
Orume Hays
Orumé Hays, CPA, CGMA, MST is the Founder and CEO of HAYS CPA LLC, a boutique client advisory and accounting services firm emphasizing out-sourced CFO services. She has been named one of Forbes' America's Best-In-State CPAs for New York 2025. In 2024, she received the NYCPA Outstanding CPA in Public Practice Award and was named one of Forbes' Top 200 CPAs in America. She was also recognized by AICPA & CPA Practice Advisor as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting for 2024, 2023, and 2022. Additionally, she was named by Ignition as a Top 50 Woman in Accounting for 2023.
Hays is a Past President of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA) Manhattan/Bronx Chapter. She is a NYSSCPA statewide Director at Large, a past member of the Executive Committee, and a past chair of NYSSCPA's Small Firms Practice Management Committee. Hays is also the Chair of AICPA's Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) Executive Committee and a Vice President of the National Association of Black Accountants Eastern Region.
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 she encourages accounting students to pursue the CPA certification. 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, Entrepreneurship, Mentorship, and Taxes. Hays is an early adaptor of Generative AI; she lectures on the topic and encourages fellow professionals to leverage the superpower tools.
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 2-5 miles bi-weekly.