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Planning for your financial future can be overwhelming. That includes trying to figure out when might be the best time to retire. Gilmore Jasion Mahler Tax Partner Kathi Iott, CPA works closely with her clients to find the best answers for their personal situations. She says choosing the right retirement age for you hinges on one critical question you need to ask yourself. She tells you what that question is in our latest video blog.

Kathi Iott has two decades of public accounting experinece. Her expertise is in tax planning and consulting.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm's professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities.

If you’re looking for a profession that’s all about people, community and service to others… may we suggest accounting? That’s right, accounting. Gilmore Jasion Mahler, the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, recently launched a high school initiative to help area young people better understand what the accounting profession is all about.

The firm is taking professionals into area high schools for presentations on trends and opportunities in the field. The program is in conjunction with an initiative from the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA), aimed at educating high school students about the abundant opportunities and highly competitive salaries in the accounting industry right now.

“I have talked with accounting students who sometimes have five to six offers for full-time employment upon their college graduation,” says GJM Recruiting Manager Carrie Giannetti. She’s overseen recruiting for GJM for about five years, but has been recruiting in the accounting industry for two decades. “Most skilled accountants who present themselves well will have no problem finding a job, whether it be their first job out of college or making a change with some experience under their belt.”

Recent numbers from the Robert Half Salary Guide for Accounting & Finance show that salaries in public accounting continue to increase, with 2017 compensation (entry level to 3 years’ experience) ranging from about $50,000 to $90,000 a year, depending upon the size and geographic location of the accounting firm. The study shows that professional certifications and graduate work can further increase compensation by about 15%.

Giannetti is coordinating GJM’s high school initiative. She says competitive salaries certainly are a factor for young people in considering a career, but so are opportunities for professional development, company culture and other factors. A key focus of the GJM presentation is to help students understand that accounting may be a real option for them as a potential career... and what they think accounting is… may not be the reality at all.  

“What I find is that a lot of people have a misperception of what accountants actually do,” she says.  “Most people think of money, taxes, and sitting at a desk all day when they think of a career in accounting when in all actuality, people are our business. There are also many more aspects to accounting other than taxes, such as auditing, IT, and consulting and many accountants are barely in the office. Rather, they’re working out at the client site, establishing networks within our community, and helping others which can be very fun, social, and rewarding.”

The GJM high school presentations kicked off in the fall of 2017 with visits to Perrysburg, Bowling Green, and St. Francis De Sales High Schools. The firm plans more scheduled visits toward the end of the school year in May, 2018. GJM staff members helping with the presentations so far include Alex Spieker, Matt Cavanagh, Nick Jackson, Matt Hoverman and Krista Huff. Matt Cavanagh, a graduate of Bowling Green High School, even had an opportunity to visit his old locker the day of the presentation. Krista Huff helped with the Perrysburg High School presentation and is also part of GJM’s recruiting team, which engages quite a bit with college level accounting students at The University of Toledo and Bowling Green State University.

“I think it’s a great idea to educate high school students about accounting because I know at that age I didn’t know anything about the career or the opportunities it can offer,” she says. “Getting in early and introducing them to the industry is really a win-win for everyone. They can better prepare for their future and we can get even more excited and interested candidates in the future.”  

GJM also hopes the sessions will help address a lack of diversity in the industry, exposing students to a career path they may not have considered and one that can serve them well.

“No matter what type of business or industry you might want to pursue, whether you want to be an entrepreneur or work in management or supply chain, accounting will always be the most valuable subject to learn in order to be successful,” adds Krista. “Many people get discouraged by accounting because they think it’s difficult and heavily math-based and that is very much a misconception. Accounting is definitely difficult, but the opportunities and success that can come out an accounting degree and career are certainly worth it.”

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities. Learn more about GJM opportunities at GJMLTD.com/careers.

“GJM Pistol Team?  What’s that, exactly?”

Exactly what it sounds like!

Let me introduce to you this year’s co-captains of the Gilmore Jasion Mahler Pistol Team: Stacie Heitmeyer, defending champion Hannah Nowak, and yours truly.

We always strive to make GJM a fun place to work – people do their best work when they’re happy at the office. One way we do that is with a pretty unique offering: we are the only accounting firm in Northwest Ohio (or anywhere?) that sponsors an official firm Pistol Team.

