October 31, 2023 • 16 mins
Deon Norris
Deon Norris brings over a decade plus of experience assisting the U.S. Government, Individuals, Small Businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and Non-Profit Organizations in a variety of areas including accounting, audit, internal controls, process improvement, and tax-related matters. In addition, he has also brought a wealth of project management experience to the table. He has oversaw budgets upwards of $30 billion, formulated and implemented critical financial strategies, and built relationships with key stakeholders and leaders. With his rare blend of accounting, finance, and tax Deon has established himself as one of the future leaders in the finance industry. He has experience with the Big 4 audit and accounting firms including time at Deloitte and KPMG. He is a U.S ARMY Paratrooper Veteran and proud supporter of veterans, first responders, and teacher services. During his time in the military Deon was the comptroller of a Special Forces Battalion as an enlisted person. Deon holds degrees in Accounting (Bachelors and Masters), Marketing (Masters), and an MBA. In addition to these degrees, he also holds active CPA licenses in the states of Maryland and Virginia as well as being a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Deon Norris brings over a decade plus of experience assisting the U.S. Government, Individuals, Small Businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and Non-Profit Organizations in a variety of areas including accounting, audit, internal controls, process improvement, and tax-related matters. In addition, he has also brought a wealth of project management experience to the table. He has oversaw budgets upwards of $30 billion, formulated and implemented critical financial strategies, and built relationships with key stakeholders and leaders. With his rare blend of accounting, finance, and tax Deon has established himself as one of the future leaders in the finance industry. He has experience with the Big 4 audit and accounting firms including time at Deloitte and KPMG. He is a U.S ARMY Paratrooper Veteran and proud supporter of veterans, first responders, and teacher services. During his time in the military Deon was the comptroller of a Special Forces Battalion as an enlisted person. Deon holds degrees in Accounting (Bachelors and Masters), Marketing (Masters), and an MBA. In addition to these degrees, he also holds active CPA licenses in the states of Maryland and Virginia as well as being a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
M and T Bank presents CEOs.You should know powerd by iHeart had I.
Let's be Dian Norris. He isthe president and CEO for Norse County
and Tax Services. Before we talkmore about Deon's business, I first asked
him to talk a little bit abouthimself, where he's from and his origin
story. Born in New Jersey toa military family, lived in the Hampton
(00:21):
Rose area, lived in Hawaii,doubt. My dad was in Navy.
When he got out the Navy,transitioned to living in Colorado for eight years.
Subsequently moved after Colorado back to NewJersey where I went to high school,
went down and went to college downin the Hampton Rose area. Went
to Norfolk State is my alma martyrfor undergraduate. So that's kind of the
(00:44):
origes story of how I came tobe about strong military back background with my
family, just my my grandfather,my other brothers, and my dad all
we have all served in the militaryat some point. It's kind of something
that hold near and dear to me. Subsequent to college, end up joining
(01:04):
the active duty military. I wasin the first Battalion Tests Bestial Forces Group
stessioned in Stutgart, Germany. Afterthat time, came to left came to
dc ARE in two thousand and fifteen, been here ever since. And in
that period I've since leaving active dutymilitary, I've worked for the Loy KPMG
(01:26):
Guide how some of your big consultingfirms where allowed me to gain that knowledge
and know how on how to oneoperate a business and just the infrastructure on
what is needed to make us businesssuccessful and I iventued out a few years
ago on my own. Well,first of all, thank you for you
and your family service. We're alwaysvery appreciative here and I heard for people
(01:47):
who serve our country and I alwayslike to acknowledge that. So thank you
very much for your service. AndI always want to in this series ask
people that had military service and thenstart their own business because I'm a sports
guy and I see a lot ofthings that match up with sports and business
and leadership. And I know youknow about the centers and especially structure from
where you come from. Tell usabout the transition from your military service and
(02:10):
how you applied that to be apresident and CEO of your own company.
