Susanne Y. Mariga, CPA, was inspired to a career in accounting by her father, who was himself a certified public accountant. At 14, her father hired her as his bookkeeper, and Ms. Mariga fell in love with the work. She continues to cite her father as her greatest professional mentor for the early impact he had on her career. In 1994, she joined the Ohio State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in business administration and accounting in 1999. That same year, she began her career as an audit senior with Arthur Anderson, a role she held until 2002. During this time, Ms. Mariga became certified as a public accountant by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 2000.
Ms. Mariga served as the audit manager for the Chicago Public Schools from 2002 to 2004, an audit senior for KPMG LLP from 2004 to 2005, and an audit manager for the American International Group, Inc. from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, she established Mariga CPA PLLC, where she continues to excel as a managing member and certified profit first professional and tax coach. With a team of seven, Mariga CPA is a boutique model firm that offers customized, hands-on services for clients, based on the understanding that every client is different and will have a unique set of needs. Holding considerable expertise in high net-worth taxation and profit first methodology, Ms. Mariga’s duties encompass meeting with clients, managing her team, and training and educating her clients and fellow professionals.
Alongside her primary responsibilities, Ms. Margia has proffered her expertise through a number of other venues, including as a public speaker. She is the host of the podcast “Public Talk” and the YouTube channel “Profit First with Susanne Mariga, CPA,” and holds membership in both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of CPAs. In 2021, she published her first book, “Profit First for Minority Business Enterprises,” with The Avant-Garde Project, LLC, which she cites as the highlight of her career. The book became a number one best seller on Amazon, and she donates a portion of each sale to Hope Worldwide to support scholarships for girls from Zimbabwe. Ms. Mariga is always thrilled when she meets strangers who express gratitude for her book.
Continuing to grow and learn throughout her career, Ms. Mariga completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in 2011 and has also been certified as a coach by the John Maxwell Team. She additionally credits her resilience and drive to help others as major factors in her success. Her greatest motivation comes from seeing the changes in the lives of her clients through her guidance and watching them go on to achieve their own successes. Throughout her career, she considers the most important lessons she ever learned to be how to adapt and strategize, skills that allow her to meet her clients’ needs while also sticking to the principles established for the profit first methodology, which is designed to help businesses engineer profitability through a cash advancement system.
For her excellence, Ms. Mariga has been the recipient of a number of honors and accolades. In 2011, she was presented with the Emerging 10 Award by the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council. More recently, her firm was named Firm of the Year by Profit First Professionals in 2021. Looking toward the future, Ms. Mariga would like to continue helping people reach their goals and encourage younger generations to consider careers in accounting, as it can be a highly satisfying profession that allows for considerable flexibility in one’s career goals. Furthermore, she would advise young and aspiring professionals, especially women, to figure out what winning looks like for them and then create a plan and lifestyle to lead them to that goal.
