Transcript of the conversation with Brandon Schindelheim I CPA, Esq.
Alyssa Butler
Hello, everyone. Welcome to another fireside chat here at careful security. Today we have with us, Brandon Schindelheim CPA partner at Sr, DSL. CPAs. Hi, Brandon, how are you?
Brandon Schindelheim
I’m good hanging in there. How are you?
Alyssa Butler
Here? It’s just January. Why are you so bummed?
Brandon Schindelheim
Oh, I don’t know, April 15. Can’t get here soon enough.
Alyssa Butler
So I think we all know what you do. But why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on today or if you’re already in the trenches?
Brandon Schindelheim
So we’re in the middle of 1099 compliance, that’s due at the end of the month, January 31. The issue this year is that if you have at least 10 informational forms, you have to E-file. So that’s the taxpayer clients that we have. So that’s just that is becoming a bit of a little chaotic because there’s a new IRS FBI website called IRI s, we’re on the website, but on their website, there’s another function that you have to register for. So that had problems. Then the software itself, we had to re-import them because only some of the names came from before the current year. And so that was just another hiccup. But we have 20 days left. So we’re gonna get through it. didn’t serve that great, but it’s going to be much better going forward.
Alyssa Butler
You could do it, you could do it. Well, let’s take you out of the present moment. And let’s reminisce What was your first job?
Brandon Schindelheim
Oh, boy. 17 I was a Usher concession stand person at the movie theater and General Cinema at the Fallbrook Mall in West Hills.
Alyssa Butler
Oh my gosh, I’ve heard of them.
That’s so funny. That location was then taken over by Lemley. And now it’s another AMC, but it’s still there. It’s just changed ownership.
So did you get to go home with all the movie posters you wanted?
Brandon Schindelheim
I do have a bunch. Gosh. The Santa Claus? The movie Forrest Gump. Those are big back then. I’m dating myself.
Alyssa Butler
I just watched the Santa Clauses last Christmas. And I cannot believe how old it is. I just came out. So we’re in the same boat. Well, what kind of services? Can people reach out to 400? So
Brandon Schindelheim
we do pretty much all the nuts and bolts of accounting and tax. We also do some business management. Some people are in front of the camera, some people are behind the camera, and some people are not in the camera at all. Restaurants. We have one chain that we work on. And then we are a full-fledged CPA firm. So we do some CPA-licensed work so that those are attestation engagements, like reviews and compilations. So if you’re just a tax preparer or an EA or a bookkeeper, you can’t do those types of projects. CPAs are only allowed to do those. And then, of course, some bookkeeping. We have some of that. But for large scale bookkeeping, we usually will contract with some outside people in my network.
Alyssa Butler
So you see you’re busy.
Brandon Schindelheim
Yes. So there are I mean, as far as tax returns, we have quite a few and I do have a couple of partners and about four or five staff. And then there’s a seasonal person we add on just because we need the extra hands. So we’ve managed to get that temporarily through April 15. And this person does the assembling and we’re trying to go more streamline electronic PDFs, password protected rather than the hard copied copies of tax returns that typically clients like to receive but it’s just it’s not efficient. It wastes a lot of paper, a half the time clients just throw these out and have a look at them. So this way we can get them out much faster. We’re also trying to use E signatures on our E-file forms which will also make things way more efficient. The lot of the kinds of clientele that we have are more millennial middle age like myself, more tech-savvy, less on the senior citizen side or they like to see the hardcore So it’s a lot easier now that we have that sort of clientele base, and they just would much rather not even deal with taxes. So if they have to see another hardcopy tax return, it’s the last thing they’d like to do.
Alyssa Butler
Yeah, well, you know, now that you’re kind of going more digital, do you have any cybersecurity concerns that you’re dealing with? Or that you’re thinking about?
Brandon Schindelheim
Yeah, so we have some things in place, we have cybersecurity insurance. We have several firewalls. And anytime there’s anything transmitted, we always have password protection on it.
Alyssa Butler
Interesting to kind of think about those things. I still keep all my tax forms, though. So I don’t know if that makes me a good student or not.
Brandon Schindelheim
Just seven years, you don’t even
Alyssa Butler
have any years. Yes, yes, yes. But in the past seven years, I still have, I’m Brandon, to close this out. Thank you for spending time with us. But can you share one nugget of wisdom that you’ve learned over your career?
Brandon Schindelheim
I would say, it sounds corny. I enjoy what I do. So enjoy what you do, and treat people the way you want to be treated. My practice has grown considerably in the past 10 years. And partly, it’s those two items, but also, you need to be reliable, competent, trustworthy, and articulate, if you have to explain some esoteric themes in tax, you want to make sure that it’s dummy down, but not to dummy down or that they a lot of people may think that you’re being condescending, so I think if you can figure out that, but in a general sense, my life I’d say, enjoy what you’re doing and treat people the way you want to be treated
Sammy Basu
as a brand. And I’ll step in now, maybe some questions. But yeah, I liked this concept of dumbing it down, but not enough so that it doesn’t appear condescending. It’s a similar challenge in cybersecurity as well. So how can you give an example of how you do that?
