Peggy James, CPA

Peggy James, CPA, has spent the past several years working in higher education finance roles. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in government, she spent a number of years working in newspaper advertising before changing careers. She also has a Master of Accounting from North Carolina State University.

Peggy has experience in corporate and nonprofit accounting and finance, ranging from journal entries and bank reconciliations to management of a complex fiscal year-end close process with accruals and deferrals. She has developed budgets for both large and small programs and conducted financial training for faculty, staff and students. Peggy especially values making sure information about financial issues is communicated clearly and accurately. 

Peggy understands that while some people love numbers as much as she does, others are less comfortable when it comes to money. Her hope is to demystify sometimes complex and confusing concepts and help readers get the information they need in a welcoming environment. 

Peggy likes to say she was taught early on that polite people don’t talk about money. She is confident that we could all learn a lot by being more willing to talk about money, how we use it and how it can help us achieve our goals.