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Looking back at my experience in the accounting profession has been a reflective experience, particularly given the events over the past few years. The technology that we often take for granted today was just beginning to be born in 1949 when I started in accounting. Color TV, electronics and computers were in their infancy. Cellular phones, microwaves and laptops were strange words. Commercial jet airplanes were just beginning to fly.

Accounting was a pencil and paper profession aided by adding machines, calculators and sometimes by a strange combination of a typewriter/adding machine called an "accounting machine." The CPA was often the only professional that business owners dealt with on a regular basis. Besides accounting skills, the CPA had to possess some knowledge of banking, insurance, finance and psychology.

The relationship between the business owner and the CPA was often a very close one and it was not unusual to receive calls on weekends or nights to deal with a perceived or real emergency.

The CPA's primary function was to prepare a profit & loss statement reflecting the results of the business operations and to prepare the necessary state and federal tax returns. Needless to say, dealing with the Internal Revenue Service and other compliance issues were always "paramount" to our entrepreneurial clients.

Today, accounting services are often much more sophisticated and include areas that in the 1960s we never considered.

As a founding partner of Amper, I strongly believe Amper's philosophy can be summarized in a single word… "SERVICE." When the firm was established, the founding partners agreed that we must give our clients complete attention and be on the cutting edge of exceptional professional services. We made a personal and financial commitment to invest in good people, facilities, research, state of the art equipment and education so that we could deliver the best possible services to our clients. I am proud that the philosophy continues in the firm today.