For the story of our firm is not how much money we have made or how many engagements we have performed.
---
The story is written in the lives of the clients, the employees and the community we call family. We celebrate their victories and we mourn their losses. And it has been an honor to be part of their lives and to serve them all. It is what makes this profession the only profession for me.
On February 14, 2016, DAPCPA celebrates its 20th anniversary as a CPA firm. We have seen many changes and weathered a our share of storms over the last 20 years and it has been a great ride. Attached is a video of the speech I gave to the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce on Friday, February 6, 2016 to commemorate the anniversary. The sound quality isn't great, so I included the text of the speech below.
Thank you to everyone who has made the last 20 years possible.
DP
Thank you to everyone who has made the last 20 years possible.
DP
Here is the full text of the speech:
Thank you, Max! I appreciate the introduction. And welcome, everybody to the February Luncheon!
---
This month, DAPCPA gets to celebrate its 20th year as a firm.
---
As a matter of fact, that anniversary falls ON Valentine's Day. 20 years ago I went to my stunning wife, Melissa and said Honey - how about instead of going out on Valentine's, let's move office furniture into the old Tribune building and eat takeout Chinese food? To her credit, she smiled that gorgeous smile and started planning the move. We haven't looked back since.
---
From the very beginning, we designed DAPCPA to be 100 percent focused on client satisfaction. I never wanted to be the biggest, though we are no longer small. But I always wanted to be among the best and to focus all of our efforts on helping our clients succeed.
---
This goes way beyond recording numbers. It is all about using our experience and expertise to go beyond the numbers.
---
Like when I got a call at 5am on January 1st a few years ago and one of our clients had a fire that consumed their building on New Years Eve. It was brutally cold out and the water from the fire hoses made the parking lot into a skating rink. We dug the smoldering server and laptops out of the rubble and, working in partnership with the IT department at MHP, we had the files restored and we re-built their accounting system, getting the client up and running again within a few days.
---
Or four years ago when a former tax client just thought something didn't feel right with his accounting system. We took a look and within an hour found evidence of fraud. Working with the client's attorney, we were able to prove roughly four million dollars of losses over a 13 year period. Our testimony in court led to what was at the time one of the largest civil fraud judgements in Wyoming history.
---
Or in 2007, we helped achieve an S-Corp election retroactively back to 1996. This saved the client nearly half a million dollars in taxes and penalties. Or when a client asked us to help them split with the partners in their business. In a very adversarial atmosphere, we designed a methodology for the split that saved the clients and their partners almost four hundred thousand dollars.
---
As a result of our commitment to our clients and our community, we have grown from three clients in 1996 to a firm that has three offices and more than 2,000 clients located across all fifty states and several foreign countries.
---
As in the beginning, Melissa remains the Operations Director for the firms and we have Jonath Jackson as the partner in Cheyenne, as well as a GREAT staff, all of whom continue to push me to be my best. That, combined with great clients and awesome competitors have made the last 20 years an incredible ride.
---
And I will leave you with this: I am always asked what the best advice I could give to someone starting a business. I always answer by giving the advice that came from my father-in-law, Herb Warner, when I started my firm. Herb was an amazing businessman. And he always made his points by telling a story.
---
Herb told me about this old boy from Texas that used to drill wells. There must have been a lot of old boys from Texas, because every story Herb told began the same way - "There was this old boy from Texas". Anyway, When they were planning a well, the legal department at Herb's company would create the contract - and it was a beautiful contract - full of terms of art, all of the i's dotted ant the t's crossed and weighing in at about 150 pages.
---
The legal department was very proud of the contract and the old boy showed up for the signing and wrote one line at the bottom of the contract and above his signature. What it said was "regardless of the above, I will drill a well, it will be done on time and it will cost such and such an amount". This drove the lawyers nuts. But Herb told them it was ok. Because the old boy always drilled the well, it was done on time and it never cost more than he said it would.
---
So, Herb told me, If you are going to go into business, make it about your WORD.
Make it about TRUST.
Make it about RESPECT.
And doing what is RIGHT for you, your clients and the public you serve.
Make it about treating each client as if they were your only client.
And make it about being the BEST.
---
In taking Herb's advice I have been able to develop relationships that matter. For the story of our firm is not how much money we have made or how many engagements we have performed.
---
The story is written in the lives of the clients, the employees and the community we call family. We celebrate their victories and we mourn their losses. And it has been an honor to be part of their lives and to serve them all. It is what makes this profession the only profession for me.