That is a great segue into thatwhere you mentioned structure the military, as
everyone knows is all about structure andhow things are done. If you have
the structure right, then you canscale your operation across multiple in the military
(02:30):
of course, across multiple countries andbases because you have that structure in those
and inherent understanding that you have establishedwith everyone who comes in. That's the
philosphy I take to the businesses havingthe structure correct and everything that needs to
be established for having accessful business.Having that in place first before you ever
(02:52):
go about trying to scale the businessor bring new clients on is you want
to have a process down for everything. Okay, now we are here to
talk about Norrise County and tax services, but before we do that. In
the two years when you started thebusiness as the founder, as this as
the CEO and president, you havea really cool resume, Dean, and
you did you kind of tipped ona few things. And I don't want
(03:13):
you to skip over that. Butwhat I what I do want to I
do want you to tell me andour listeners because I think everybody's fascinated by
somebody starting their own business, takingthat leap of faith, taking that chance
in that situation. But you know, you worked for some great companies what
was that point where you said,you know what I've done that I want
to be my own boss because I, first of all, I think there's
a hole in the industry that Ican I can fill with my business.
(03:36):
Plus I want to I want tobe my own boss. And I know
it's more than that. But tellus about the transition about being in the
workforce working for other people and thenthe idea and the origin of starting your
own business two years ago. Okay, yeah, that's a great question.
So the companies that that I workfor, there there is always a great
team that I was around, soI was never the smartest person on that
(03:59):
team, and being able to pickand pull and learn from everyone different skills,
uh skill sets, you know,whether it's being better than Excel access
just different things or researching. Sogoing from those companies, there came a
point where I have learned from everyone. That's being that sponge and soaking up
the knowledge from everyone and then seeinghow the companies were run and think thinking
(04:24):
to myself, you know, Ican probably do that as well. Or
there's always you know, no matterwhat company you work for, there's als
gonna be little nuanced you diggy.You can do better. So it came
came a point where I feel likejust that chapter of my life was over
where the next step and evolution ofwhere I was going, both professionally and
personally is to take that leap offaith and start my own business. So
(04:46):
there came a point where the workkind of became a little bit too easy
for me, and then I waslooking for another challenge. So that that
was the main driver of taking thatleap of faith to starting my own business.
Okay, before we get into allthe nuts and bolts and everything that
you do at northSun Accounting and TaxServices, what's your mission statement? That
is a great question. So areour tagline is a trust partner we can
(05:11):
depend on. So actually, whatour mission statement is is changing the way
and people interact with that client andbusiness relationship, being a more personable company
interacting with people, and changing howpeople perceive accountants in general and businesses.
We want to be family first,friendly first. A lot of people say
that, but we actually do that. There's a lot of times where I
(05:35):
want to I'm taking calls at teno'clock a night for clients just because I
know them on a personal basis,and our purpose is to get to know
our clients and their families so wecan help them in overall better than just
a more of a transactional restrip.So we're really changing that and that's what
our mission statement is all about.Well, there's a common theme to small
(05:57):
businesses like yourself, because I knowyou have competition, and I'll talk about
that in just a second, andabout differentiating yourself. But when I talk
to small business owners about that,it's about being very personable and the customer
service is twenty four seven three sixtyfive. Because you are small and you
have to do it anyway, whynot embrace it, make yourself available and
make sure that the customer knows thatyou can talk to me and my staff
(06:20):
anytime day, night, weekends,holidays. We're here from you, and
I think that's one of the waysthat you would probably differentiate yourself. So
we know that in your industry,there are a lot of tax and accounting
firms out there. Okay, Sowith that said, in the DMV,
when you pitch yourself to a newclient, how do you differentiate yourself from
everybody else that's competing with you?Yeah, great question. So one of
(06:42):
the things that I say off backto people is I tell you what you
need to hear, not what youwant to hear. So I am always
going to tell you what you needto hear in your So it's what's in
your best going forward. That isa philosophy that my staff have, is
that we are going to tell you, always gonna tell you what you needed
here also, and I acknowledge this, Yeah, just like you said,
(07:06):
there are a bunch of tax inaccounting firms in this area and just all
over the country. But you're makingwhen you make an investment in myself,
and you're making an investment in notjust my company, but me as well.
