KIM Barnard

My career in the auto industry started almost 20 years ago in an unexpected way - my husband and I moved to a new town, he went in to buy a vehicle, and they were looking for a cashier. He pretty much said I'd take the job, and I didn't really get asked if I wanted it, but he was looking out for me, and here I am. Over the years, I've worked my way through different departments - I've been a service manager, a parts manager, and now I'm an office manager who assists the controller/CFO with multiple stores. My day-to-day involves everything from daily deposits and handling all the car deals that come through, to making sure they get financed, ensuring all the paperwork is done and sent to lien holders, and title work. Anytime service, parts, sales, or any other department has a problem, everybody usually comes to me to fix it. I work with more than one store, so if the other store has issues, they call. What makes accounting in the auto industry unique is that it's completely different from regular accounting - it has a different set of rules and guidelines, it's a whole other animal. Nine times out of ten, you have to work your way into a position like this because you can't just hire somebody off the street. You can't really go to college for this unless it's a college specifically for this job. It helps to have an accounting background, but this is not something a college can teach. I like working with numbers, and I've learned to be flexible and multifunctional, able to assist anybody in any department. My most notable achievement is being able to be that flexible helper - someone who can work across all areas. We're in the background as office managers and title clerks, and we're not considered as important as the departments that bring in revenue, but we are the glue that holds this whole thing together.