California Snow

Click for full-size image.

Christy started her accounting and tax practice in 2004, leaving her position
as a corporate controller for the more independent entrepreneurial life. With
20 years in the profession, she had been in various corporate accounting roles
since the age of 14, when she discovered a natural knack for the subject and
was asked to manage the books for a private business. Yes, 14. Apparently accounting
is in her blood, as well. “I was probably an accountant in a past life;
it just comes to me so easily. I love financial forecasting and analysis. It’s
just fun for me,” she said. Fortunately, she’s as comfortable in
a business suit as she is in a mechanic’s jumpsuit, and has created a
well-tuned practice. Originally from Chicago, she was the youngest of seven
kids, which she explains is why she’s so loud. “I had to scream
just to be heard.”

After only three years, her accounting practice has grown quickly (more than
340 percent last year) and now has a full-time staff of nine, primarily focused
on bookkeeping/accounting services, business taxation, consulting, and business
and financial planning. The largest part of her client base includes various
contracting businesses and auto repair shops, businesses she says are easy for
her to attract as clients.

“I’ve worked around mechanics and contractor services all of my
life, so I understand their business processes and can speak to them in their
language and with the terms they know.” She says that business development
hasn’t been as much a focus as her growth might suggest; it’s just
worked out well through networking opportunities and membership in several business
and civic groups. The business environment is also healthy in her area. “People
are still starting up companies all the time, so they need accounting services.”
The tip she would like to give to more people, though, is this: “Don’t
open a restaurant. Restaurants seem to fail so quickly because of problems with
staff management and keeping overhead down when the business is slow.”

In addition to the more than 200 California-based businesses for which the
firm provides accounting and consulting services, Snow’s Financial Services
has a growing base of international clients, including retailers and wholesale
clothing vendors, some with offices in South America and Australia. “Technology
has helped us reach beyond traditional borders and take on clients that wouldn’t
be possible otherwise.”

Christy & husband Daniel on the Colorado River.

With her business experiencing triple-digit growth, Christy also quickly found
that staffing was one of the biggest challenges for a small practice. “Some
people don’t know what they say they do. So we now have working interviews where
I’ll put somebody to work for a week to see how they function in a real work
environment. I can usually tell within two or three days if they’re going to
work out.” She has also been expanding her own capabilities, and is currently
working toward CMA and CFP credentials.

Christy has invested strongly in the firm’s technology, which allows
her to provide excellent virtual services to her clients. The practice earned
an exceptional score of 415 on the Productivity Survey, a free technology evaluation
tool for tax and accounting professionals. The Survey is online at www.cpatechadvisor.com/productivity.
She uses a local technology consulting firm for most of her infrastructure and
hardware, as well as when implementing new applications. “I basically
consider G&C Technical Services (www.gandctech.com)
as my technology partner; they are absolutely amazing and they’re always
available. That’s important when your business relies on technology.”
She has a dual-monitor workstation for herself and just purchased four new laptops.

She also makes use of remote access technologies, which allow her to spend
more time with her husband and four children, 17 year-old Eric, 14 year-old
Justin, 10 year-old Dakota Marie and 7 year-old Kayleen Nelda-Lou. Even with
this technology and with one of the shortest commutes in Southern California
(only seven to 10 minutes to go three miles), she admits to still being tied
to the office, especially since she has been running both the accounting practice
and the repair shop while her husband has been recovering from back surgery.
But at least being the boss has its perks.

“Even if I can’t always make it home for dinner, the kids usually
stop by during the day and hang out or do homework or even help with client
work.” With the family home less than 10 minutes away, it makes it easy
for them to share time together, even when work is demanding. With her husband’s
shop right next door, the two of them will also be able to see each other frequently
when he recuperates.

Her respect for family also extends to her staff. “I hire people because
of their brains and ability to get the work done, so if a staff member needs
to keep their cell phone on or duck out to pick up or drop off their kids, that’s
just part of being a parent. The inflexibility of the corporate world when it
comes to family matters was one of the main reasons I started my own practice.
People just function and work better when they know that their family is taken
care of.” Her dress code requirements are similarly oriented: Business
casual is the rule of the day, but fun shoes are sometimes appreciated.

Owning her own practice has also allowed her to be more involved with her
family’s activities, and, with four kids, that can be a major time management
accomplishment. Christy also helps sponsor their teams and groups, which include
competitive cheer, baseball, football, wrestling and two Girl Scout troops.
Saturdays are bedlam since everybody in the house claims a different college
football team. It got so bad when the national championship pitted Texas against
USC, that there were four flags in the front yard: Texas, USC, UCLA and mom’s
favorite, Notre Dame. Then come the car and dune buggy racing events, which
can take them across the country and to the desert of Baja, California.

When she and her family can get away for a weekend or longer, and, when they
aren’t involved in one of the racing events, they often spend time on
their land near Ehrenberg, Arizona, which is on the Colorado River. She hopes
to eventually retire near there and have a ranch someday, but not anytime soon
because she is still having fun.

“I could make a lot more money working as a controller or running a
tax department for a large company, but I’d have to work according to
their rules, and the work would be just work,” she said. “I love
what I’m doing now: It’s different every day and I’m helping
people.” And even if working for herself often means longer hours, it’s
worth it because it allows her the ability to be more involved with her family.
“People ask me why I work so hard, and the reason is that I have to because
I just can’t work for anybody else.

“I don’t expect to get rich running my own practice, but I’d
like to make enough money for my family to be secure and have fun.” In
the near-term, her goal is to get to the point where she can work more traditional
hours, like 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., but she knows that, especially while her
practice is still young, that dream may be elusive for some time, especially
since business is strong in Orange County and her practice is thriving.

In the end, Christy loves being able to help businesses succeed, especially
those that are having financial troubles, by working with them to develop strategies,
allocate resources more effectively and get them logistical assistance. “It’s
great when I can drive by a shop that was almost out of business and is now
successful and know that I helped them succeed. That’s what makes my day.”