And I take that personally because youcan pick and choose who you want
to work with. And I wantsomeone who's comfortable to call me up on
a Friday night and this goal overteams or just have a chat and I
(07:29):
can be that confident for them.That is where I separate myself of having
those personal those real, true personalrelationships with my clients, whether it's attending
one of their family member's funeral ofone of them, or sending them gifts
in the mail, or just checkingup on them, calling them see how
they're doing. Out of the blue, that is where I set myself apart.
It is not so much on whenit comes to just the work in
(07:51):
general, but is the personality behindit and having that relationship outside of the
work is where I different to myself. And that's what I appreciate to everyone
who's part of the team, outsstanding. Thanks for sharing all of that,
Dan, I did want to askyou. Let's give a thirty thousand
foot view to our listeners that havebeen introduced to Norris Accounting and Tax Services
for the first time, and exactlywhat you do. I know that it's
(08:13):
in the title, but let's getinto the weeds a little bit more.
If you were explained to any listenerout there that says, you know,
I'm looking for some services accounting andtax about all the things you offer your
clients, what exactly do you do? So thirty thousand foot view, how
do I sum that up? Sowe are a full service accounting firm,
So whether it is tax preparation,tax planning, we can do that whole
(08:37):
gamut, and outside of just thetax proportion, whether you need bookkeeping done,
CFO services, we can do thatas well. We are essentially your
one stop shop for everything in financiallyrelated when it comes to your business or
your personal life. And I knowthat you have a ten person team on
your staff there when it comes tothe DMV do you stay within those confines?
And do you work with small,medium, and large businesses? How
(08:58):
about that? Yeah, so small, medium, large, No one is
too small or too big to workwith us. And most of our clients
have are at a dmv ARE becausethat's what we're located, but we actually
have clients all over the country,mainly military that are outside of d mv
ARE and outside of the country,but we do have clients all over You
know, when I talk to alot of VEX military, it's really important
(09:20):
for them to not only support butwork with veteran OANN businesses, but also
hire veterans. And I think thereis a for lack of a better word,
of brotherhood when it comes to thattaking care of their own, you
know. And I think this isreally something important to talk about it and
i'd like you to expound on itbecause I know that you're hiring and looking
for great people all the time,whether they're military or not. And we'll
(09:41):
give the website at the end andall the cool things that the gorgeous website
that Dean and his team have thatyou can look at the check everything out
that they do. But can youjust maybe expound upon that a little bit
about working with veteran owned businesses orhiring veterans in general. Yes, it
is something that I'm always looking todo, is work with veterans because there
is that camaraderie and brotherhood of we'veall been through the same thing, regardless
(10:05):
of whatever our jobs. We're inthe military, we all rose our right
hand and swore over to the Constitutionto support in the United States. And
that's something I a whole dear thatdoesn't end when you leave the service.
