Mama Knows Best

“And there’s just so much demand for professional tax teaching
and writing work that client work often gets in the way of this other area.”
Many of her students are even overseas — American ex-Pats and foreign
tax professionals looking to provide services to fellow citizens in their areas
who have U.S. tax obligations. The education market for professionals is booming
because, despite all of the automation in professional programs and the deluge
of do-it-yourself tax programs for consumers on the market, the services of
a well-trained tax professional are still highly valued and in demand. It takes
more than just computer proficiency to be a “well-trained tax professional”
and not just a data-entry person. To reach this level, pros still need to know
a thing or two about something called the tax code.

That’s where Eva steps up in the role of TaxMama where, in addition to
providing education to tax pros, she is also widely called upon as an expert
on taxes by Small Business TV and by the mainstream media, having been a resource
in articles by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, INC., NPR, ABC News
and dozens of other outlets. In addition to tax services, education and media
punditry, Eva has also penned several columns and hundreds of articles on small
business and personal finance, and is the author of several books, including
Small Business Taxes Made Easy, which was named one of the top tax books of
2005 by Entrepreneur Magazine. Her purpose in reaching out to tax payers and
business entities directly ties into her work of educating professionals: More
knowledgeable tax clients are more prepared and are better able to help their
professional tax advisor.

While Eva loves the writing and educational components of her career and is
concentrating on building herself professionally in these areas, the life-long
Southern California resident hasn’t totally been able to remove actual
tax practice from her portfolio. She’s tried, having sold her practice
three times over the years, but some clients cling to her expertise and friendship,
while other new ones come to her by referral. “I am in the enviable position
of trying not to build a client base,” she says,” so I can free
up my time to write and teach.” Eva notes that she refers out at least
one client a day (sometimes several) and is in the process of building a website
of screened tax professionals to automate the referral process.

She maintains her professional practice, TaxAnxiety.com, Inc. (www.taxanxiety.com)
in Northridge, California, with two full-time EAs, and remotely manages several
instructors and technical freelancers who assist with her educational and writing
offerings. Business and individual tax services now account for only about 40
percent of her revenues, while writing and teaching make up the remainder. Her
tech hobbyist husband Rick builds each of their workstations and is “the
expert on hardware,” while Eva is the software guru for the business,
which scored a 200 on the Productivity Survey, a free technology assessment
tool for tax and accounting practices (available online at www.cpatechadvisor.com/productivity).

Oddly enough, TaxMama admits she “has always hated taxes; they are confusing,
irritating and annoying.” But she felt drawn to providing the services
as a way of helping her clients make their way through this potential minefield.
After about 30 years in the profession, she still looks at it as a temporary
thing. She originally found her way into the profession while working toward
her MBA in International Business; while still a student, her goal was to end
up as Vice President of International Marketing for IBM or another large company.
Instead, after completing her BA in accounting and her MBA, she worked as a
temp at a tech company in L.A. and later for CompuTax in the service bureau
days, before ending up with the large accounting firm of SD Leidesdorf in Newport
Beach, Calif., which was acquired by Ernst & Ernst while she was on staff.
She would soon after strike out on her own. Likewise, her current entry into
the educational and writing business was somewhat by chance.

A college had approached her about offering EA exam review courses online
through their institution. (She had previously set up the course for UCLA Extension
in the early 1990s.) Eva lined up teachers, prospective students and course
materials, but the college backed out, so Eva continued on her own.

Outside of the world of tax education, Eva is active in several business and
nonprofit organizations, including the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the California
Association of Enrolled Agents, which she gives credit for giving her the confidence
she needed to be successful in her career. She also notes that she “used
to be on the board of everything, and even started or helped friends set up
the nonprofit status for a few organizations,” including an animal group
for seniors and SPAWN, the Small Publishing Authors & Writers Network. Another
group helped local children write their own books. Eva and her husband enjoy
traveling, having recently visited Portugal, and will soon be heading to Honduras.
They also like spending time camping in the local mountains. Rick was able to
re-build a motor home from nothing using spare parts — an astonishing
feat — so the couple will likely be on the road and in the woods in the
near future. But home is also close to the wild, since the couple lives in Northridge
on land graciously allowed them by local squirrels, possums and a raccoon. As
for the serendipitous course of her career, she’s enjoyed it all. The
most important thing she teaches her students: “Nothing’s impossible
and everything is fun.”