Today we’d like to introduce you to John Thomas.
John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
There has to be a better way to be a CPA. My Partner Kristy and I have worked in both very large, and small accounting firms, and as we have developed relationship with amazing clients, we have worked very hard to be different than what most expect from CPAs.
Students graduating form accounting school are encouraged to join a large and resource rich accounting firm. I joined Grant Thornton, a firm I still very much respect and love. These types of firms serve very large and sophisticated companies, and provide young accountants with amazing experience. My next stop was at a small accounting firm, closer to home, which served smaller companies. It was a firm which relied upon very traditional services such as tax return preparation to generate revenue. We realized quite quickly that business owners today need much more than just a tax return from their CPA.
We founded Element CPAs to provide the services that business owners need to succeed. While we certainly provide tax return preparation and other traditional accounting services, we provide so much more. Our monthly subscription model allows our clients to rely upon us for so many things throughout the year.
Cabbagetown has been a perfect place for us to begin our journey. We are one year into our time here, and our location has brought us close to the creative community. Our clients consist of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and many others that work in creative pursuit. Cabbagetown gives us a perfect place to meet with our clients, and share the best parts of our great city. Many of our clients are from New York and Los Angeles, and Cabbagetown is their first impression of Atlanta. Many of these folks are actually moving to Atlanta from New York and LA in search of new opportunities in Georgia’s dynamic and growing film industry.
Our hope for Element CPAs is that we are able to provide an alternative to the traditional CPA firm. One where you can truly find a professional that can invest in the success of each business and individual we serve.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Changing the way accounting services are offered requires that we think about what we do differently, but it also requires that our clients think differently about the value we can provide. Our biggest challenge has been to find professionals that can believe in what we are doing. Accountants are built a certain way. Most accountants are pragmatic. They need predictability and order. What we are building mirrors the needs of our clients. We want to serve our clients where they are. Our clients operate in very unpredictable times, and if we aren’t flexible enough to walk through these unpredictable with them, we cannot provide them any more value than any other firm.
As we continue to grow, we are attracting more and more professionals and partners who believe in what we are doing, and as a result, we are growing very quickly. it’s very exciting.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Our firm is built with clients in the forefront of every decision we make. Most accounting firms prioritize billing as many hours to clients as possible. Our daily goals revolve around solving problems for our clients. They know this, and they are willing to pay for the value we create for them. Our clients pay a subscription fee that gives them access to us for all their needs.
Element is also built on the idea that kindness and empathy creates long-term, trusting relationships. We know our clients are often going through difficulties challenges, especially in these times, and we want to always understand the situations our clients are experiencing so that we can find better solutions. We are also different in the services we provide. Much of our business is in the film & entertainment industry. To meet the needs of these clients, we provide services not normally provided by CPA firms. This includes production accounting, production planning, and film tax credits and incentives.
What were you like growing up?
I was the exact opposite of your typical accountant story. I was never the person that was always in the books. I was usually playing sports or getting into something. Always an extrovert, I developed a passion for accounting and finance after a stint as a corporate sales person. Element let’s me have the best of both worlds.
Contact Info:
- Address: 692 Kirkwood Avenue SE Unit D1 Atlanta, GA 30316
- Website: elementcpas.com
- Phone: 770.954.7932
- Email: jthomas@elementcpas.com
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