Danny Fink, president of Premier Tax Consulting, LLC., talked with Jim Matuga, host of The Positively West Virginia, about how he got into the accounting business, his challenging business moments and his advice to young entrepreneurs.

Premier Tax Consulting specializes in working with small to midsize businesses primarily in North Central West Virginia. Fink started Premier Tax Consulting to offer a different kind of service to his clients.  Premier Tax Consulting prides themselves in offering proactive advice to their clients, helping them minimize the amount of taxes they have to pay through proactive tax planning as well as reviewing key performance indicators to help their clients run more profitable businesses.

How did you get into accounting?

“That is a strange story,” Fink said. “When I was in my undergraduate years, I was focused on accounting and took accountingtax adviceclasses up to my junior year. At that point, I thought I really didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. I did not take the last one or two of my accounting classes.”

So, I went out into the world and worked in banking for awhile. I went to work for Corning Consumer Products, maker of Corelle Products. I worked in planning and logistics for about nine years with them. Our division was sold to another company, and a few months later, our facility was closed down. I had been thinking about going back and getting my master’s degree in accounting for several years. At that point, I thought that was the perfect time.

So I went back and got my master’s degree in accounting and then actually taught accounting at James Madison University in Virginia before moving to Morgantown.”

What was been your most challenging business moment so far?

“Well, I haven’t had a worst moment in my business,” Fink said. “But, one of my worst moments is related to work we were doing with a client.”

This goes back to working with taxpayers who owe back taxes, and I had a person come to me who owned several hundred thousands of dollars in back taxes. We went through the process of analyzing what they might qualify for. We got the paperwork together, which took about three months. We worked to get a compromise, which is where the IRS agrees to settle for some amount less than the full amount due.

Now, it took them about six months for them to process it. We were finally contacted by the offer specialist. She made some changes but did eventually approve an offer for us. I think the amount was $74,000. We were very excited. But about a month later, we were notified that her manager has declined the offer, which is the first time I had experienced that. The offer specialist had never experienced that. That was tough to deal with and to go to the client to tell them.

It isn’t over. We decided to appeal it, and that’s where it’s at. If it isn’t approved, we will start again with a new offer.”

What is one piece of advice you would give an entrepreneur?

“Don’t try to do it alone,” advised Fink. “It may sound strange coming from me because I am the kind of person who would try to do it alone. I’m pretty self-reliant, but we can all accomplish more when we have a support system.”

“I think I am learning that, and I am getting better depending on other people.”

Fink was a guest on The Positively West Virginia Podcast. Listen to his full podcast here.

PWV QUICK BITS

    • RECOMMENDED BOOK: The “E” Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
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    • PERSON FINK WOULD LIKE TO MEET: “ I would like to meet any small business owner, and if I can help them, they can help me,” Fink said.

Contact Fink here: