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PROFILE

Looking for Jim Colville, CPA Excel Files? They are now at Excel365Solutions.com

I have retired as a practicing CPA and am now only providing consulting services as noted in the page menu. My CPA license is formally in Retired status with the California State Board of Accountancy. My CPA website, www.JimColvilleCPA.com, is no longer active and redirects to this website.

My abbreviated professional background:

I have been practicing as a CPA since graduation from college through 2019 at which time I began the process of retiring as a practicing CPA which was completed in early 2020.  I’m still active performing CPA type services but only on a consulting basis or as a support professional for other CPAs and CPA firms.

I graduated from Cal State University, Long Beach in 1972 after serving in the military and began with a national CPA firm in Los Angeles on the audit staff as well as an assignment to the tax department as a part of the firm’s fast track-to-partner career program. 

Many of the firm’s audits discovered financial statement fraud resulting in massive restatements. Other “traditional frauds” were discovered. So early in my career, I was exposed to many challenges that are the hot topics of today. Our small audit team within the office was labeled the fraud swat team and was called upon to assist other audit teams in “messy” accounting or suspected fraud situations.  These experience also provided extensive experience in writing the resulting audit reports and disclosures. CPAs have the unique situation of working with many clients in many industries gaining a wide variety of experience. Equally challenging was a high degree of working with clients in the real estate industry, clients ranging from developers, builders, construction, sales, leasing in both in commercial and residential.

In 1977 I moved to San Diego to work as the CFO for the firm’s largest regional client. This greatly enhanced my real estate experience gained as an auditor but also gave me direct experience in contract negotiations. Additionally, I had oversight for the installation of a new modernized computer system. Of the many unique challenges was integrating the 13 separate entities into a consolidating system for daily operations and periodic reporting. Upon completing the refinancing and other significant projects, I joined a large local San Diego CPA firm and transitioned to a second firm that was better aligned with my background and skills.  An opportunity arose to buy another CPA firm which resulted in me forming my own firm performing traditional CPA services, auditing, taxes, consulting, etc.,  At the same time the PC revolution was rapidly beginning allowing me to add technology professional and training services.
 

The CPA services were growing beyond expectations yet the PC and technology services were doing the same. I had to make a choice of the direction to go to allow focus in my endeavors. This lead to the selling of most of the practice and forming a PC training and technical services company in which I developed a strong background in technology. Using my CPA background, all training and consulting was done from a Solutions perspective.  The consulting business was growing fast and, at the same time, the training business environment was becoming super saturated turning the overall industry into a commodity . As my large PC contracts (such as NCR, Sony, and others) began winding down I sold the business to focus on the consulting. Remember, my background is a CPA working directly with clients.

A large part of the PC training was with Lotus 1-2-3 which transitioned quickly to Excel and other Microsoft products.  The Solutions perspective mentioned above came from my CPA background which made all the training exercise directly related to the attendee’s work which created a large loyal following. This all evolved in several large Excel and technology consulting projects. The Excel end-user knowledge begin to grow gradually eating into my loyal customer base and the consulting projects were coming in at a slower pace.

A new opportunity came my way allowing me to joint a large and reputable CPA firm where I would have available to me the resources of the firm to greatly enhance the value of my services.  This lead to two long-term assignments culminating with managing large litigation support and expert witness projects with CBIZ (formerly Nation Smith Hermes Diamond) and its affiliate Mayer Hoffman & McCann P.C. These projects required an extensive background in audit, tax and technology in which I was well prepared.

Upon the successful completion of these projects in 2006, I returned to the role of my own CPA practice. My vast background and experience ensured the best value for my clients and all those I serve.

A major part of successful CPA engagements such as audits and consulting projects is having a strong understanding of your business. This is much more than the understanding many CPAs have in their working with many clients. My understanding of your business includes operational as well as general CPA experience. This comes from my vast experience and my approach. This ensures that solutions are created, problems solved and your goals are met by the most efficient means available.

I have found, and I’m sure that you have experienced that, the larger the firm, the less interest in your needs and greater interest in increasing billings. A part of this approach is to have junior staff perform much of the work. When it comes to fraud and forensic accounting or any other extremely challenging accounting or technology assignments, I don’t think that model works. Experience is what makes these assignments successful; lower fees, quicker completion of the task, client satisfaction, and the actual correction of the underlying problem. My philosophy for professional CPA services is to serve you in the best and most professional manner possible and to always exceed your expectations.  This always results in more value received than fees incurred.

Many tools and techniques that I have developed in my career add tremendous value to my services. I share these with clients and the business community to help ensure the best solutions possible. I do this by making recommendations, teaching how to implement the recommendations as well as presenting training sessions and seminars to the public. Additionally, you will see much of this knowledge on this website.

I assist my clients directly, one-on-one. Most of the work is performed myself to ensure not to dilute the value of my services with inexperienced staff. Of course, when appropriate, junior or clerical assistance is used. Where I cannot effectively help with your needs, I will refer you to a colleague who can.

My enjoyment is to work directly with you and see your success and see problems corrected that allow you to get back to the core of your business. I’m looking forward to being of service to you and forming a long-lasting business relationship.