Happy National Accounting Day! Our Finance Team is essential to our business operations, and we wanted to take the time to recognize all their talent and hard work. We spoke with Director of Finance, Megan Isaacks; Corporate Accounting Manager, Afsoun Mehrabkhani; Project Accounting Manager, Erika Costelloe; and Project Accountants, Paige Doebrich, Rose Hrabak, Adri Reed, and Amy Schultz.
We hope you enjoy learning more about the accounting industry and our amazing team members!
How has the accounting industry changed since you first started working?
Megan: Many things have changed since I began working in accounting in 2000. Finance professionals may now spend more time on analysis and strategic input rather than just transactional work because tasks that used to take days are now completed in hours. Also, the role of finance has become much more integrated into the overall business strategy. We’re no longer just record-keepers; we’re business partners to provide insights that drive decision-making and support long-term growth.
Erika: The first thing that comes to mind is paper. There’s so much less of it these days. I used to file physical copies of contracts, cash paper checks, and print out invoices and insurance certs and meeting agendas. I even hand-delivered hard copy contracts to clients a few times. Since 2020, we’ve been able to go nearly paperless in the Finance Team. The necessity of remote work led to a lot of innovation and problem solving around file sharing, signatures, and record-keeping. My workspace is definitely much tidier than it used to be.
What do you enjoy most about your role as an accounting professional?
Paige: The thing I enjoy the most about my role as an accounting professional is the ability to merge the analytical and creative sides of my personality. I’m very detail oriented, which is key to maintaining all the moving parts of projects’ financial aspect. I’m also naturally creative so I enjoy being able to implement that in my work by finding new ways of accomplishing tasks.
Afsoun: What I enjoy most about my role is the opportunity to take a big-picture view of the company’s finances and contribute to its long-term goals. I’m involved in areas that support leadership in making strategic decisions. I find it rewarding to bring structure to complex financial data and ensure everything runs efficiently behind the scenes. It’s great to know that my work plays a key role in keeping the business on track and positioned for growth.
Erika: My role has allowed me to work with people from all across the company, and I get to play a role in each of our projects. I’ve really enjoyed the moments when I got to work with folks new to being a project manager and show them the tips and tricks available to help keep their budgets and projects running smoothly.
What drew you to a finance position in the engineering industry?
Megan: It started out as a bit of a coincidence, to be honest. I got a job in accounting performing billing at an architecture and engineering company at the age of 21, not sure what I wanted to do for a living. Although I was unaware of it at the time, that position would influence how my career developed.
Rose: I find in this industry I get to work with a lot of creative people such as architects, designers, and engineers. This makes the work more collaborative and exciting for me. I also love contributing to projects that look beautiful and make our world more efficient, while also recognizing sustainability and the impact our work has on the environment. It makes the work much more meaningful.
Amy: The ability to watch projects take shape and say, “I had some part in that being built”.
What do you feel is the most important part of your role that contributes to Osborn’s mission as a whole?
Rose: Ensuring accuracy regarding project finances helps us to see long-term growth. In addition to that, maintaining open and healthy relationships with clients keeps work coming in. Both ensure that we have more opportunities to support our local communities and the environment, as well as Osborn employees.
Amy: Definitely the project budgets and making sure we are watching out for the best interest of Osborn’s financial vitality as a whole.
What is something that most people don’t know about your job or industry?
Afsoun: One thing most people don’t realize about my role is how much collaboration is involved. While finance is often seen as just managing numbers, a big part is working closely with different teams to provide insights that guide decisions and keep operations running smoothly. Whether it’s ensuring compliance or supporting strategic planning, my role goes beyond crunching numbers—it’s about understanding how all the pieces of the business fit together and helping everyone reach their goals.
Adri: I think that people would be surprised about how much coordination and communication is needed as a project accountant. Accuracy is key in accounting so being able to successfully communicate with various personalities and working styles when gathering information is key to performing our job.
What Osborn Core Values do you feel are most relevant to your role?
The team agreed each Core Value is relevant to their roles, but here are a few standouts:
Paige: Collaboration & Creativity: As a Project Accountant we collaborate with a variety of Project Managers with different styles. Being able to collaborate with everyone is vital to the role. Creativity is implemented by finding new and more effective ways to complete the necessary tasks to keep the financial aspect of projects in line.
Adri: Professionalism & Responsibility: Knowing that my job plays a pivotal role in the financial well-being of the company drives me to have a high degree of professionalism when corresponding with clients and a responsibility to provide accurate and quality service.
Megan: Relationships & Trust: Establishing trust between departments is a key component of effective financial leadership, building trust with executives, team members, auditors, and outside partners is key. Transparency, consistency, and reliability in financial communication help build the kind of relationships that support informed decision-making and organizational stability.
We want to thank the finance team for taking the time to answer these questions about themselves and the accounting industry. We deeply appreciate all that they do for our team, and are so excited to have a dedicated day to celebrate them!