Brandon Schindelheim
Um, okay, so if I have to explain a computation related to what’s called the qualified business income deduction, is an algebra two-equation. So I don’t go into that. Because they’re gonna be like, I don’t I’m not a high school. I didn’t go into math. But I explained that after I provide this, it’ll give you a 20% tax deduction, potentially, they understand the 20% It’s still a term that may be a five five-year-olds not gonna understand. But, uh, you know, taxpaying adults would. So if I was, if I can give them that idea that I’m not going to give them algebra 2 equation, but that’s something that’s 20% They can get their head around.
Sammy Basu
Yeah, that’s a great, that’s a great, you know, points perspective. Yeah, because the child wants to know, what’s in it for them. Right. They don’t want to know all the equations that you’re solving. No, no.
Brandon Schindelheim
Yep. And then, the irony is, as a CPA, people think you have to be good at math. I was but that’s not it. It’s what you need to know, the law. And you need to be organized. I happen to also be a licensed attorney, not that I practice, but to keep the license active. And I think that’s, that adds even more credence to what I say when I talk to US taxpayer clients, and these clients that have known or they’ve become friends and family mine. It’s not. It’s, you know, my cell phone. It’s it’s a very easy conversation. They don’t like when they owe taxes, but who does? I try. I try to do the opposite. I try to get them refunds.
Sammy Basu
Nice. Oh, Brandon, what, what is the happiest day in a CPS life?
Brandon Schindelheim
That’s easy. It’s there’s two Happy Days either. Right after April 15. Okay, right after October 15.
Sammy Basu
God, that’s a day you should call Brandon. Oh,
Brandon Schindelheim
thank you.
Sammy Basu
So you look like a Hollywood CPA, Brandon with dark glasses. The was a peppered look. And that wasn’t on purpose. It looks like you’re straight from a Hollywood set and you’re solving big, you know, a big problem that your client has gone into like, and you also started your career as an usher. So what was the journey?
Brandon Schindelheim
There was a lot of turns. I always had a strong work ethic. I got to UCLA and decided I didn’t want to be a psychologist because I was a psychology major. And had figured there were a few professions you could go into with just a college degree, one of which was accounting, and it is another one, engineering as a third. And I wanted to make money right out of college. So worked for a few years doing accounting-type work, and went to law school, I thought, let me be a tax attorney, pass the bar, and then realize that the type of law I wanted to go into, had to be in a top tier Law School, which I didn’t get into. And so I fell back on my CPA background and got into a large accounting firm. And I was there for about five years. That was a partner track. And I just was working way too many hours throughout the year, not enough consistency, and then worked in two different corporate tax jobs, with more consistency, but my commute was downtown. And I del la downtown is not a place that I wanted to work, taking the subway and all the grimy grunge that I had to deal with. And then I bought in this practice about 10 years ago, have a lot more predictability, I can see my kids grow up, then I’m not going to be an absentee father, not at the dinner table. And I just like the clientele that I have become, like I mentioned friends and family. And the partners are great. Now that I’ve like I said, our two guys are probably going to be one of them is going to be retiring soon. So bringing in a CPA, she’s she’s also pretty experienced. And it’s this firm that has been around for about 60 years. And because of that, and the consistency, there’s about three or four generations of family that have been through here. So you I mean, even I’m seeing grandkids now that I had been doing their parents and then the kids and other grandkids but ya know, this is this is a great place. I’m planning on staying here for till I retire.
Sammy Basu
Awesome. What’s your vision for the future like with this side
Brandon Schindelheim
I see a tremendous amount of opportunity in this profession, forgetting EAS and bookkeepers and tax preparers, CPAs. It’s not an easy license to get. And a lot of the CPAs that are currently active are older. And because of that, several articles are out there, it’s 17% of all American CPAs have exited. Being a CPA, either they’ve died, retired, stroked out, changed professions, that’s almost one out of five. And the other statistic I read in the next 10 years 77 or 70% of all CPAs are going to be exiting the profession. That’s a lot of people that are going to need help. So we CPAs have a lot to look forward to. but also be able to decide who we want, as our clients clients that have a good CPA, need to treat their CPAs well because there’s not a lot of us. I say that these are the six statistics I’ve read. So I see it growing. But we just need the right people in here to support all those extra people that are gonna be looking for a CPA, if there’s end up passing away, or getting a heart attack this this has happened. I have had many clients over the past five years. That’s what they call me my CPA just had a heart attack. She had a stroke. They’ll say sick, just retired and they don’t they sometimes will drop that, you know, obviously medical not medically medical reasons to do that. But they just want to retire and they don’t tell their clients and their clients are left in the lurch that I would never do that but this happens.
Oh man, well, we’ll post it on LinkedIn. If people need CPA advice they can reach out to you. Thank you, whatever CPA and
Is anybody in any good CPAs out there who is interested in being part of a growing firm that’s been around 60-plus years? Please contact me
Sammy Basu
righty good, right? Yeah. Well, that’s what is the CPA dream often The night.
Brandon Schindelheim
What was that?
Sammy Basu
What does the CPA dream of in the night?
Brandon Schindelheim
Tax? Dollar is a joke? I don’t know, I was always it were debits and credits
Sammy Basu
CPA dreams of debits and credits. Debits, credits and Brandon shindow. Hi. Thank you. Thank you for being.
Brandon Schindelheim
Thanks, Sammy. Thanks for all your security information too. Yeah. I appreciate it. Thank you, Alyssa. Appreciate your time.
Alyssa Butler
All right. Take care of your heart.
Brandon Schindelheim
Thank you