[2] At age 16, Sells went to work for the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad (later merged into the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and the BNSF Railway) and was quickly promoted.
After working for several railroads, Sells was appointed to the Dockery Commission with his future business partner, Charles Waldo Haskins.
Sells became one of the first New York State certified public accountants in 1896 and then the firm's senior partner after Haskin's death in 1903.
In 1923, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) created the Elijah Watt Sells award program.
This award recognizes outstanding performance on the Uniform CPA Examination.