You're always going to have that connection. Military is one of the few things
where you cannot see someone for tenyears and then as soon as you see
(10:26):
them again, you picked up likethere's been no time. And just recently
I had a friend who you know, I haven't seen since twenty twelve when
I when I first went to Germany, that was in the area and we
just caught up and it's just allthat camararti that you that you get from
being in the military. It alwaysis going to be there for the rest
of your life. And that's somethingthat I pry myself on because we all
(10:48):
been through the same thing. Weall know what we have gone through,
and it's just that connection that youhave on a personal level because you served
in the military. Understanding Dan,I always like to have where leaders also
share some stories and I want toput a pin in just for a second
of success story that maybe was reallyvery important to you and your team that
you guys pulled off. But beforewe do that, in your industry right
(11:09):
now, beside the major competition ofjust buying for people's business out there,
what are some of the challenges currentlyin your industry? What it tells the
challenges it is the hiring and thelack of qualified personnel there is just because
not so much I want to say, wellfick person not so much you're not
having the skills, but just fromthere not being enough people and there's being
(11:31):
more positions out there, so you'rereally fight fighting for everybody that you can
bring on board. And one ofthe and I'll say that is the biggest
challenge industry. Why when it comesto accounting, is just the people not
having enough. I know you're busy, but you get a chance to do
any outreach in the community to tryand talk to schools or young people about
getting into this, because I knowit could be pretty lucrative once you get
(11:54):
your feed set in the accounting andtax world out there. But like everything
else, you know, you haveto you know, make your bones and
get your experience out there. Butis there any outreach that you're trying to
do just to connect yourself with thecommunity. Yeah, that thank you for
bringing up I actually am. Sowhat's going to happen in the next few
years is we are going to establisha nonprofit arm of the business, separate,
(12:16):
indistinct but kind of related, whereit's going to be about financial literacy
because one thing that we are seeing, especially when it comes from a personal
tax perspective, is a lot ofpeople don't understand taxes, which is fine
because it's very complicated, but it'sthe fundamentals of how to run a business
and just basic finance finances that we'reseeing a lot of issues with and that
(12:39):
is something near and dear to myheart. You know, growing up,
you know, sometimes finances are tight, So it's something that is nearrowed into
my heart to help educate people onhow to make their money work for them,
and it's given the fundamentals in orderto succeed, because if you have
bad money, he has. Whenyou have a little bit of money,
(13:00):
don't have bad money habits. Whenyou have a lot of money, the
amount of income that you're making isnot going to is not going to change
your lifestyle if your habits are bad. So it's breaking that bondage in that
barrier is something that is I'm passionateabout. Well. I imagine the climate
we're living now toodone between you know, the FED biking up the interest rates,
and how credit cards are out ofwhack with aprs and just people managing
(13:24):
their money in general, and howpressure it is. I imagine that those
are a lot of conversations you getpretty regular with your clients. I did
want to ask you about a successstory. I realize you've only been around
for a couple of years, butI imagine you and your staff have a
client. You don't have to mentiontheir name or that person if you don't
want to, but maybe it's somebody, a business, a family, a
person that you help by And yousaid, you know what, that's why
(13:46):
we get up every day. Weknocked that one out of the park for
that client of that person today.Do you have a nice success story for
us? Oh? Yeah, Iactually have a few. We've been in
a business a short period of time, but we have grown exponentially in that
period. One of them is wehelped the clients save seven thousand dollars on
their taxes by being proactive in taxplanning. And you know, it came
(14:07):
with education and understand and explaining whattax planning is versus tax preparation. Is
a big thing that we are pushingright now is more tax planning for individuals.
But with this particular business owner,we were able to show them how
they can basically legally avoid paying taxesand lower their taxical income bies are,
(14:28):
yeah, their taxicle income over thecourse of time, which results is seven
thousand dollars saving in their taxes versusbefore they started working with us. But
it's just little things like that andshowing them it can be done and we
can show you the way on howto do it. That's a lot of
coin, yes, and that noteveryone is going to say that much money,
but we were able to do certainthings that allowed them in that business
(14:50):
to save that much money. I'sstanding well thanks for sharing that story.
As we kind of wrap up ourconversation on to maybe put a ball on
it once again. If our listenersare being introduced to NORSE Accounting and tax
services for the first time, what'sthe one takeaway you want them to go
away with. We are always willingto help, regardless of if you're individual,
(15:11):
you just have questions, or youare a very large corporation. We're
willing to help anyone because we areabout changing how that interaction happens between a
business and a client, and wejust want to help. That's the biggest
thing. We're always willing to help. All Right, Let's give everybody the
web addressed, and if you're onsocial media channels, let's let everybody know
of that. If you want togive a phone number where you're located,
(15:33):
just to let everybody know all thedifferent ways they can get a hold of
you and your team. Yeah.So you can find us online at Norse
Accounty Service dot com. We areon LinkedIn Facebook and Instagram as well.
