Coworking with Joshua Bryant

Coworking is a weekly segment where we talk to CFOs and others in the finance space about their experiences, their companies, and the larger economy. Let us know if you are—or you know—a CFO we should interview.

Joshua Bryant is chief business officer of the Taft Union High School District in the Central Valley region of California. Bryant, an alumnus of the school district, has been in the position since 2017. Previously, he was a finance and accounting manager for Management and Training Corp. at Taft Correctional Institution, and a tax accountant at Berry Petroleum Co.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Describe your job for someone who doesn’t work in finance.

If I was looking to raise eyebrows, I’d say “I take taxpayer money intended for kids’ education and spend it.” That said, that’s not entirely untrue. It does get spent on their education (through salaries, supplies, etc.), but it’s fun to see their eyebrows raise when you don’t specify as such. Ultimately, if it touches money within our school district, it comes through me.

How do you think the CFO role has changed over the past five to 10 years?

Ultimately, it’s become more obviously political and visible. In years past, the buck stopped with the CFO, like it or not. Today, that takes much more massaging—both internally and externally—to ensure that feathers aren’t ruffled anywhere, to ensure transparency, and to ensure solvency.

When did you know that you wanted to have a career in finance?

I started taking a business math class when I was a freshman in high school. Then, I took an accounting class, and then accounting classes at different levels for the next few years of high school, so it was an idea from early on.

I got into public accounting, so that’s typically where folks go when they leave college with an accounting degree, and it was just that I knew it wasn’t for me and that I wanted to be involved in more front-end business rather [than] in the back end. I wanted to help folks operate their business and maintain solvency.

How did the opportunity to work at your former school district arise, and why did you make the transition from private sector to public?

They had a position coming up within the department, and I knew that the person who was in the position before me wasn’t far from retirement. That’s a leap of faith and I did take a pay cut to get involved here. I’d been in management positions elsewhere, but took a step back and realized that this was a great career path. And it’s one of my greatest joys to know that I’m doing the best that I can with our business operations, but I also get to impact kids’ lives through that every day.

What’s something we can’t guess about you from your LinkedIn profile?

I coach sports here. I’m a football coach and a play-by-play announcer for our baseball team. I don’t know if I would expect that from somebody sitting in a CFO-type role.

What advice do you have for future CFOs?

On all tasks: Do the extra work on the front end, always. It pays off later. Whether it’s building a relationship or reporting, authenticity and transparency makes a difference. Don’t slouch on either. It takes time and effort.—LR