Member Spotlight: Lyle Phipps, CPA of Prepared Accounting PC
Lyle Phipps is a CPA (licensed in both California and Massachusetts) who recently joined us in Davis with his partner Grace (an associate professor at UC Davis). He founded Prepared Accounting in 2013 to provide tax and bookkeeping services to small businesses and startups.
Prepared Accounting employs 4 people and currently works with a combination of for-profit and non-profit organizations (domestic and international) to establish or restructure their accounting and tax systems. Lyle’s previous employment with KPMG (Federal Tax and Executive Services) gave him a head start in learning how to help businesses and owners manage taxation and outsource their accounting function.
We recently shared a great conversation about how COVID-19 has been affecting operations, and experiences in the accounting industry as well as the challenge that his clients have experienced during the recent pandemic.
Read below to learn more about Lyle through our Q&A with him!
How has developing Prepared Accounting been for you?
It’s been great! It’s been slow growth but the growth that we’ve got has mostly been from referrals so at least we did not spend a ton on Marketing. Also, it has been important for us to choose who we work with. ,We’re in a good position and we like the size we’re at, however, we also want to help as many people as we can.
What sets Prepared Accounting apart from other firms?
I think one of the things that sets us apart is that we’re pushing bookkeeping and tax planning together. Normally, you’ll get bookkeeping services from a bookkeeper, and then tax service preparation from a tax preparer, and then tax planning service from somewhere else. And then you’ll end up hiring a CFO or fractional CFO at some point. We are a one stop shop from books to tax.
What business tips do you have for those just getting started?
Hmmm, remember that your most valuable asset is time--in both startups and life. When you are an entrepreneur, your wheelhouse has to be getting the right person in the right chair. Sure, you could learn to drive Quickbooks and do the bookkeeping, but that doesn't mean it is the best use of your time or that you should do your own entity formation. Tinkering with technology has brought me quite a bit of short-term joy but it has also kept me from focusing on sales growth for my business. Time is money. Oh yeah, and tax is money too.
What do you love most about your job? What do you find most rewarding?
I get excited when I help small-business owners save for retirement. It feels purposeful and emotionally rewarding to be a part of those good decisions. There are a lot of tax advantages in that playbook, and people get pretty happy once they learn the game.
And I think that, as for a purposeful or meaningful business, what I’m finding now is that I am finding purpose because I’m helping other people find their purpose as well. So by helping other businesses get started and thrive, and I’m actually helping someone actualize into a lifestyle that they want: that might be that they love to travel, that they want to run their business on the cloud, and that need some accounting help in the meantime.
What’s one thing - either industry-related or not - you learned after COVID-19 hit the US?
I was deeply impressed by how flexible and creative business owners became to protect their employees. We saw tough Main Street sole proprietors and partnerships go sleepless while figuring out ways to pivot the business model within COVID market conditions to keep their people employed. We happen to work in college towns where the word “corporation” has a lot of negative connotations; the reality is that we are all working hard and together to keep this sweet life going.
How has Prepared Accounting been dealing with the pandemic? Would you like to share any struggles or positive stories that have occurred amidst all this?
Thanks for asking. Our employees have always been able to work remotely, so that platform was already there when we closed our Massachusetts office. We were in the middle of a tax season race when the shelter-in-place orders hit, and we needed all the time we could get to be available to help people apply for Payroll Protection loans and Economic Assistance Disaster loans. We are doing a marathon now with the extended filing deadlines and new tax-law changes that were embedded in the CARES Act.
If you have been working at home, how has that process been for you? Do you have any recommendations and tips for those struggling to remain productive at home?
Setting priorities and sticking to our systems became especially important when my routine was broken. I try to be disciplined about this, but all too often I find myself eating work dessert before my vegetables. That is why I love coming to work at Davis Coworking, I get reminded of what people look like when they are focused and working up to speed.
What are you most looking forward to once our shelter-in-place order is lifted?
Too many things, really. Playing ultimate Frisbee and meeting new people in Davis to climb and surf with. It is exciting to meet people on a new coast and hard to do so when meetups are on pause.
What did you enjoy most about working at Davis Coworking?
Do Tromp has a way with plants and people and design and technology and they really all come together at Davis Coworking. Being in the environment and community that she has created is a joyful quality of life for me.
What has been your favorite part of working in Davis so far?
I really like the way Davis has developed its infrastructure. I enjoy the focus on bicycles as transportation and enjoy not having to get into a car to go to work. I can use the car in the driveway if I want to, but not having to get into it just feels like the right way to live. The weather has also always been pretty good. The ability to live locally, the ability to have produced, all these farm stands locally and still have businesses still doing things locally. So still have the ability to make money and invest, but also be able to buy locally and grow locally. There’s just so much sun, and water, and rich soil here. Right now, the going is really good here and I hope it continues.
Have you encountered any struggles with Prepared Accounting that you would like to share? Is there anything Davis Coworking or the Davis community can do to help?
Wow, thanks for that helpful question. We are looking for introductions to business owners who are wearing too many hats. Also, we would love to meet the best and the brightest accounting and bookkeeping and tax professionals you know who would value a flexible work environment. We especially love MBA Moms who want to keep their skills sharp.
Are there any issues that you would like to draw attention to? This is a very general question, but would be a wonderful outlet to garner support for a possible interest of yours.
We are highly aware that Information Security and Privacy are major concerns of our clients and we know it is important to go the extra mile here. We consult with IT professionals, enforce multi-factor / 2-Step authentication and have verified database encryption for all of our business applications and hard drive encryption on all of our laptops. We have written policy, annual employee training, and when working in a coworking space we employ privacy screens and even our own network devices for this reason. We know it is a small community here in Davis, and are very careful to respect privacy at all times.
Contact information
If you would like to contact Lyle about his work in tax services and bookkeeping, check out Prepared Accounting’s website at preparedaccounting.com
Or email him at: info@preparedaccounting.com
