Father celebrates 50 years at firm with son as partner

Bill Rush Mosby, of Natchez, MS-based Silas Simmons LLP, is celebrating his 50th anniversary as a CPA. For 20 of those years, he worked with his son.

Mosby told The Natchez Democrat that on his first day of work in 1960, the technology of the office consisted of adding machines on each desk and two massive, clunky Friden calculators for more complicated work.

"Now everything we do is on the computer," he told the newspaper. "If you gave a new CPA one of those machines we had, I doubt they would know what to do."

His son, Sim Mosby, graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1990 and accepted a position at the same firm. He, too, has seen his share of changes.

"One of my first duties when I started here was to maintain the library," he said, according to The Natchez Democrat. "At that time we had to subscribe to a large number of professional publications and when things would change, I'd go through and make sure each volume was updated. Now all that information is online and all we have to do is make sure our subscriptions are renewed."

In fact, all the Mosby children are CPAs. "We are all math-minded I suppose," Bill Mosby said. "Sim was the only one to come back to this environment, but the others are using the accounting background in other areas."

The younger Mosby said, "I was a little concerned when I started about following behind him. He is a hard act to follow." Sim Mosby is a partner in the firm, and at 70, Bill Mosby vacated his title as a partner and now plays golf every Thursday afternoon.

"I even take a short day during tax season," Bill Mosby said. "They can handle it."

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