by Julia Paulus

Reta Seals grew up with six brothers. As the only girl, she says she developed a “can-do attitude”. She also watched her father start his own business and run it along with her mother.

Because of these things, she grew up knowing how many opportunities were available to her and that this has given her a competitive edge as a female entrepreneur and CEO of AccuPay APS.

After seeing problems in accounting and payroll while she was working at a CPA firm, Seals founded AccuPay, a payroll solutions company. “In early 1992, information about payroll software came across my desk,” she says. “It was at this point I decided I would become the solution for all of the frustrated business owners that needed a touch of personalized attention.”
With this goal in mind, Seals decided to break into the payroll field despite the fact that most privately owned payroll service bureaus were owned by men.

“In an effort to learn more, I joined a national association, The Payroll Group, made up of privately owned payroll services bureaus,” says Seals. “I wanted to learn from my peers. It honestly took a few years for my male peers to accept a female in the business. They soon discovered I could bring value to the association, and I was even elected to the TPG board at the 2009 TPG conference.”

Today Seals runs all aspects of AccuPay and focuses on hiring employees who care about their business and what they do. She credits her team for her success.

“I am very fortunate to have employees that understand our clients’ needs and put their best foot forward every day,” she says. “Their focus on quality service and customer respect is what makes our company a success.”

Seals has grown her company from one to 12 employees, and it surpassed the $1 million revenue mark in 2009.