"Not Your Basic Bean Counter" isn’t just a slogan. I’d like to tell you about my journey to get where I am today.

A STRANGE JOURNEY INDEED
There’s a whole laundry list of services we offer and IO could describe them in great detail...but you already know what a CPA does. So, instead, I’ll take you on a journey.
My first job as a CPA was in early 1978 when I joined the Denver office of Arthur Andersen (they were the largest CPA firm in the United States). Yes, this is the famous Arthur Andersen that went belly-up due to some accounting scandals. I was with them for 5 years...but that was before the scandals! Actually, my experience with them was awesome. Some of the brightest people in the country worked there. My training there was second to none. I specialized in helping small businesses and their owners. My client list ranged from retail stores to real estate developers to wholesale distributors to ski resorts to manufacturers to printers to doctors....and lots more.
I left Arthur Andersen in late 1982 to join a large, prestigious insurance broker who handled only very wealthy clients. The majority of my time was primarily focused on analyzing tax shelters for my employer as well as putting together analysis portfolios for those wealthy clients.
After a year there my father asked if I would move back to the West Coast (Los Angeles) to help run his business. The business was a large optical chain (much like LensCrafters or Pearle Vision). We had 10 retail offices with 120 employees. Sales were about $7 million annually and we spent just over $750,000 a year on advertising. Believe it or not, I was not doing much CPA work for the business because my father already had a good CPA there. He wanted me to run the day-to-day affairs of the business. That meant I had to do the hiring and firing, purchasing, lease negotiations with the malls, advertising and tracking of employee performance. I did this for 6 years and learned things I could never have learned as a CPA….seriously.

THIS CPA GOT HIS EYES OPENED
Lots of CPAs have never run a "real" business. I was able to gain a completely different perspective when I had to deal with the other side of the coin. I can't think of any one thing that has impacted me more (in a positive way) when it comes to understanding clients and being able to see things from their perspective. In my opinion, there are very few CPAs who can say that...not because they are not smart, but because they have never had the opportunity to be out there in the "real world" running a “real” business.
Let's face it, most CPAs have little to no experience negotiating large, complicated leases with the huge malls in Los Angeles. Most CPAs have never had to deal head-on with labor laws as they impact 120 employees! I also had to centralize and improve our purchasing system, saving the company over $490,000 the first year. I had to computerize the entire business and develop sophisticated tracking software so we could monitor the performance of each employee and office. This same software monitored our response rates from the various advertising media and allowed us to better allocate the $750,000 we spent annually. Our rate of return for our advertising dollars went up over 200%. I also had to take and coordinate the physical inventory counts in all the offices...quarterly (that took 8 hours per office for 2 people....long, hard, pain-in-the-rear hours)...as a "CPA" in a CPA firm, I only had to deal with the inventory on paper! Believe me when I tell you that I can really help a small business understand the importance of taking an inventory regularly...and can go even further because, unlike most CPAs, I have actually had to do the hard work!
Now, bear with me here. I realize that I am "tooting my own horn". I apologize if it sounds arrogant or conceited. That is not my intention. I only want to give you a glimpse into the kind of experience I have had because it is what makes me able to say that my firm is definitely "Not Your Basic Bean Counter".

TIME TO GO NORTH
In August 1990, after 6 years in Los Angeles, my family and I moved up here to the Bay Area. My wife is a local gal….we got married in 1975. Many of you know her because she is a famous baker. Her name is Rhoda Gordon (maiden name is Davison). She came from a large family. As a matter of fact, some of you may have had her father, Don Davison, as your woodshop teacher at Marshfield High School.
I absolutely love this area and am thrilled to be able to live in such a beautiful place.

