Bio
Meet Izabela
Izabela joined Sassetti LLC in 2007 and has over 15 years of public accounting experience. She services numerous not-for-profit organizations and for-profit businesses, including the firm’s public company clients. Aside from her work in the assurance and tax departments, Izabela also serves as an outsourced CFO and provides advisory services to businesses and nonprofits as part of the firm’s Client Account & Advisory Services and Consulting practices. Izabela is a member of the firm’s Assurance and Audit Quality Committees and heads the firm’s Digital Marketing Committee. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in English from DePaul University and is licensed to practice as a CPA in the State of Illinois.
Contact Izabela Poludniak
Phone: (708) 386-1433 x145
Direct: (708) 406-8619
“Frequent discomfort is the price of accelerated progress”
Associations
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Illinois CPA Society
Education
Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy – DePaul University, 2007
Hobbies
Travel, Photography, and Staying Active
Industries & Services
Izabela’s Thought Leadership
Q&A
Make a prediction about your industry and the clients you serve.
It’s sort of a cookie cutter answer these days, but I do truly believe that automation will revolutionize how accounting, audit and tax work is done. Many predict that it will eliminate jobs, but I would argue that the work won’t necessarily all go away, it will just be different and require a different skillset. It’s important for anyone working in this industry to learn, adapt and embrace innovation because ultimately, I think it will help all of us achieve a better work-life balance.
Describe your work style.
Focused on learning and teaching – I’m always seeking to be better and I want those that I work with, whether they be my team members or clients, to improve and grow. Fostering a learning and teaching environment benefits everyone involved, and lifts everyone up.
What drew you to Sassetti?
Sassetti was very much a roll of the dice. I had an internship at a Big 4 accounting firm during college that, while challenging and a great learning experience, provided little work-life balance and limited my career exposure solely to the tax industry. I wanted to find an opportunity to explore all the facets of public accounting while also leaving me with enough personal time for my friends, family and health. When applying for the position at Sassetti, I was hopeful that the size of the firm would allow me to exactly that, and I was lucky that it ended up checking all those boxes.
What is it about Accounting that attracted you to the field?
I graduated college in 2007, right at the beginning of the Great Recession. As an immigrant, and the child of immigrants, both of whom gave up everything so that I could have a better life, I wanted to ensure that I went into a field that would guarantee that I graduated with a job. Luckily, that decision resulted in the development of a very satisfying, challenging, and fulfilling career. I get to work with incredibly intelligent people – both team members and clients – and learn all the facets of various businesses and organizations.
