Gaylynn

I am a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and experienced accountant. 

All through high school I was involved with Future Business Leaders of America. Most of my classes were geared towards business. I attended college at Brigham Young University (B.Y.U.) on a Presidential Scholarship, and graduated with a degree in Family Sciences.  

After graduating, I ended up working at Hanford, Richland Washington. I started in a word processing center; which was pre-computers. I ended up at the Fast Flux Test Facility (F.F.T.F.). First, working with the Preventive Maintenance group, as computers were starting to enter the picture. Later, I ended up on the budgeting end of the test facility, filling out massive paper spreadsheets, as this was pre-Excel (what an AMAZING program!). So, even at this time, business and accounting was taunting me. 

I took a break from working outside the home to start my family. While raising six children I continued to work in my own way. Some of the things I pursued were being a Lamaze instructor, in-home child care, an Avon representative, cleaning houses, and eventually a piano teacher for ten years. I even became a farmer’s wife, when we purchased 60 acres of land in Benton City, Washington.  I went from being a city girl (born and raised in Kennewick) to birthing lambs, piglets, and calves. You could find me trudging through snow to break ice in our pond to get water for the animals, or walking up and down our hill where acres of alfalfa was planted, moving sprinkler pipe. 

You can say that I had an epiphany one year, taking our tax return to a C.P.A. for review. Normally I did our own tax returns, but this one was more complicated. As he did our taxes, I realized that with my experience, I could be very capable if I ever decided to pursue accounting. 

A few years later, my husband, injured himself at work, and he was on a long-term disability. Since his future was up in the air, I felt I needed to return to college to get a different degree. I chose the field of business administration with a major in accounting. Little did I realize that the degree was NOT a piece of cake! However, when I graduated from Washington State University Tri-Cities I certainly was proud of my efforts. I had managed to juggle full-time schooling with a disabled husband and six children in school; along with cleaning houses on the side, teaching piano lessons, and still running the family farm. 

Fast forward twenty some years and I’m fully immersed in the accounting financial world. I’ve owned and operated my own company since graduating from college in 2000. I’m considered a public accountant in the sense that I do ALL aspects of accounting; both federal and state. My hope is that I can educate my clients on the best use of their money, creating a stress-free environment for them; whether it is ongoing with their own businesses, or clients that only need my help once a year to do their personal tax returns. 

Since money is so personal, my desire is to develop a close, long-lasting relationship with anyone that I help. It is my fiduciary responsibility to see that your finances are managed properly, and that they are watched over with care. I’ve had clients that have cried in my office over the mess they are in; but eventually, we are laughing together, as we put the pieces back in place. I want to be more than your accountant; I’d like to be your trusted friend for life.