Key E. Getty, CPA, a distinguished leader in nonprofit accounting, is renowned for her exceptional contributions to the field. With over three decades of experience, she has been instrumental in providing fully specialized services for nonprofit organizations of all types. 

Key E. Getty earned her associate degree, with an emphasis in mathematics, and her B.A. degree in accounting from the University of Anchorage. She began her career in public accounting right after graduating and in the following year, became a CPA. With passion and a strong work ethic, she soon discovered her keen interest in the nonprofit sector and started to build an impressive career dedicated to supporting nonprofit entities. 

In the early 1990s, accounting systems were nonexistent for many nonprofit and tribal entities, especially in the remote areas of Alaska. As a result, bookkeeping systems were disorganized, and prone to errors.  

Consequently, Key observed numerous nonprofits and tribal entities struggling with noncompliance issues due to limited resources and frequent conflicts with regulatory agencies. In response, she made a substantial impact in the sector by researching, analyzing, and creating effective methods for resolving regulatory challenges. Her efforts have saved her clients over 5 million dollars collectively in penalties, interest, and excise taxes.

Key dedicated herself to developing and implementing efficient methods to systematize numerous processes, including compiling, processing, documenting, tracking, reporting, and analyzing data. In doing so, she created operational manuals that significantly enhanced the efficiency and automation of her clients' bookkeeping systems.

Due to her deep commitment to the field, Key has been recognized in 1995 for her outstanding achievements, including helping countless nonprofits resolve IRS and regulatory issues. She was awarded Top Producer by Cougar Mountain accounting software company, the top fund accounting software developer at the time, and has been honored with the Novation Award and Quality and Innovation Recognition by Thomson Reuters for her work in data mining.

Her career highlights include serving as Senior Tax Director at BDO USA (formerly Mikunda, Cottrell & Co, CPAs), overseeing the nonprofit division of clients whose annual budgets range from less than $100,000 to nearly 1 billion, and as founding principal of her own CPA firm, which focuses on unique and everyday needs of nonprofit entities. 

Key is a published author with multiple articles in the Alaska Business Journal discussing common pitfalls and less known but serious issues, such as unrelated business income taxes, many unsuspecting nonprofits face. Also published were tax law updates and tax saving tips in Chamber of Commerce Newsletters, and ‘How to Qualify and Maintain Compliancy as a Nonprofit’ in the Federation of Korean American Associations' Special Edition. She is a member in good standing with AICPA and AKCPA. 

As a long-time resident of Alaska, Key has been an active member and volunteer in her community.  While in college, she served as the Accounting Club Representative to the Student Council, the Accounting Club Volunteer Coordinator, and a Tutor for her fellow students at both the Math Lab and the Accounting Lab. 

As a bilingual, she has helped countless members of her community who speak English as a second language with loan applications, medical proceedings, governmental documents, and income tax questions. 

She has served on many local nonprofit boards in various capacities, from president to committee chair, contributing her expertise as an experienced accountant and helping nonprofits resolve uncertain issues and steer clear of potential threats.  She has also undertaken multiple pro-bono projects to help many struggling associations become fully-fledged exempt organizations under the state and IRS requirements. They have now become thriving community partners. 

When COVID-19 unexpectedly hit the world, Key immediately took action and served her community relentlessly through multiple facets, countless hours to help her community through unprecedented economic and social hardships. She searched, read, and sought all available COVID relief programs, from PPP and rent subsidies to 401K loans to free bus rides. She worked tirelessly, often late into the night - reading, interpreting the measures, translating these legislative provisions in plain language - and promptly shared them through community newsletters. During this time, Key devoted her full time to helping local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals with grants, loans, and various programs, including distributing resources and offering workshops.  

In loving memory of her husband Alfred W. Getty III, Key continues to focus on expanding her outreach and support for community and local businesses. Her philosophy, "If you help people, success will come," underscores her dedication to making a positive impact.