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From Traditional Accounting to World-Changing Business: Bailey Lenart’s Journey
Measuring success goes beyond profit, and accountants are key to this transformation.
In the latest episode of the Accounting ARC Podcast, host Donny Shimamoto interviews Bailey Lenart, a trailblazer redefining the role of accountants. Lenart, now living in New Zealand, began her career on a conventional path but soon realized her calling was something much bigger. Today, she is the founder of World Changing Business and Collective Flow, where she’s spearheading initiatives to transform how we measure value in business, extending beyond just financial metrics.
Finding Joy Beyond the Numbers
Lenart’s story began in the U.S. as a CPA and later a Chartered Accountant (CA) in New Zealand. While excelling in her early career at a mid-sized accounting firm, she quickly realized the limitations of traditional accounting practices. Repetitive tasks and the directive to “follow last year’s work papers” stifled her creativity. But it was during her firm’s transition to cloud accounting software that she found her true passion—helping businesses innovate.
“My curiosity and love for creativity drove me to ask, ‘Why do we do things this way? Can we do better?’” Lenart explains. This mindset led her to embrace nontraditional accounting roles, eventually joining Xero, where she helped practices transition to a new era of cloud-based accounting.
Pioneering Non-Financial Accounting
Lenart’s entrepreneurial ventures focus on non-financial accounting, where the emphasis is on measuring things like emissions, biodiversity loss, and other ecological impacts. Her passion for this work comes from a desire to use business as a force for good. “Carbon accounting is perfect for accountants,” Lenart says. “We need to reduce emissions fast, and accurate measurement is key.”
At World Changing Business, Lenart helps organizations shift their focus to sustainability. Her work in this area is about more than just compliance—it’s about creating meaningful change. “Businesses need to see the true costs of their operations,” Lenart emphasizes. “And accountants play a critical role in that transformation.”
A Message to Accountants: Follow Your Joy
For Lenart, it’s not just about what you do but how you do it. She advises young professionals to follow their curiosity and joy. “If you’re excited by something, pursue it—even if it means stepping off the traditional ladder,” she says. “Accounting provides a solid foundation that can take you anywhere.”
Lenart’s story is a reminder that the accounting profession is evolving, and those willing to embrace change can lead the way. Her call to action? Use your skills to not only measure success in dollars but in how businesses impact the world.
Check out the latest episode of the Accounting ARC Podcast on the Center’s YouTube channel.
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