On Instagram, we are in atSCPA. That's CPA on Instagram, the
same thing on Facebook. They alllink to the same or you can go
(15:54):
to our website again which is NorthcountyService dot com and scroll to about all
of our icons, our lists onthat we would building directly to our social
media accounts and you can give usa call at two zero two seven five
zero five seven three four. Yeah. I can't tell you how much I
appreciate your time because I know youand your team are very busy, and
it sounds like in the two yearsthat you decided to put a company together
(16:18):
and be the president CEO, thatyou've got some nice success and you're going
in the right direction. You're sustainable, and I imagine the growth that you
talked about is coming down the line. So thank you so much for your
valuable time and continued success. Wereally appreciate you joining us on CEOs.
You should know, thank you somuch, thanks for having me. Our
community partner, M and T Banksupports CEOs, you should know. Is
part of their ongoing commitment to buildingstrong communities, and that starts by backing
(16:41):
the businesses within them. As aBank for Communities, M and T believes
in dedicating time, talent, andresources to help local businesses thrive because when
businesses succeed, our community succeed.
M and T Bank presents CEOs.You should know powerd by iHeart had I.
Let's be Dian Norris. He isthe president and CEO for Norse County
and Tax Services. Before we talkmore about Deon's business, I first asked
him to talk a little bit abouthimself, where he's from and his origin
story. Born in New Jersey toa military family, lived in the Hampton
(00:21):
Rose area, lived in Hawaii,doubt. My dad was in Navy.
When he got out the Navy,transitioned to living in Colorado for eight years.
Subsequently moved after Colorado back to NewJersey where I went to high school,
went down and went to college downin the Hampton Rose area. Went
to Norfolk State is my alma martyrfor undergraduate. So that's kind of the
(00:44):
origes story of how I came tobe about strong military back background with my
family, just my my grandfather,my other brothers, and my dad all
we have all served in the militaryat some point. It's kind of something
that hold near and dear to me. Subsequent to college, end up joining
(01:04):
the active duty military. I wasin the first Battalion Tests Bestial Forces Group
stessioned in Stutgart, Germany. Afterthat time, came to left came to
dc ARE in two thousand and fifteen, been here ever since. And in
that period I've since leaving active dutymilitary, I've worked for the Loy KPMG
(01:26):
Guide how some of your big consultingfirms where allowed me to gain that knowledge
and know how on how to oneoperate a business and just the infrastructure on
what is needed to make us businesssuccessful and I iventued out a few years
ago on my own. Well,first of all, thank you for you
and your family service. We're alwaysvery appreciative here and I heard for people
(01:47):
who serve our country and I alwayslike to acknowledge that. So thank you
very much for your service. AndI always want to in this series ask
people that had military service and thenstart their own business because I'm a sports
guy and I see a lot ofthings that match up with sports and business
and leadership. And I know youknow about the centers and especially structure from
where you come from. Tell usabout the transition from your military service and
(02:10):
how you applied that to be apresident and CEO of your own company.
That is a great segue into thatwhere you mentioned structure the military, as
everyone knows is all about structure andhow things are done. If you have
the structure right, then you canscale your operation across multiple in the military
(02:30):
of course, across multiple countries andbases because you have that structure in those
and inherent understanding that you have establishedwith everyone who comes in. That's the
philosphy I take to the businesses havingthe structure correct and everything that needs to
be established for having accessful business.Having that in place first before you ever
(02:52):
go about trying to scale the businessor bring new clients on is you want
to have a process down for everything. Okay, now we are here to
talk about Norrise County and tax services, but before we do that. In
the two years when you started thebusiness as the founder, as this as
the CEO and president, you havea really cool resume, Dean, and
you did you kind of tipped ona few things. And I don't want
(03:13):
you to skip over that. Butwhat I what I do want to I
do want you to tell me andour listeners because I think everybody's fascinated by
somebody starting their own business, takingthat leap of faith, taking that chance
in that situation. But you know, you worked for some great companies what
was that point where you said,you know what I've done that I want
to be my own boss because I, first of all, I think there's
a hole in the industry that Ican I can fill with my business.
