Papa, CPA

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• January-March 2008 Issue
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Seniority carries benefits. Among them is the wealth of experience gained over the years, both from good decisions and the other kind, as well as the general building of professional knowledge and business relationships. With 42 years as an accountant, Bob Waldrop is certainly the beneficiary of all of these.

From his practice in the Denver suburb of Thornton, Colorado, the CPA can look out at the snow-dusted front range of the Rocky Mountains above Denver, a view he’s appreciated since starting his current practice in 1981. In years prior, he had been in partnerships with other professionals and had worked for Peat, Marwick & Mitchell, predecessor to KPMG. But his current practice has been the most rewarding.

During his years serving clients, Bob has seen companies come and go, but some have now been with him for more than 30 years, including the first, a local manufacturer. A few of these mostly family owned businesses are now on their third generation of owners, with Bob servicing the grandchildren of his original clients.

He was drawn to math and business early, so when the college years came, accounting was a natural fit. After graduating from Florida State University, Bob’s accounting experience started in the U.S. Air Force where he served as an auditor and attained the rank of Captain. He was also able to earn his MBA from the University of Colorado while in the service and had hoped to become a professor at the Air Force Academy, but circumstances would guide him into client-focused public accounting instead.

Bob’s firm has about 500 clients and specializes in tax compliance for small business and individuals, as well as write-up and other accounting services. In order to stay focused in this arena, he doesn’t do nonprofits, audits or reviews. With one other full-time accountant, Marsha Taylor, and part-time clerical, the practice relies heavily on technology to help them be more productive, but stay at the small size Bob prefers.

He was an early proponent of technology in the professional practice and has more than kept up with the innovations that have evolved in and around the public accounting space. The firm utilizes 19-inch triple-screen computer monitors, keeps a production-level printer on each desk, and has a total of four scanners: a unit at both workstations and two workgroup models.

The multi-screen monitors are a part of the practice’s movement toward a paperless (or at least less-paper) process over the past couple of years. They use the Zen View Manager from www.DigitalTigers.com, which provides taskbars on each monitor and other features. The office also uses paperless FAX and digital PDF file storage for all workpapers, client e-mails and documents.

“Multi-screen monitors have really increased our efficiency,” Bob said. “We’re not completely paperless and probably won’t be. We still keep anything with a signature, like engagement documents and Form 8879 authorizing e-filing. Otherwise, we scan and return source documents to our clients.”