Ginger Wu, CPA

Ginger Wu first discovered her passion for accounting as a third-year undergraduate at Missouri State University when she volunteered to help low-income taxpayers with their tax returns. Filing taxes became associated with helping others early in life, and it’s a connection she’s stayed true to ever since joining Councilor, Buchanan & Mitchell (CBM) seven years ago. As a manager with nearly 10 years of experience, Ginger oversees tax planning and preparation for small businesses and individuals.

She recognizes that many of her clients are successful in their own professional arena, including many attorneys, and she enjoys complementing their expertise with her own knowledge of complex tax issues and in-depth research to ensure their tax work done is accurately and driven by a goal of preserving their wealth. She finds it rewarding to explain tax law to clients who appreciate her contributions as well as her ability to simplify the details.

Ginger finds it equally empowering to support the operations of smaller businesses; she knows owners need to focus on growing their business and, as a result, can benefit from organizational support from an experienced, knowledgeable accountant. She actively collaborates with business clients, providing expertise in areas beyond just taxation but also in preparing financial statements, financial statement compilations, reviews and audits, to various accounting services such as accounts payable processing.

A recognized emerging leader at the firm, Ginger was selected to participate in the Greater Washington Society of CPAs’ Margaret De Boe leadership development program and Upstream Academy’s Emerging Leaders Academy. Within CBM, she actively contributes to the professional development of colleagues as a member of the firm’s SKILLS committee, to deliver opportunities to grow the skills, knowledge, information and leadership potential of others.

Over the years, Ginger has appreciated how CBM supports not only high-quality client service but also the well-being of team members. She developed a successful career trajectory by participating in Project Clear Path, the firm’s internal professional development program, which gave her the chance to ask questions and grow as a professional. She has also felt increasingly at home at the firm as the diverse makeup of the firm’s professionals increased over the years.

An immigrant originally from southeastern China near Shanghai, she was the first member of her family to move to the United States (“I was always curious about the rest of the world,” she says) and found herself increasingly at home as she went on to earn a master’s degree at the University of Maryland. During the pandemic, Ginger remained industrious by learning how to hand-craft soap—rose is her favorite scent—and it was her interest in hiking that led to her to organize a hike for the firm’s tax committee in late Fall 2022.