Orumé Hays, CPA, CGMA, MST

Orumé Hays, CPA, CGMA, MST, is the Founder and CEO of HAYS CPA LLC, a boutique client advisory and accounting services firm focusing on outsourced CFO services.

She was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting for 2022 and 2023 by the AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor. Ignition also recognized her as a 2023 Top 50 Women in Accounting.

Hays is an NYSSCPA statewide Director at Large, a past member of the Executive Committee, a past chair of NYSSCPA’s Small Firms Practice Management Committee, and a past President of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA) Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. Hays is also a member and Chair of AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) Executive Committee. An adjunct lecturer at the Lucille and Jay Chazanoff School of Business, College of Staten Island (CSI) of the City University of New York (CUNY), she often mentors students and encourages accounting students to pursue the CPA certification. She is also an Adjunct lecturer and a graduate advisor at Hunter College, CUNY.

In addition to advocating for the accountancy profession and diversity and equity in the profession, Hays is a freelance writer and a speaker on topics including Accounting, Business, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Entrepreneurship, Mentorship, and Taxes. She has presented at numerous conferences and has been interviewed on podcasts and professional journals.

Orumé holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from the College of Staten Island, New York (inducted to Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society and an AICPA Accounting Scholar’s Leadership Workshop member), a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology & Anthropology from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Nigeria, and a Master of Science in Taxation from the D’Amore Mckim School of Business, Northeastern University, Massachusetts. A licensed CPA in the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Virginia, Hays has served in various capacities and held numerous leadership roles over the past fifteen years.

Orumé is an avid volunteer, and in her spare time, she jogs 3-5 miles weekly.