Upon graduating 36 years ago from Golden Gate University with an MBA, my first position was with a major CPA firm in San Francisco working in the audit and tax departments. After 3 years, realizing how much I enjoyed the practice of accounting, I joined the faculty at Golden Gate University to teach aspiring business and accounting students. Soon thereafter, I was named the Chairman of the Undergraduate Department of Accounting. I spent six years teaching business and accounting classes at the University as well as designing and teaching classes to management at Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, A.T.& T., and other major business firms.
In 1980, I returned to public accounting with the firm Weinstein & Company in San Francisco. Over the years, I developed extensive expertise in all areas of accounting, management and tax, including individual and corporate tax planning, business start-up and operations, financial and estate planning, and retirement planning. My greatest accomplishments are those that result in my clients becoming confident in their financial and business futures and successful in obtaining their goals. I treasure the close and personal relationships that I have developed with my clients through one on one interaction each step of the way.
In the mid-1990’s it became evident that my business clients wanted much more from me than simply reporting on their past performance in the form of financial statements and tax returns. They wanted hands on assistance in setting their goals and making decisions that would help grow their businesses in the future. I then spent many years in classes, in training, and in designing tools and techniques that would enable a business to identify their current business status, their future goals and expectations, and how to accomplish them. This process is not just about accounting and tax; it is recognizing what makes a business successful and taking the necessary steps to get there.
As part of this process, I approach all of my new clients with questions such as “Where do you want to be in 5 years?” “What will it take to get there?” We work together on creating a business that has real value in itself and that is not just a Job for the owner. This is not an easy or a quick process but it yields real results. As part of this, I periodically offer Business Growth Seminars to existing and potential clients to give them a brief overview of how they can envision their business differently. This is extremely satisfying to me and is a great help to my many clients.
In addition to working with my business clients, a tremendous amount of my energy is spent working with my individual clients addressing their broad range of personal needs. This includes evaluating real estate purchases and sales, planning for education expenses, loan and financing analyses, estate and retirement planning, analyses of stock options and employee benefits, among others. For most of my clients, I am the first person they call when there is a financial issue confronting them. Together we decide upon the best course of action to take.
To meet my goal of working more closely with my clients I formed my own accounting firm, Enfield Accounting Associates, Inc. in 2005. The recent move of my primary office from San Francisco to my home town of Walnut Creek has enabled me to spend more quality time working with my clients to meet their personal needs, rather than commuting. However, I still meet regularly with clients in San Francisco and at their homes and offices throughout the greater Bay Area.
I have lived in Walnut Creek for 35 years and enjoy all that it has to offer, not the least of which is its close proximity to San Francisco and the entire Bay Area. I spent several years as the Treasurer of the American Heart Association, Contra Costa Chapter and received the Volunteer of the Year Award. I have spent 15 years coaching youth soccer with my three children. I am a member of the AICPA, CSCPA, and am a founding member of the Consulting Accountants Roundtable.
