Glad you asked! Now, I could give you a whole laundry list of services we offer and describe them in great detail...but you'd never read it and if you did it would put you to sleep. So, instead, let me tell you a story...our story. This will not be a short story, but I hope it will be much more interesting than some impersonal laundry list!

I became a CPA in 1978 when I joined the Denver office of Arthur Andersen (the largest CPA firm in the United States). Yes, this is the famous Arthur Andersen that went belly-up recently due to the scandals with Enron. I was with them for 5 years...but that was before they had shredders! Actually, my experience with them was very positive. I worked with some of the brightest people I could ever have wished for. The training I received was second to none. I specialized in 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. There I spent the majority of my time analyzing tax shelters for my employer as well as putting together analysis portfolios for those wealthy clients so the attorneys and actuaries could "do their thing".

I only stayed there for a year because my father asked if I would move back to the West coast (to Los Angeles) to help run his business. The business was a large optical business (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. My dad already had a good CPA there in Los Angeles. He wanted me to actually 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.

Let me tell you, this CPA got his eyes opened!!!

Seriously. Lots of CPAs have never run a "real" business. It gives you a different perspective when you have to deal with the other side of the coin, as I did. 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 CPA's have little to no experience negotiating large, complicated leases with the huge malls in Los Angeles. Most CPA's have never had to deal head-on with labor laws as they impact 120 employees! I also had to centralize our purchasing system (in so doing, I saved 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 only 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 CPA's, 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 genuinely "Not Your Basic Bean Counter".

Time to go North, young man!

In August 1990, after 6 years in Los Angeles, I moved my family up here to the Bay Area. By the way, did I mention that I married a local gal 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 probably had her father, Don Davison, for woodshop at Marshfield High School.

Anyway, after 6 years with my father in Los Angeles, Rhoda and I decided that we wanted to raise our 4 kids up here in Oregon where she grew up. That was, needless to say, a fabulous decision. I absolutely love this area (I am NOT a doom and gloomer!!) and am thrilled to be able to live in such a beautiful area. I see only positive things for our area.

I don't want to be like everyone else!!

After being here for 3 years (teaching for Linfield, SWOCC, and doing some consulting) I decided it was time to get back to doing full-time CPA work. This was a tough decision for me because I know very well what most CPA firms are 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). Any disagreement, so far? I didn't think so.

So, here I am 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 outrageously friendly"? "Could I possibly find 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 with 10 employees (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 I have the BEST staff I have ever worked with...no exaggeration here. I treat my staff like GOLD...because they ARE gold!! Many of you know that I bring in 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 creatively "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.

We train hard so you can sleep well and have peace of mind!

I'm going to switch gears for a minute. Tax rules are complex and, despite Congress telling us that everything they do falls under the category of "tax simplification" (sure, we believe that), 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 so you can sleep at night knowing that you are in good hands! Don't you want to be with a firm that commits that much resources to knowing all the ins and outs of tax laws?

"Not Your Basic Bean Counter"....not just a slogan.

Someone brilliant 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". 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. Coming to our office is NOT like going to the dentist...no novacaine needed! We communicate regularly with our clients (and vice-versa). When you get a bill from our office, you can actually tell what we did (as opposed to the one-liners you usually get).

The infamous "MEAL DEAL"

About 8 years ago I became concerned that some of my clients might hesitate to make an appointment to talk to 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 MIKEY LIKES TO EAT!!

THE MEAL DEAL DEFINED

YOU take Mikey out to lunch...to the restaurant of HIS choice...and YOU pay!

What's 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 least 1/3 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 just like to meet new people and get a free lunch!

Feel free to call Tammie or Karin and book a MEAL DEAL with me. I am often booked up for a couple of weeks, so call early. If you're really desperate, I could be convinced to do a dinner! Or breakfast!

So, 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". To merely list out all the "services" we perform would be boring and you already know them anyway (and if you don't, you can call us faster than reading down some long list!).

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 only hope that you found our story 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.