(03:36):
Plus I want to I want tobe my own boss. And I know
it's more than that. But tellus about the transition about being in the
workforce working for other people and thenthe idea and the origin of starting your
own business two years ago. Okay, yeah, that's a great question.
So the companies that that I workfor, there there is always a great
team that I was around, soI was never the smartest person on that
(03:59):
team, and being able to pickand pull and learn from everyone different skills,
uh skill sets, you know,whether it's being better than Excel access
just different things or researching. Sogoing from those companies, there came a
point where I have learned from everyone. That's being that sponge and soaking up
the knowledge from everyone and then seeinghow the companies were run and think thinking
(04:24):
to myself, you know, Ican probably do that as well. Or
there's always you know, no matterwhat company you work for, there's als
gonna be little nuanced you diggy.You can do better. So it came
came a point where I feel likejust that chapter of my life was over
where the next step and evolution ofwhere I was going, both professionally and
personally is to take that leap offaith and start my own business. So
(04:46):
there came a point where the workkind of became a little bit too easy
for me, and then I waslooking for another challenge. So that that
was the main driver of taking thatleap of faith to starting my own business.
Okay, before we get into allthe nuts and bolts and everything that
you do at northSun Accounting and TaxServices, what's your mission statement? That
is a great question. So areour tagline is a trust partner we can
(05:11):
depend on. So actually, whatour mission statement is is changing the way
and people interact with that client andbusiness relationship, being a more personable company
interacting with people, and changing howpeople perceive accountants in general and businesses.
We want to be family first,friendly first. A lot of people say
that, but we actually do that. There's a lot of times where I
(05:35):
want to I'm taking calls at teno'clock a night for clients just because I
know them on a personal basis,and our purpose is to get to know
our clients and their families so wecan help them in overall better than just
a more of a transactional restrip.So we're really changing that and that's what
our mission statement is all about.Well, there's a common theme to small
(05:57):
businesses like yourself, because I knowyou have competition, and I'll talk about
that in just a second, andabout differentiating yourself. But when I talk
to small business owners about that,it's about being very personable and the customer
service is twenty four seven three sixtyfive. Because you are small and you
have to do it anyway, whynot embrace it, make yourself available and
make sure that the customer knows thatyou can talk to me and my staff
(06:20):
anytime day, night, weekends,holidays. We're here from you, and
I think that's one of the waysthat you would probably differentiate yourself. So
we know that in your industry,there are a lot of tax and accounting
firms out there. Okay, Sowith that said, in the DMV,
when you pitch yourself to a newclient, how do you differentiate yourself from
everybody else that's competing with you?Yeah, great question. So one of
(06:42):
the things that I say off backto people is I tell you what you
need to hear, not what youwant to hear. So I am always
going to tell you what you needto hear in your So it's what's in
your best going forward. That isa philosophy that my staff have, is
that we are going to tell you, always gonna tell you what you needed
here also, and I acknowledge this, Yeah, just like you said,
(07:06):
there are a bunch of tax inaccounting firms in this area and just all
over the country. But you're makingwhen you make an investment in myself,
and you're making an investment in notjust my company, but me as well.
And I take that personally because youcan pick and choose who you want
to work with. And I wantsomeone who's comfortable to call me up on
a Friday night and this goal overteams or just have a chat and I
(07:29):
can be that confident for them.That is where I separate myself of having
those personal those real, true personalrelationships with my clients, whether it's attending
one of their family member's funeral ofone of them, or sending them gifts
in the mail, or just checkingup on them, calling them see how
they're doing. Out of the blue, that is where I set myself apart.
It is not so much on whenit comes to just the work in
(07:51):
general, but is the personality behindit and having that relationship outside of the
work is where I different to myself. And that's what I appreciate to everyone
who's part of the team, outsstanding. Thanks for sharing all of that,
Dan, I did want to askyou. Let's give a thirty thousand
foot view to our listeners that havebeen introduced to Norris Accounting and Tax Services
for the first time, and exactlywhat you do. I know that it's
(08:13):
in the title, but let's getinto the weeds a little bit more.
