User:PDXTaxman
From TaxAlmanac
I am an Oregon Licensed Tax Preparer, and co-owner of Clarity Tax Service in Portland, Oregon. My partner is an Oregon Licensed Tax Consultant who has also passed the national CPA exam (but does not practice as a CPA). Our focus tends toward individual tax returns, but we also handle smaller corporate returns, partnerships, not-for-profits, etc. Over time our client base has developed a refreshing diversity. Perhaps a third of our clients are gay, and so we've developed pretty fair skills in handling RDP returns. We have students and retirees, at least two corporate presidents including a European CEO, clients in six states and three other countries, janitors and college professors. We like it this way. We're proud liberals, as are most of our clients, but we work just as hard for our conservative clients too (and we have quite a few, most of whom know exactly where we stand and like us anyhow). Our practice has grown every year since our founding in 2006, suggesting that at least something we do is exactly right.
During the 9-month off season, my partner also takes on a certain amount of accounting work as well as QB consulting. Increasingly, the "off" season is shorter and shorter as more and more folks needing representation, or completion of returns on extension, find their way to us. Indeed, our business really is turning into a year-round enterprise, whether we like it or not.
After the death of my mother in 2008, I spent quite awhile questioning my career choices. But I actually do enjoy taxes, and so am continuing in the field. I also continue writing fundraising letters for national non-profit organizations, which is how I exclusively made my living for 25 years before entering the tax field. It was lucrative for a long time, but changes in the industry and health issues of my own conspired to (partially) push me out of it. Still, it is a very satisfying kind of work, and so I maintain a handful of clients I care deeply about.
Our office currently uses Lacerte (Proseries being the other major software of Intuit, the sponsors of Tax Almanac). We don't think there's anything snotty in observing that Lacerte is a vastly better program, but some folks here are sensitive about that. Sorry. We tried Proseries for over a month, loathed it, and ran screaming back to Lacerte.
Our company has a nice, functional website. Fellow professionals can find and contact us by Googling our company name and city.
