CPA Success Stories

Robert M. Yost III, CPA

We started with Sterling approximately one year ago. I had received an email from Sterling at the end of the tax season which offered a free DVD. Both my partner and I watched the DVD. It contained all the various ills and woes that we both experienced during tax season. I was amazed that they pretty much covered all the things we found to be our complaints in tax season and in the business of public accounting in general.

A. Rhodes Wilson, MBA, EA, CFP, ChFC, CASLTM

Shortly after starting my practice in 1989 I was invited to attend the National Large Tax Practice Group (NLTPG) convention and the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA). My practice was nowhere near qualified at that point but I knew this is where I needed to be, so I set qualifying for and attending this forum as my goal. Through hard work and honest dealings I grew my practice to qualifying levels and I attended my first NLTPG retreat in 2000 in Chicago.

Our Bottom-Line Profit More Than Doubled while Working 15 Less Hours Per Week

Hollywood loves runaways. In 1913 it released the movie The Runaway Freight and followed that up with The Runaway Balloon, The Runaway Taxi, The Runaway Train, The Runaway Bus and The Runaway Express. This year John Grisham’s The Runaway Jury joins the crowd.

Well, I had something more frightening than anything a screenwriter could dream up. I had a runaway accounting practice. It was barreling along full-speed, straight down the mountainside toward the cliff, and it was taking me right with it. Fortunately, like in the movies, the hero arrived just in time to save the day.

John Roesch, EA, CFP

Two years ago when I received a letter from another colleague recommending Sterling as the consulting firm to choose, I didn’t really understand the benefits of consulting. What I knew was that my 25 year accounting practice wasn’t as productive as it should be, so I sent in for my complimentary DVD and practice analysis. I figured, well, that’s easy enough.

We've Already Exceeded the Goals that we Had Set

Steven Gentry owns a thriving practice in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He's been a Sterling client since September of 1997.

"I opened my practice in 1988. For years I just wasn't making the kind of money I felt I should, especially net profit. I was working myself to death. I had a dentist client who had dealt with Sterling and he had done very well. That was my first exposure to Sterling. I thought I should see what could be done for accountants. I really needed to make more money and I was working way too hard for what I was making.

Frank Arlia, CPA

I didn't go to college intending to become an accountant. Then I asked one of my professors what accountants actually did. He told me that they prepare tax returns, they prepare audits and they defend clients against the government. That last bit got me hooked. I am a fighter and in 25 years of practicing, I have never lost a case. To date, 74 knockouts and 0 losses.

Finally We Have the Right People

"We started looking for solutions because we were having a lot of problems keeping employees," says Pam Ahlers, CPA. "We had known someone who had used Sterling and they had good things to say.

"So we called up Sterling and went out for the training; we definitely enjoyed it. The best thing about it was that so much of it was like common sense, but you don't think about it and don't apply it. Sterling pulled it all together, as to what you should do and what you should not do.

We Knew There Must be a Better Way to do This

Louis Barajas and his partner Bill Torres had a partnership that was growing fast, when they decided they needed Sterling.

"We'd been growing at 40% a year," says Mr. Barajas, "and at that rate we were growing so fast we didn't have any systems in place, no organization. So we decided we needed to find a consulting group that deals with accountants that would set us up for expansion.

"Because we were not organized, the work was not getting out. There were a lot of bottlenecks and my partner and myself were just frustrated.

They Don't Treat You as Just Another Client

Tony Recchia, CPA, has been practicing accounting for fifteen years, but last October he had had enough.

"I decided I just wasn't happy with the way things were going," he remembers. "In fact, I was ready to put the 'For Sale' sign up. I had no time for my family, I was working Tax Season all year around. I thought, 'I have had enough of this, I've paid my dues. Yes, I'm making some money, but it's not worth this effort.'

"It was my brother Peter and his partner who introduced me to Sterling. I followed their progress through the program, and I was impressed.

Tom Osborne, CPA

One thing I learned about Sterling’s How to Dream in Color Workshop: if you do it, be careful what you wish for. You may get it – and faster than you thought possible. I did the workshop in 2002 and accomplished everything I really wanted to in less than a year.