If you were explained to any listenerout there that says, you know,
I'm looking for some services accounting andtax about all the things you offer your
clients, what exactly do you do? So thirty thousand foot view, how
do I sum that up? Sowe are a full service accounting firm,
So whether it is tax preparation,tax planning, we can do that whole
(08:37):
gamut, and outside of just thetax proportion, whether you need bookkeeping done,
CFO services, we can do thatas well. We are essentially your
one stop shop for everything in financiallyrelated when it comes to your business or
your personal life. And I knowthat you have a ten person team on
your staff there when it comes tothe DMV do you stay within those confines?
And do you work with small,medium, and large businesses? How
(08:58):
about that? Yeah, so small, medium, large, No one is
too small or too big to workwith us. And most of our clients
have are at a dmv ARE becausethat's what we're located, but we actually
have clients all over the country,mainly military that are outside of d mv
ARE and outside of the country,but we do have clients all over You
know, when I talk to alot of VEX military, it's really important
(09:20):
for them to not only support butwork with veteran OANN businesses, but also
hire veterans. And I think thereis a for lack of a better word,
of brotherhood when it comes to thattaking care of their own, you
know. And I think this isreally something important to talk about it and
i'd like you to expound on itbecause I know that you're hiring and looking
for great people all the time,whether they're military or not. And we'll
(09:41):
give the website at the end andall the cool things that the gorgeous website
that Dean and his team have thatyou can look at the check everything out
that they do. But can youjust maybe expound upon that a little bit
about working with veteran owned businesses orhiring veterans in general. Yes, it
is something that I'm always looking todo, is work with veterans because there
is that camaraderie and brotherhood of we'veall been through the same thing, regardless
(10:05):
of whatever our jobs. We're inthe military, we all rose our right
hand and swore over to the Constitutionto support in the United States. And
that's something I a whole dear thatdoesn't end when you leave the service.
You're always going to have that connection. Military is one of the few things
where you cannot see someone for tenyears and then as soon as you see
(10:26):
them again, you picked up likethere's been no time. And just recently
I had a friend who you know, I haven't seen since twenty twelve when
I when I first went to Germany, that was in the area and we
just caught up and it's just allthat camararti that you that you get from
being in the military. It alwaysis going to be there for the rest
of your life. And that's somethingthat I pry myself on because we all
(10:48):
been through the same thing. Weall know what we have gone through,
and it's just that connection that youhave on a personal level because you served
in the military. Understanding Dan,I always like to have where leaders also
share some stories and I want toput a pin in just for a second
of success story that maybe was reallyvery important to you and your team that
you guys pulled off. But beforewe do that, in your industry right
(11:09):
now, beside the major competition ofjust buying for people's business out there,
what are some of the challenges currentlyin your industry? What it tells the
challenges it is the hiring and thelack of qualified personnel there is just because
not so much I want to say, wellfick person not so much you're not
having the skills, but just fromthere not being enough people and there's being
(11:31):
more positions out there, so you'rereally fight fighting for everybody that you can
bring on board. And one ofthe and I'll say that is the biggest
challenge industry. Why when it comesto accounting, is just the people not
having enough. I know you're busy, but you get a chance to do
any outreach in the community to tryand talk to schools or young people about
getting into this, because I knowit could be pretty lucrative once you get
(11:54):
your feed set in the accounting andtax world out there. But like everything
else, you know, you haveto you know, make your bones and
get your experience out there. Butis there any outreach that you're trying to
do just to connect yourself with thecommunity. Yeah, that thank you for
bringing up I actually am. Sowhat's going to happen in the next few
years is we are going to establisha nonprofit arm of the business, separate,
(12:16):
indistinct but kind of related, whereit's going to be about financial literacy
because one thing that we are seeing, especially when it comes from a personal
tax perspective, is a lot ofpeople don't understand taxes, which is fine
because it's very complicated, but it'sthe fundamentals of how to run a business
