Intriguing clients
First of all, let me just say that I'm losing sleep over this concept of who would be the most intriguing tax client - but I think the guy I would like to have represented most is IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves when he won his lawsuit against the IRS. I've worked on a few celebrity tax returns in my deep dark past, and it turned out that those people were actually real people with real financial problems and absolutely no clue about how to do their taxes, so it was kind of nice being able to assist famous people with the expertise I brought to the table.
So who would you pick if you could do anyone's tax return? In other news this week, we learned that accounting jobs are safe, at least for now, but what should controllers and business owners be asking themselves about staffing and how it affects the bottom line? We asked several experts and created a list of talking points for you to take to your client.
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Perry is a CPA and a former senior tax accountant with Big Four firm Deloitte. She maintains a small tax practice, she is a personal finance instructor, and the author of thirty books, including Surviving Financial Downsizing: A Practical Guide to Living Well on Less Income (Adams Media); QuickBooks on Demand (Que); Excel 2007 Macros Made Easy (McGraw Hill); The Complete Idiot's Guide to Doing Your Income Taxes (Alpha/MacMillan); and, most recently, Mint.com for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons). In addition, she is a former columnist for the Indianapolis Star and Indianapolis News daily newspapers.
Perry is a nationally recognized speaker who advises public accountants on using Internet tools to improve their accounting practices. She also taught a college-level introductory accounting class and was on staff at the Indiana CPA Society as a computer applications instructor. For five years, she was a contributing editor for Accounting Today magazine before taking over the helm at AccountingWEB.
Perry is a graduate of Indiana University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She returned to school to study accounting at Illinois State University, passed the CPA exam (in one sitting!), and worked for Deloitte in the Chicago tax department.
Gail has been named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor magazine and the American Society of Women Accountants.

