I am a San Diego native and have been a licensed CPA for 10 years and worked in public accounting for 13 years. 

In 2008, I graduated with a degree in Accounting from San Diego State University. In 2013, I became a licensed Certified Public Accountant.  My first job out of school was as a catalog and metadata specialist for a media company. At this job, I learned valuable skills that are increasingly relevant as technology continues to impact the accounting profession.  From there I moved to the accounting department of a large law firm where I was responsible for maintaining client trust accounts for the firm's major clients which included American Express, Capital One and Toyota. At this position, I worked closely with our clients Big 4 Auditors and discovered I had a passion for accounting and decided to pursue my CPA license.  While studying for the CPA exam I started working in public accounting with a regional firm in San Diego. At this firm, I had the opportunity to work on individual and business tax strategy/compliance, financial reporting, and as an outsourced controller to many different businesses in a variety of industries. In 2013, while working as an outsourced controller, I met one of California's leading State and local tax experts and was recruited to work as a manager for his CPA practice in Carlsbad.  He and his partner had a combined 80 years’ experience in Public Accounting, and both have had a considerable impact on my development. At this firm, I had the opportunity to work on many successful tax audit defenses (federal and state), create and implement complex tax strategies, and issue various financial reports (e.g. audits, reviews, and compilations). 

Overall, I found the most rewarding part of being a CPA is the client-relationship and providing  proactive planning. In today's world, the role of a CPA is quickly evolving and from a very early point in my career I realized in order to stay relevant,  I need to continue to evolve as a CPA. I saw a big gap between traditional services CPAs provided and what our clients actually wanted. In 2018,  I received the AICPA's Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential so that I could begin to fill that gap. CPAs with the PFS credential are able to address their clients' comprehensive financial planning needs through their training in business, tax, estate, charitable giving, investments, risk management, and retirement planning. Every area of your plan has potential tax implications. You can be assured with a CPA/PFS credential holder that these issues will be integrated into your financial plan and not overlooked.