Meet Liam.
Liam interned at a public accounting firm while in college, and then joined private industry for a short stint before joining Roberts Accounting CPAs & Advisors this tax season. He graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in December. Liam also did my tax return this year. Yep- that’s correct. A young accountant (aka future trusted advisor in training) did a very complex 1040 in his first season of public accounting. We’ll get back to that in a minute.
I asked Liam why he came to work for Roberts Accounting, and I heard what I expected since I know the firm. “The minute I walked in the door, I felt like I fit in. Everyone in the firm has a lot of energy and passion around what they do. It didn’t feel like a typical accounting firm.”
Interested in what Liam pictured for his career, I asked him what his expectations were over the next several years. “It was important to find out that there isn’t a ceiling here. And, I have people skills I really like to use. I don’t want to just crunch numbers- I can’t wait to work directly with clients and make recommendations about things they can do differently to improve their financial positions.” Sounds like a trusted advisor in the making to me.
Which leads me to the best part where I’m going to put my client hat on. You’ll have to trust me when I say that I have a fairly complex tax return. Which is why I would never ever attempt to self serve. I need someone who knows what they are doing.
Sitting down with Pat, the owner of Roberts Accounting, we used TaxExact to walk through my situation. It’s clean, simple, and shows me the story inside my return without making my eyes cross. Liam had completed my return in the firm’s tax software, and Pat reviewed it using TaxExact. In under 30 minutes together, we were done. (A story for another post;). The point, however, is that it was RIGHT and it was done by a new preparer who is in his first tax season.
I knew Liam had used TaxExact, so I asked him what his initial impression was. Especially since he worked through my return so accurately. “My confidence comes from knowing I got to the numbers on the return with TaxExact. Even if the numbers are right- now I know WHY they are right.”
