Zack King came to the University of Central Arkansas expecting to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
His father, a UCA alumnus and physical therapist, King enrolled at UCA to do the same. After one class, King decided physical therapy was not for him. His dad suggested a switch to accounting, but he remained unsure.
“If you had asked 16-year-old Zack if he would ever be an accountant, he’d tell you no way,” said King. “It is just not something I had a desire to do. What I expected was people that sat in the corner and crunched numbers.”
King found something different in the Department of Accounting and it clicked with him immediately.
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“I’ve always been a numbers person and that appealed to me right away,” he said. “The research aspect, the principles and their applications did, too, as well as accounting being the language of business and vital to so much.”
The coursework felt relevant and beneficial to King as he worked his way through his undergraduate degree, in addition to meeting with potential employers and participating in mock interviews.
His time in the Master of Accountancy program only furthered his level of understanding in the principles of the field. But, it was when he took the CPA exam, and passed all four parts on the first try, that he realized how beneficial his time in the accounting program at UCA had been.
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“It showed how great the College of Business was, how great the faculty had been and how much I had learned,” said King.
Once he entered the workforce, if there were any misconceptions about accounting remaining, they soon dissipated. King found work that required interpersonal skills and interaction with a variety of industries, clients and people.
“I realized what I expected were the ways of the past, no one sits behind a desk anymore and does depreciation calculations all day,” said King. “Now, it’s about getting out in front of clients and colleagues to help explain accounting topics to help the business make better decisions.”
Communication is the key to his job, said King, and what he tries to impart to students when speaks with them.
“Being able to explain why an accounting rule or regulation is the way it is, that is crucial to the future of accounting,” he said.
King is now the vice president and corporate controller of USAT Capacity Solutions, formerly known as USA Truck, Inc. He has worked at the company since 2015 and also served previously as corporate accounting manager and assistant controller.
King is a member of the UCA College of Business Advisory Board. He regularly returns to campus and speaks with business students. King was the college’s Accounting Professional in Residence in the spring.
“I want to have an influence and give back to the college, and help improve it through my experiences,” said King. “It’s always nice to come back on-campus and give back to the university that gave me so much.”