2018 Pre-Busy Season Update
Dear Clients:
As we approach the beginning of tax season, we wanted to take a moment to pause and say, “Thank You”!
We sincerely believe we have the best clients in the world. It is a pleasure to serve you in whatever capacity that takes. For some, we only get to see you once a year somewhere between January and April for tax preparation. For others, we work with you regularly during the year on planning and other items. We can honestly say it is a joy to come to work every day.
Our staff helps make coming to the office easier as well. We have a dedicated group of professionals who enjoy working together even in the stressful seasons. Sam Potter passed the CPA exam and was rewarded with his license. Vanessa Kane is close to completing the exam and hopes to wrap that process up in early 2018. Gunnar is busy expanding our audit practice, Connie & Chris continue to coordinate our bookkeeping & payroll services and all of you have had the pleasure of working with Patti who keeps us all organized. Dick and Shawn are proud to work with this group and look forward to another successful year.
2017 has been an exciting year. Dick and Christine along with Shawn and Linda purchased the condo space in Gainesville. This makes the transition to the area permanent and demonstrates our commitment to being in the business for the long-haul. We updated our workflow management software that makes tracking projects from inception to completion much easier. It also guards against allowing the odd jobs from falling through the cracks. We continue to seek education and training in traditional areas as well as expanding our horizons.
Two other big events for us in 2017: Keven Underwood, CPA is being brought in as a new partner and the official announcement of retirement by Mark Gripentrog, our long-time tax manager who will work with us through April 30, 2018. Mark has been with Badger, Sumrall for more than 15 years. He has been a faithful worker, dedicated to his profession, a husband and grandfather and a true friend to the firm and our clients. There are not enough sentiments to express our gratitude for his longstanding service. Mark will officially retire April 30, 2018. Thankfully we will have him for one more busy season. Mark has asked to share the following: “I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for the privilege I have had to work alongside you and to meet many wonderful individuals over my tenure here. I have learned much and hope that I have imparted a little wisdom along the way.” … MARK – Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You will be missed.
Mark will pass the torch of tax manager to Kevin Underwood, our new partner. Kevin came to our firm in early 2017. Some of you have already had the privilege of meeting Kevin and working with him. Kevin and his wife Amy, along with their three children, live in Warrenton, Virginia. Kevin graduated from James Madison with a BA in accounting, a degree in computer information systems and received his CPA license in 2001. In addition to managing his own accounting practice, he has worked with fortune 500 companies and various government agencies converting accounting systems and providing software engineering. Dick & Shawn will be working closely with Kevin as he becomes familiar with our client needs. We are excited about the role Kevin will play going forward and believe he is the right person to fill our tax manager and new partner position.
We are looking forward to serving you and are excited that you will be joining us again on our journey.
Badger Sumrall & Co