A little history

In 2012, a handful of us who enjoy some target shooting in our spare time looked around at the various softball, bowling, kickball, and other team building fun outings, and thought “what a great idea if we did a pistol team.”  Cleland’s Outdoor World runs winter and fall pistol leagues every year, and the format of the league makes for a lot of fun. In addition to traditional bullseye targets, the league uses some variants like Bingo cards, word scrambles, etc., and some truly silly stuff like saltines, candy Valentine hearts, and once even an apple on top of a mannequin’s head. Results on the little candy hearts are usually pretty mixed but most of us do a good job on the saltines.

The league format also allows for substitutes – so we would bring five different shooters every week to get as many people involved as possible. This doesn’t always produce great team scores but it does give us a chance to involve folks from all the departments, so auditors and tax associates and consultants and administrative folks all get to play together outside the office. This builds some comradery among the departments and allows some friendships to form among people who otherwise might not have occasion to work together often.

We started challenging ourselves as to how many different shooters we could involve each year. The 2017 team fielded 26 different associates and interns at least one time, many of them first-timer shooters.  We all find teaching newcomers how to shoot fun and rewarding – its outreach for a sport we all love and who doesn’t love learning new stuff?!

We also get the sweet uniform shirts you see above, which is a fun souvenir of the experience, and draws lots of attention out on the streets or on campus. We’re a different kind of accounting firm, both for our clients and for our associates and interns. I love answering the question at the top – “Pistol Team?” – because it’s one more way to show we are outside the box.

But we’re accountants, so we have to compete

If you’re not keeping score, there’s almost no point in playing, right? So we do track and award both team and individual awards. The team award is the coveted Grand Interdepartmental Pistol Championship™.  Turns out that historically, the audit department is fairly awesome at this and has won three trophies in the six years we’ve fielded a team. Our healthcare group has won two and our tax team has won once.

Maybe 2018 will be the year tax gets back in the winner’s circle, where they haven’t been since 2014. Tax’s own Hannah “Shooter” Nowak has won two of the last three Individual Pistol Champion trophies, including last year when she won the championship on the final shot of the night, by plinking a peppermint lifesaver one-handed from 50 feet away, which will be a story re-told and probably embellished for a thousand years.  Also the annual Most Valuable Intern award will be up for grabs – our overwhelming two-time winner Jess Knepper has joined the firm full-time and is no longer eligible for intern awards!

Look for updates throughout the 2018 season, pull for your favorite to win one of the coveted awards, and maybe you’ll see us on some bubblegum cards come springtime. Happy winter meantime!

J Kenneth Saggese contributed this blog. Ken is a partner in the Audit Department of Gilmore Jasion Mahler. With the Firm since 2006, Ken is a member of GJM’s Construction and Real Estate Specialist Group. His area of expertise is affordable housing.

Work. Life. Balance? You could call it the curse of the working mom: trying to figure out a way to strike a balance between taking care of your family and having a successful, fulfilling professional life. There’s just not enough time in the day.

What if you could have the best of both worlds… the time to be there for your children and the time to succeed in your career?

That’s the reality for Gilmore Jasion Mahler CPA and mother of three Jaimi Arn. That’s because her employer, public accounting firm Gilmore Jasion Mahler in Maumee, has made some policy changes in recent years to make it easier for employees to achieve a work-life balance.

And, Jaimi’s personal life is all about family: Husband Aaron and 8-year-old Addisson, 5-year-old Jayden and 3-year-old Jackson. It’s about school activities, daycare runs, getting dinner on the table, bath time, bedtime. It’s about having good “mom” time.

With the Firm for 17 years, Jaimi is a manager in the Tax Department. She’s busy throughout the year working with clients, but says from the start of the calendar year leading up to the April 15^th deadline is her busiest time of the year. Yes, there are still many long days during tax season, but GJM staff members have options, thanks to a Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) policy. The policy allows those who work at least 25 hours per week to adapt their work hours to fit in with their busy lives.

Jaimi says the FWA policy is perfect for her. She says she works about thirty hours a week (of course, more hours during tax season). The policy allows her to fit her work schedule in around her mommy duties. Sometimes that means reviewing tax returns from home, once the kids are in bed.

