopes to earn a master’s degree in accounting. “I see myself in five years with a masters and CPA, and probably still in a small firm,” Flores said. “I’d want to be in an upper level with more client interaction and consulting, and less financial statement groundwork. Possibly in corporate accounting.”
For now, the workload varies with the size of the client. He spends about an afternoon with the mom-and-pop type businesses, while larger clients require upward of 40 hours of firm time.
When he’s not analyzing numbers, Flores heads to Vermont and a house he and his friends rent to ski.
“We go up every weekend,” Flores said. “I do typical 24-year-old stuff.”
Emily Boisvert is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.
