James W. Turner, CPA, MBA

Credentials, Education, Special Activities

• Certified Public Accountant (Alabama #7631)
• Certified QuickBooks® ProAdvisor
• M.B.A, University of Utah, B.S., Accounting, University of South Alabama
• Member, American Institute of CPA’s, Utah Association of CPA’s, Alabama Society of CPA’s
• SBA Region VIII Tax Implementation Chair, 1995 White House Conference on Small Business
• Past Chairman, Alabama Guardian Advisory Council, National Federation of Independent Business
• Delegate and State Issue Chair to all three White House Conferences on Small Business
• Participant, S.E.C. U.S. Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation

Reflections on my Experience

I began my career in accounting in an interesting way. In 1975, I went to work for a college friend who had started a bookkeeping service in Jackson, Mississippi. My initial responsibilities were to sell his computerized bookkeeping services to small businesses in the Jackson, Mississippi area. At the time, we gathered source material from our clients, organized and summarized the information, and mailed the result to Dallas, Texas, where the information was input, processed, and returned to us in a useful format. We would check the work, put it in a binder, and review it with our clients. At the time, our approach was “state of the art”.

The evolution of those services is really incredible, especially when you contrast those beginnings with the technology we routinely utilize today. For one thing, I only have one client in Jackson, Mississippi, today, but we don’t mail anything. In fact, we can reconcile his bank account from Salt Lake City, while his payables clerk inputs invoices and he estimates a job for a new customer in Jackson. Along the way I designed and developed a fully integrated accounting and management information software package, went back to college and got a B.S. in accounting, earned my CPA, returned to graduate school for an MBA, and served small business accounting, tax, and consulting needs the entire time. I even got involved in political advocacy for small business. It’s most important to note, however, that today our approach remains “state of the art”.

During my 25+ years in providing financial and consulting services for small businesses, I have seen hundreds come and go. I have had the privilege of working with a few, however, that are truly rewarding. I remember a new startup in Mobile, Alabama, that had two partners and a part time clerk worrying about making payments on the second mortgage they took out to start the business. It was genuinely satisfying to hear one of them tell me the year after I moved to Salt Lake City that their first audited statements showed $450,000 profit before tax that year. These are the stories that keep me in this business. I genuinely hope we can create another story like this with your business. If you’re not already a client I hope you’ll give us a call.