and just basic finance finances that we'reseeing a lot of issues with and that
(12:39):
is something near and dear to myheart. You know, growing up,
you know, sometimes finances are tight, So it's something that is nearrowed into
my heart to help educate people onhow to make their money work for them,
and it's given the fundamentals in orderto succeed, because if you have
bad money, he has. Whenyou have a little bit of money,
(13:00):
don't have bad money habits. Whenyou have a lot of money, the
amount of income that you're making isnot going to is not going to change
your lifestyle if your habits are bad. So it's breaking that bondage in that
barrier is something that is I'm passionateabout. Well. I imagine the climate
we're living now toodone between you know, the FED biking up the interest rates,
and how credit cards are out ofwhack with aprs and just people managing
(13:24):
their money in general, and howpressure it is. I imagine that those
are a lot of conversations you getpretty regular with your clients. I did
want to ask you about a successstory. I realize you've only been around
for a couple of years, butI imagine you and your staff have a
client. You don't have to mentiontheir name or that person if you don't
want to, but maybe it's somebody, a business, a family, a
person that you help by And yousaid, you know what, that's why
(13:46):
we get up every day. Weknocked that one out of the park for
that client of that person today.Do you have a nice success story for
us? Oh? Yeah, Iactually have a few. We've been in
a business a short period of time, but we have grown exponentially in that
period. One of them is wehelped the clients save seven thousand dollars on
their taxes by being proactive in taxplanning. And you know, it came
(14:07):
with education and understand and explaining whattax planning is versus tax preparation. Is
a big thing that we are pushingright now is more tax planning for individuals.
But with this particular business owner,we were able to show them how
they can basically legally avoid paying taxesand lower their taxical income bies are,
(14:28):
yeah, their taxicle income over thecourse of time, which results is seven
thousand dollars saving in their taxes versusbefore they started working with us. But
it's just little things like that andshowing them it can be done and we
can show you the way on howto do it. That's a lot of
coin, yes, and that noteveryone is going to say that much money,
but we were able to do certainthings that allowed them in that business
(14:50):
to save that much money. I'sstanding well thanks for sharing that story.
As we kind of wrap up ourconversation on to maybe put a ball on
it once again. If our listenersare being introduced to NORSE Accounting and tax
services for the first time, what'sthe one takeaway you want them to go
away with. We are always willingto help, regardless of if you're individual,
(15:11):
you just have questions, or youare a very large corporation. We're
willing to help anyone because we areabout changing how that interaction happens between a
business and a client, and wejust want to help. That's the biggest
thing. We're always willing to help. All Right, Let's give everybody the
web addressed, and if you're onsocial media channels, let's let everybody know
of that. If you want togive a phone number where you're located,
(15:33):
just to let everybody know all thedifferent ways they can get a hold of
you and your team. Yeah.So you can find us online at Norse
Accounty Service dot com. We areon LinkedIn Facebook and Instagram as well.
On Instagram, we are in atSCPA. That's CPA on Instagram, the
same thing on Facebook. They alllink to the same or you can go
(15:54):
to our website again which is NorthcountyService dot com and scroll to about all
of our icons, our lists onthat we would building directly to our social
media accounts and you can give usa call at two zero two seven five
zero five seven three four. Yeah. I can't tell you how much I
appreciate your time because I know youand your team are very busy, and
it sounds like in the two yearsthat you decided to put a company together
(16:18):
and be the president CEO, thatyou've got some nice success and you're going
in the right direction. You're sustainable, and I imagine the growth that you
talked about is coming down the line. So thank you so much for your
valuable time and continued success. Wereally appreciate you joining us on CEOs.
You should know, thank you somuch, thanks for having me. Our
community partner, M and T Banksupports CEOs, you should know. Is
part of their ongoing commitment to buildingstrong communities, and that starts by backing
(16:41):
the businesses within them. As aBank for Communities, M and T believes
in dedicating time, talent, andresources to help local businesses thrive because when
businesses succeed, our community succeed.
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