OFTC Accounting Classes Prepare Pierce to Support her Family’s Small Business
Working in a family business is rewarding and challenging. Just ask Vivian Pierce who stepped into an unfamiliar role to help keep her family’s funeral home business running.
“After retiring from the State of Georgia after 33 years of service, I began working with my husband full- time at L.M. Pierce Funeral Home in Sandersville,” Pierce shared. “There was a need for another licensed funeral director and embalmer, so I decided to get my degree in Funeral Science. I became a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in 2015.”
A few years ago, the person who handles the financial aspect of the business was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and was no longer able to perform their everyday duties. Once again, Pierce stepped in to help. “I was sort of thrown into this role and had to learn as I went,” she said.
Even though Pierce felt like she was doing a “pretty good job” in her new role, she knew there was more she needed to know if she was going to help her family’s business. That’s when she decided to go back to school and further her education in accounting.
“I am in charge of posting and completing different forms and I wanted to learn more about financial reports and the proper way to post them,” she said. “I knew an accounting program like the one offered at Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC) would help me understand the proper way to do these things.”
Expanding her Knowledge
OFTC truly was a good fit for Pierce. Classes were offered at convenient times that didn’t interfere with her work schedule, and that really made furthering her education possible.
“OFTC just seemed like the right place for me,” she said. “The classes were flexible, and the instructors were very helpful,” she said. “The small class sizes were also nice because it made me feel comfortable; I could ask questions and the instructors would really try to work with me until I grasped what we were going over.”
And the information covered in class was truly relevant to her new role in the family business. “The things I am learning in class are helping me tremendously at my job,” she said. “I was motivated to return to college to expand my knowledge and skills so I could better understand the accounting process, and that’s exactly what is happening.”
“I can already see a difference and how it applies to the work I do every day,” she added.
To learn more about OFTC’s Accounting or Business programs, visit the college’s website at OFTC.edu.
###
ABOUT OFTC
The mission of Oconee Fall Line Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, is to contribute to the economic and workforce development of east central Georgia through quality technical and continuing education, adult education, and business and industry services. The College offers associate degrees, diplomas, technical certificates of credit, and non-credit certificates in a student-centered learning environment through traditional and distance education modes of delivery.
