It was in Dick Streit’s classroom at Dubuque Wahlert Catholic High School that Kyle Kass first got the notion that he wanted to pursue accounting as a career.
“Dick brought the appeal to the profession by allowing us students to jam out to the Beatles, Buddy Holly and other classics as we practiced the basics of debits and credits,” Kass said. “This baseline course also provided insight that accounting provides a uniform financial language for individuals and businesses. While this was the initial appeal for a high school student just trying to make decisions about what to do with his life, this appeal was reinforced through my continued education through the accounting program at UNI and internship experiences.”
In the roughly two decades since high school, the Dubuque native, now 38, has become a rising star in his field. Kass worked for a decade in the Twin Cities for one of the largest accounting firms in the country. He and his family moved back to Dubuque when he joined Honkamp, P.C., in February 2020. Kass is one of the firm’s five shareholders, (formerly known as partners) in the assurance department, which serves hundreds of clients. He also leads his company’s manufacturing industry team.
“I personally serve more than 20 clients per year,” Kass said. “I thoroughly enjoy the day-in and day-out variety of work experiences, which involve serving clients of different sizes, in different industries and with different personalities.”
Honkamp Senior Audit Manager Casey Winkleblack said Kyle’s leadership is demonstrated when “he helps bring calmness and stability to engagement teams when they are working on jobs.
“Kyle does a great job of presenting what the ideal auditor should act like, both to clients and with his engagement teams, at all times,” Winkleblack said.
Kass believes athletics is one of the reasons for his success.
“As an individual that grew up with five siblings and played neighborhood or organized sport in most of my free time, I developed a competitive spirit,” he said. “And while when I was younger that competitive spirit drove me to ‘be better’ than others, that mindset has shifted a bit as I’ve progressed in my personal and professional life. This competitive nature keeps me motivated now in that I want to ‘be better’ than any previous version of myself. I challenge myself to be a better version of myself today than I was yesterday, and push myself in areas of personal weakness to achieve the same.”
Kass routinely goes the extra mile for the people in his firm.
For example, he played a key role in getting other staff to record “learning library” explanatory videos that younger staff could view. Honkamp Shareholder Laura Hoss was among those who described Kyle as being viewed as a role model. She said his passion for sharing knowledge with staff, interns and clients resonates with his colleagues and shows his dedication to the profession.
Outside of work, Kass coaches his daughters in T-ball and joined the board of directors for 100+ Men Who Care in 2021. The charity’s members routinely make donations to a variety of local nonprofit organizations. Recent President Kole Wagner said that, as a member of the board, Kass provides feedback that has helped the group attract more men willing to donate $100 per quarter. Kass is also active with Two By Two Character Development, another local nonprofit that helps youth.
“I feel very fortunate to have a rewarding job and a happy, healthy family,” Kass said. “Many of our local not-for-profit organizations serve those individuals in need who are not as fortunate to have the same. These organizations strengthen the local community in which we work, live and play.
“Similarly, coaching my young daughters and their teammates allows me to teach them the basics of the games, but also develop life skills such as teamwork, work ethic, ability to respond to loss. I find a lot of joy in seeing them achieve their goals together and growing from week to week at an important developmental age in their life.”
Kass advises students seeking career success to get involved in the community, to use experiences to learn and to embrace change.
“Be intentional in observing and mimicking the behaviors of those that you admire,” Kass said. “In my career, when I’ve identified that I have an area for growth (and) improvement, I’ve found tremendous benefit in intentionally identifying and observing another individual that possesses that skill that I’ve lacked. Observing and mimicking these actions and behaviors has helped me to develop my own skill set.”