I DON’T WANT TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE
After being here for 3 years (teaching for Linfield, SWOCC, and doing some consulting) it was time to get back to doing full-time CPA work. This was a tough decision for me because I knew very well what most CPA firms were like. Tax season is usually stressful beyond belief. The atmosphere in most CPA firms is stuffy and boring. Most CPAs dress like they are going to a funeral (trust me, I had lots of $500 3-piece suits when I worked at Arthur Andersen).
So, there I was thinking thoughts like: "Is it possible to have a CPA firm where people are NOT stressed out?” "Is it possible to hire people who are technically fantastic but also very friendly?" "This business will need front-office personnel who smile and are actually GLAD to see clients when they come in the door?”
Well, I am here to tell you that I am thrilled...and also humbled. We have done it. We are now the second largest CPA firm in the area and still growing. Our office is a HAPPY place to be...not only for us, but for our clients as well. I want you to know that this office has the BEST staff I have ever worked with...no exaggeration here. I treat my staff like GOLD...because they ARE gold!! I hire a massage therapist weekly during tax season (I pay) and monthly the rest of the year. My staff deserve it. In addition, my wife cooks a gourmet lunch for all of us each Thursday (just try and call our office on any given Thursday between noon and 1pm or even 1:30 pm......we let the answering machine pick up!!).
So, by "thinking-outside-the-box" we have been able to live up to our slogan of "Not Your Basic Bean Counter"!! We are able to offer the best quality services along with a casual, happy, stress-free environment.

AS OF 2008 I AM NOW A RECOGNIZED NATIONAL SEMINAR SPEAKER
In 2008 I joined the ranks of 30 tax professionals who, at various times during the year, travel around the country teaching tax seminars to thousands of attendees. It was a great honor to be chosen for this position. The company (called Gear Up) that puts on the seminars has been around for decades and puts on the most successful seminars in the states.
Doing that keeps me very up-to-date on the tax laws and what is happening around the country with tax matters, IRS issues, and lots more.
But it also allows me to keep my staff fully up-to-date with in-house tax training sessions.
As you know, tax rules are complex and, despite Congress telling us that they will “simplify the tax laws”, the average American simply cannot keep up with all the rules. It would take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to keep up on an annual basis. Well, at my firm, WE ACTUALLY SPEND HUNDREDS OF HOURS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR on tax seminars and research materials!
You want to be with a firm that commits that many resources toward knowing all the ins and outs of tax laws and dealing with the IRS. As part of our family, you have that peace of mind.

"Not Your Basic Bean Counter"....not just a slogan.
A brilliant marketer once said "If all you do is what everyone else in your industry does, then you'll never be any better than the rest of your industry." Those words found a home in my heart. We pride ourselves on NOT being like everyone else. We listen. We return phone calls. We actually care...a LOT....about our clients. We treat our clients like family. We communicate regularly with our clients (and vice-versa). When we mess up (and, yes, it does happen!) we cheerfully fix it.

The infamous "MEAL DEAL"
Over a decade ago, I became concerned that some of my clients might hesitate to make an appointment with me (for some tax advice, for example) simply because they didn't want to get a bill! Well....I thought long and hard about that and came up with an idea that, quite frankly, has been WAY MORE SUCCESSFUL than I could ever imagine. I call it the MEAL DEAL.
Here's how it works. It's ridiculously simple. It's based on the principle that I LIKE TO EAT!!
Basically, YOU take ME out to lunch...to the restaurant of MY choice...and YOU pay!
Here’s what is so great about that…my "meter" doesn't run for that hour! That's the cheapest hour of my time you'll ever get. I do NOT do this during tax season, obviously. In addition, word of this has gotten around town so much that at many of these MEAL DEALS are with non-clients! That's right...non-clients. Why is that? Well, a lot of people just want to ask me questions, meet me, or pick my brain for a second opinion. Either way, I don't care. I love to meet new people and I love to eat lunch! It’s a real WIN-WIN.
Feel free to call Tammie or Kathy and book a MEAL DEAL with me. I get booked up, so call early. If you're really desperate, I could be convinced to do a dinner! Or breakfast!

NOW WHAT?
I hope this story was a bit entertaining and informative. Like I said at the beginning, my intention was to give you a flavor for why we use the slogan "Not Your Basic Bean Counter".

If you are already a client, THANK YOU!! You are treasured...and my whole staff hopes you feel like it!

If you are NOT a client, no pressure. This story is being told for telling purposes only. I hope that you found it interesting. We do not hustle or hassle people in any way. It's too small a town for that. All of our growth has come from word of mouth. We enjoy a fabulous reputation and want to maintain that for many years to come. If we can ever be of service to you, it would be our pleasure to assist you in any way possible. FEEL FREE TO CALL ME FOR A MEAL DEAL!