Josh Tarplin

From the Chem Lab to the Photo Studio to PwC
Josh Tarplin, MPA candidate ’24, on finding his passion for auditing

Accounting wasn’t on Josh Tarplin’s radar as a career until he started running his own business, a photography studio he ultimately ran in the U.K. Before that, he was on track to becoming a chemical engineer — as a teen he worked on research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Tarplin talks about his circuitous path to accounting, why it’s now his ideal career, and what he’s learned during his time in the traditional Master in Professional Accounting (MPA) program.

Q: You started in science, then started your own creative business. How did that come about?

A: I took a lot of science classes in high school, worked at the NIH doing research, and came to Yale as a chemical engineering major. But in college, I also took a photography class, and I really fell in love with it. So, I double majored in fine art focused on photography and the history of art, with a focus on visual theory. My plan was to work as a fine artist, like a hermit in the studio — that was the dream. I started in fashion photography, a mix of the commercial and the creative, and I opened my own studio in Los Angeles, working with Instagram brands and then companies.

Q: When did it first occur to you that accounting was an important subject to study?

A: With my photography business, I started working in London more than in L.A., and that’s where I first discovered accounting. I’d never known an accountant besides the nice woman who prepared my taxes. In running my studio, I didn’t have financial records. I didn’t know how to account for my expenses. So, I started giving myself an online education in accounting, and I really fell in love with it. It’s so different from art, but it supports any other endeavor you’re trying to pursue. Accounting is a really good framework, and whatever you’re doing — from operating Apple to designing and printing your own T-shirts — you have to have this knowledge to be able to function on your own in a commercial world, and also to protect yourself.

Q: What has your experience in the MPA program been like?

A: I’m loving it. It’s a discipline that’s internally consistent, which is very rare. But at the same time, there’s so much creativity and room for exploration. The classes I’ve found the most interesting have involved discussions of the issues between regulators and companies. The Accounting faculty are really interested in teaching what’s going on in the actual standards or in the actual internal revenue code. It’s introducing an idea from a textbook and then giving the inside scoop as to how it functions. I’m so happy that I found something that I love as much as I love making art.

Q: Are you still doing photography?

A: I’d much rather give someone a photograph they love than have it hang in a gallery and then get sold to someone I’ve never met. I see art as a weekend activity now. I’m excited to be fully in the world of accounting.

Q: What’s your plan for after you graduate?

A: I’ll be working at PwC in Houston. I really love auditing — I love seeing the forest through the trees of the numbers. I think that comes from my art history visual theory background. Numbers on a page symbolize this whole world of a company.

I’m interested in being exposed to different companies and the investigatory aspect, to investigate and find (or not find) fraud. It’s the idea that auditors are the guardians of the capital markets.

Q: What would you say to students thinking about studying accounting at McCombs?

A: It’s the best program in the country, the world really. It’s not just the ranking that drew me, but it’s who’s teaching here: the best talent for both teaching and research. The program offers a holistic experience in learning accounting that you can take in so many different directions. You can explore anything. The program is a one-year ticket to know how to do anything you want to do in the world that involves people trusting you with money — which is really everything.