Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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30 June/July 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com GREAT PRACTICES PATTERSON & COMPANY, CPAS I t's not of ten that you come across such a n interest ing bu si ness t ra n sit ion stor y. T h i s i s d e f i n i t e l y o ne o f t he m . It 's a s t or y of t r ue inspiration…a stor y of how a leader was so inspired to ma ke the transition that he foug ht to hu rd le ever y obst ac le. T he end resu lt: a successf u l a nd high ly advanced CPA f irm. B ob Pat ter son , C PA , CG M A , CF E , F PC , M S A a nd fou nder of Patterson & Company CPA s, has spent h is professiona l l i fe i n a nd a rou nd t he re s t au r a nt a nd food services industries. Te bulk of his career has been in the cofee whole- saler market. As a teen, he landed his f i r s t job w it h Mc Don a ld 's —t he location that served as one of the test stores for cof fee products. W h i le there, he made close contacts with the wholesale cofee supplier, and a few years later would go to work for that same distributor. "I was a swing manager at McDon- ald's by the time I was 16," Paterson recalled. "I lef the restaurant about three years later to work within the cofee wholesaler niche, and I never lef it until I launched my CPA frm." In 1989, Patterson bought into Consumers Choice Cofee and ran t he w holesa le d i st r ibutorsh ip a s CEO and president. In fact, under his direction, the company became the undisputed leader servicing the f i nest restau ra nts, hotels, conve- n ie nc e s t or e s , a nd pr of e s s io n a l ofces throughout the Ohio Valley and beyond. W hile running his cofee business, Patterson ra n into a n issue when seting up a new ofce and account- ing system. "Te contractor we hired made a mess of the accounting. In trying to f x it, I realized that geting my accounting degree would help m e i m m e n s e l y i n r u n n i n g t h e business…there was so much I didn't understand. I went back to school in 2004, and over the next few years I earned my accounting certifcate and masters of accountancy degrees." Patterson sat for his CPA exam thereafer and earned certifcations in Kentucky and Florida. A s a CPA and an exceptionally experienced executive leader, Pater- son went on to run a highly success- f ul cofer distributorship…that is, until he was inspired to make the jump into tax and accounting. When inspiration hits… you move I n 2 010 , P a t t e r s o n a t t e n d e d a seminar at his state CPA society in Kentucky. Te topic was on how to build a successful digital frm. Noted t hought leader in t he account ing profession, Darren Root, CPA, led the session. "I had been thinking about it for a while, but it was distinctly af ter I hea rd Da r ren t a l k t h at I k ne w I wanted to make a career change," said Paterson. "Darren presented on tech- nolog y, business model, and other details about running a successful frm. A fer his session, I knew that I could do it. I was inspired." A fer much prep work, Bob Pater- son launched his frm, Paterson & Company CPAs in mid 2012. But it wasn't an easy journey. "Someone coming into the profes- sion with a lot of experience would not have struggled as much as I did. I was coming in blind and had a lot to lea r n. I put in a n unbel ievable amount of hours." Paterson had to start from square one on building a sound technology infrastructure to support a highly ef- cient f ir m. He reca l led, "I leaned heavily on support within account- ing-specifc membership groups and my fel low CPA s and f r iends. R ay Strothman, CPA and Barry James, CPA were two successful frm owners that helped me immensely. I spent hours on the phone with both of them as I was learning the ropes, and they unselfshly talked me through many things." While the hours were long, Pater- son's inspiration to succeed never waned. "Learning all the sofware was my biggest obstacle. Tax and account- ing sofware isn't' the most intuitive, but I had a good support system." A lso in his favor were his wel l- How an Accountant Went From Bean Sales to Progressive & Successful ' Bean Counter ' Kristy Short, Ed.D STATS AT A GLANCE Firm launch: 2012 Total employees: 5 F/T, 2 P/T Offce Location: Louisville, KY Firm description: Boutique accounting frm specializing in full- service tax and accounting, CFO and consulting services, and fraud examination Technology & Services of Choice: Thomson Reuters, QuickBooks, SmartVault L-R: The staff of Patterson & Company, CPAs. Bob Patterson, CPA, CGMA, CFE, FPC, MSA