---
And I have to finish by thanking the Cheyenne Chamber, the entire Cheyenne community and the State of Wyoming for making my dream of owning a firm possible.
---
So enjoy the food and the wonderful presentation from our State Treasurer and remember: When you need an accountant, choose a CPA. And when you choose a CPA, choose DAPCPA. Thank you!
---
Thank you, Max! I appreciate the introduction. And welcome, everybody to the February Luncheon!
---
This month, DAPCPA gets to celebrate its 20th year as a firm.
---
As a matter of fact, that anniversary falls ON Valentine's Day. 20 years ago I went to my stunning wife, Melissa and said Honey - how about instead of going out on Valentine's, let's move office furniture into the old Tribune building and eat takeout Chinese food? To her credit, she smiled that gorgeous smile and started planning the move. We haven't looked back since.
---
From the very beginning, we designed DAPCPA to be 100 percent focused on client satisfaction. I never wanted to be the biggest, though we are no longer small. But I always wanted to be among the best and to focus all of our efforts on helping our clients succeed.
---
This goes way beyond recording numbers. It is all about using our experience and expertise to go beyond the numbers.
---
Like when I got a call at 5am on January 1st a few years ago and one of our clients had a fire that consumed their building on New Years Eve. It was brutally cold out and the water from the fire hoses made the parking lot into a skating rink. We dug the smoldering server and laptops out of the rubble and, working in partnership with the IT department at MHP, we had the files restored and we re-built their accounting system, getting the client up and running again within a few days.
---
Or four years ago when a former tax client just thought something didn't feel right with his accounting system. We took a look and within an hour found evidence of fraud. Working with the client's attorney, we were able to prove roughly four million dollars of losses over a 13 year period. Our testimony in court led to what was at the time one of the largest civil fraud judgements in Wyoming history.
---
Or in 2007, we helped achieve an S-Corp election retroactively back to 1996. This saved the client nearly half a million dollars in taxes and penalties. Or when a client asked us to help them split with the partners in their business. In a very adversarial atmosphere, we designed a methodology for the split that saved the clients and their partners almost four hundred thousand dollars.
---
As a result of our commitment to our clients and our community, we have grown from three clients in 1996 to a firm that has three offices and more than 2,000 clients located across all fifty states and several foreign countries.
---
As in the beginning, Melissa remains the Operations Director for the firms and we have Jonath Jackson as the partner in Cheyenne, as well as a GREAT staff, all of whom continue to push me to be my best. That, combined with great clients and awesome competitors have made the last 20 years an incredible ride.
---
And I will leave you with this: I am always asked what the best advice I could give to someone starting a business. I always answer by giving the advice that came from my father-in-law, Herb Warner, when I started my firm. Herb was an amazing businessman. And he always made his points by telling a story.
---
Herb told me about this old boy from Texas that used to drill wells. There must have been a lot of old boys from Texas, because every story Herb told began the same way - "There was this old boy from Texas". Anyway, When they were planning a well, the legal department at Herb's company would create the contract - and it was a beautiful contract - full of terms of art, all of the i's dotted ant the t's crossed and weighing in at about 150 pages.
---
The legal department was very proud of the contract and the old boy showed up for the signing and wrote one line at the bottom of the contract and above his signature. What it said was "regardless of the above, I will drill a well, it will be done on time and it will cost such and such an amount". This drove the lawyers nuts. But Herb told them it was ok. Because the old boy always drilled the well, it was done on time and it never cost more than he said it would.
---
So, Herb told me, If you are going to go into business, make it about your WORD.
Make it about TRUST.
Make it about RESPECT.
And doing what is RIGHT for you, your clients and the public you serve.
Make it about treating each client as if they were your only client.
And make it about being the BEST.
---
In taking Herb's advice I have been able to develop relationships that matter. For the story of our firm is not how much money we have made or how many engagements we have performed.
---
The story is written in the lives of the clients, the employees and the community we call family. We celebrate their victories and we mourn their losses. And it has been an honor to be part of their lives and to serve them all. It is what makes this profession the only profession for me.
---
And I have to finish by thanking the Cheyenne Chamber, the entire Cheyenne community and the State of Wyoming for making my dream of owning a firm possible.
---
So enjoy the food and the wonderful presentation from our State Treasurer and remember: When you need an accountant, choose a CPA. And when you choose a CPA, choose DAPCPA. Thank you!
---
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