“It works very well,” says Jaimi. “It takes a few years to get everyone on board, knowing your schedule, knowing, for example, that I leave at 4:45 versus 5 pm. It’s all about flexibility. It’s just a balance between everyone, trying to make it work.”

She says flexible work arrangements weren’t an option early in her career. GJM’s Human Resources Manager Jeanne O’Riordon says adoption of the FWA policy is a great example of how the Firm stays aware of industry staffing trends, and what their people need to succeed and to be happy.

“I think there was a time in the accounting profession when young women thought if they started a family, they couldn’t stay on with a firm because of the demanding hours, especially during tax season,” says O’Riordon.  “Those times are gone, at least at GJM. We have many mothers on our team who have made it work, thanks to the FWA policy.”

Jaimi says two of her pregnancies came right during her busiest time of the year at work. Jayden and Jackson have January and February birthdays, which meant her maternity leave for each of the boys was during tax season.

“I certainly didn’t plan it that way,” she says. “There was sort of a running joke with some of my clients. I told them I’m done with tax season pregnancies. Honestly, clients were very cooperative and the Firm was very supportive.”

Jaimi credits Firm leadership and the GJM culture for the successful FWA policy. She says she has a manageable level of activity in her life, and that’s no small statement for a working mother of three.

Learn more about careers at GJM including current opportunities on the GJM careers page.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers comprehensive financial services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities.

Ah spring is here! It’s a great time to tackle those projects you’ve been putting off all winter like a closet cleanout or that dreaded window washing. Don’t forget to clean out your tax files too. This is a great time of year to thin the herd, so to speak. Many of us tend to hold onto those tax documents and tax returns and supporting documents much longer than necessary. You may need that someday, right? Maybe you’re an admitted paper hoarder, but you’re now finally ready to purge and free up some space in the filing cabinet. You’re probably wondering how long to keep personal tax records. Here are some guidelines so you get it right.

Income tax returns:

The general rule, according to the IRS, is to keep your tax return for three years from the date of filing (or two years from the date you paid your tax bill). The IRS says be sure to also keep the supporting documents, like your W-2s and 1099s. The reason for the three years: that’s how much time you have to amend that tax return and how much time the IRS has to impose further tax.

Exceptions:

Of course there are always some exceptions…

1. You need to keep personal tax records for six years if you’re not reporting income that you should be, and that income is over 25 percent of the gross income reported on your return.
2. You need to keep records for seven years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities.
3. You need to keep records indefinitely if you don’t file a tax return or if you file a fraudulent return (hopefully you’re not in this category!)

What to pitch and what to keep:

It’s hard to know when you open up that jam-packed filing cabinet at home what you can ditch and what you can’t. Just remember, not all documents are created equal. For example, any documents related to property. The IRS says you should hang onto records related to property until the period of limitations expires for the year you sell or dispose of the property.

Something else to keep in mind:

Just because you don’t need supporting documents for tax purposes anymore doesn’t necessarily mean you can pitch them. Some insurance companies and creditors may ask that you hold onto them longer than the IRS. 

State returns:

Double check with your state department of taxation or your tax preparer regarding how long you should keep a copy of your state tax return. This will obviously vary from state to state. The Ohio Department of Taxation says to keep copies of your state tax returns for at least 4 years from the deadline or the date you filed.

A couple of other thoughts:

• Keep a copy. If you file your taxes online, you need to remember to always print out a copy of your return (and keep supporting documents) before you hit send to electronically submit your return. Don’t assume that there’s an online copy somewhere you’ll have access to. Be sure to print a copy for yourself if you file a paper return as well. 
• If you’re moving away from paper files at home to an electronic filing system, it goes without saying that you should finely shred the paper documents once the information is safely stored (and backed up) electronically.

Happy purging!

GJM Tax Partner Kathi Iott contributed this blog. With over 20 years in public accounting, Kathy helps both individuals and businesses with tax strategy. She works across many industries, including construction and real estate.

Established in 1996, Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM) is the largest public accounting firm in Northwest Ohio, with offices in Maumee and Findlay. Locally owned, GJM offers cloud-based accounting services and provides comprehensive services including assurance, business advisory, tax, risk advisory and healthcare management. The Firm’s professionals specialize in industries including construction & real estate, healthcare, manufacturing & distribution and utilities.