Education:  Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, December 1980

Years of accounting experience:  27 

Years working with small firms:  Beginning in 1986 I worked for two accounting firms that specialized in small business and income taxes.  It became obvious that small business and income taxes was my true calling.

Key challenges that he has helped small firms solve:  This may seem heretical coming from an accountant, but entrepreneurs don’t necessarily need to focus on complicated ratios or other sophisticated tools.  I always emphasize simple solutions like “Cash Is King” for small businesses.  Practical questions like:  How much is in the bank today?  What bills need to be paid over the next 30 to 60 days?  How are the customer collections looking for the next month or so?
The best solution is to patiently educate the business owner to read and understand key reports (from an accountant or accounting software) that help to manage cash flow.

Key advice given to small firms over the years:  Don’t cheapen yourself.  Small firms too often think that they should not charge top dollar.  Big businesses set their pricing at a certain level to achieve optimum profitability.  Small firms are not exempt from optimizing profits just because of their size.  Clients are urged to match pricing with their larger peers as a test and see what happens.  Small firms should also value human capital and make advertising and promotion a priority.

Biggest mistake seen and advice given to solve the problem:  Stop making decisions without an accountant’s advice.  Small firms too often are not proactive on hiring an accountant (or other specialists) on such decisions as which type of entity would be the most appropriate umbrella to organize a business under (e.g., LLC vs. corporation), which type or version of accounting software to use or whether to buy or lease equipment under what financing terms.  An uninformed decision is often more costly to undo (if it can be) than if the proper advice was sought in the first place.

Motivation to help small firms:  If the small firm understands that the accountant is going the extra mile for their benefit (providing relevant financial statements, implementing sound tax-reduction strategies), they are motivated to do the right thing.  Another way to motivate a client to do the right thing is to make an effort to speak at his/her level and get him/her to relate to you. Don’t talk over their heads and dent the owner’s self-esteem; likewise, don’t dumb down and have the owner doubt your advice.

Organizations/affiliations:  Throughout my 20 years in business, I have had the privilege of being involved in many civic organizations. I have been an RCGA ambassador (with an award in recognition of effort), a member of the Ballwin/Metro West Rotary Club (including a term as president) as well as several chapters of local chambers of commerce.