Tell us about your company. What services do you provide?

CWSEAPA®, LLP is a nationally recognized brand of Accounting and Financial Services. Our brand of financial products include:

• The Accounting Firm of Craig W. Smalley, E.A., P.A., a different kind of accounting service
• Tax Crisis Center®, LLC, offering tax resolution & representation before the IRS
• Estate Tax Expert®, LLC, offering estate planning
• Real Estate Tax Expert®, LLC, real estate consulting and 1031 exchange intermediary service
• CWSEAPA® Consulting, LTD, a tax advisory and consulting service
• CWSEAPA® Payroll Service, LTD, a payroll processing service
• CWSEAPA® Fiduciary Services, LTD, a corporate trustee and fiduciary company
• CWSEAPA® Entity Solutions, LTD, offering incorporation, entity formation, and register agent services

When did you originally start your company?

Although I have been in practice as an Accountant for over 20 years, we began CWSEAPA®, LLP in March of 2013.

What made you decide to start your own business?

I was with a partnership for over 19 years, and I decided it was the right time to go out on my own.

What do you like best about running your own business?

The freedom to run my business remotely, yet have a professional establishment where I can meet clients. Execu-Suites makes the office look very professional, and I often get compliments from clients on how nice our office is.

What is your greatest challenge in running your own business?

There just isn’t enough time in the day to accomplish all the things I would love to accomplish.

When you were in high school, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be an accountant.

What attracted you to accounting initially?

Tax Law is so vast and complex, that I truly enjoy the challenge of somebody bringing me a complex problem and being able to solve it for them.

What do you like most about what you do?

I was always interested in Accounting; however, I felt that Accountants were very dry, boring, and lacked personality and people skills. Accounting is a very conservative field. However, what we have done at our firm is leverage technology, and provide our clients with a more personal experience. I want to change how Accountants are perceived, and show my clients that we can do more than just add two plus two.

How do you enjoy spending your free time?

I watch a lot of baseball. I am an avid Chicago Cubs and L.A. Dodgers fan.

How do you manage to maintain a balance between work and free time?

Running your business remotely, you can run into challenges not knowing when to work and when to rest. However, I have gotten better about learning when it’s time to shut down for the day, put my devices and laptop away and enjoy quality time.

What quote or saying do you live by?

“ If We Don’t Take Care of Our Clients, Someone Else Will™ ”