So,  about two weeks ago, I was perusing my bimonthly issue of the EA Journal.  Trying to get a handle on what new regs and rules apply for filing taxes.   And, I wasn’t paying too much attention to the authors, just the topics to decide which articles I need to read first.

When, all of a sudden, I become shocked.  Is someone else using our motto?

No.  I had just forgotten that the NAEA (National Association of Enrolled Agents) had asked me to write a few articles about a year ago.  I guess they are now getting around to publishing them.

Here’s the story as to how I became an Enrolled Agent.

Making the World Better – One Client at a Time

Roy A. Ackerman, EA

Jan/Feb 2021

I am a polymath, whose interests span chemical engineering, medicine, biotechnology, business, and management, among other areas. Some of my inventions/developments include a dialyzer, a dialysate, a neurosurgical drill, a respiratory inspirometer, colon electrolyte lavages, urinary catheters, cardiac catheters, water reuse systems, drinking water systems, ammonia degrading microbes, toxic chemical reduction via microbes, onsite waste water treatment, electronic health care information systems, and bookkeeping and accounting programs.

I had been doing income taxes since I was 10 years old. I saw my uncle’s business tax return and could not believe he was being charged so much money for so little work. I told my father I wanted to do them and would charge less than $40 (this was 1960, folks!). As far as I could tell, he also had his accountant prepare those taxes and when he saw two years in a row, I was spot on, he was hooked.

I only did his taxes and my firm’s over the next years until the 1990s. Many of our clients over the past two years (late 1980s) had gone belly-up because they did not file their payroll taxes or they did not properly  prepare their income taxes. We suggested that they add those services to our contract (we were product designers and process advisors to them). About half of them took our advice.

I recognized that we needed to obtain some additional training and credentials to make our other clients comfortable with this new service. That is when I ran across a company that was providing index card training for folks who wished to get certified as enrolled agents.

An enrolled agent? What was that? So, after completing my research, I realized that this would be a perfect credential to add to my arsenal, to better service our clients’ needs.

So, I bought those index cards. Blue, yellow, and green. (Maybe this is a good time to explain that I prepared a slew of index cards from which I studied to pass my PhD exams decades earlier. I was used to such a study process.) And, I studied my backside off to prepare for the Special Enrollment Exam (SEE).

I took the exams in Baltimore and have been an enrolled agent ever since. It was one of the best investments I have ever made.

Roy A. Ackerman, EA, is a principal in the firm, The Adjuvancy, LLC, which has been helping small- and mid-sized organizations improve their operations and finances for more than 45 years. Whether their clients use QuickBooks, Quicken, Xero, or specialized accounting firms (like those developed for attorneys or physicians), they have the experience and expertise to help taxpayers quickly, efficiently, and at a reasonable cost.

Thanks for letting me share this article from the EA Journal.