Meet Terry Lambert

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terry Lambert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terry, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I decided to start my own business because my job at the Internal Revenue Service became increasingly in peril as civil servant protections were being removed or eroded. There were countless news stories surfacing that those in my position, as a senior revenue agent, would be seeing reductions in force of anywhere from 20% to 50%. As a tax examiner for several years I realized that small business owners were receiving awful advice from their tax preparers, whether they were CPAs or EAs, and I saw a clear avenue to be able to help these small business owners meet their tax filing obligations while also saving them money by ensuring they received the full deductions and credits they are entitled to.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Getting to where I am today in my profession was not easy. As a first generation college student I worked incredibly hard in college to learn as much as I could and to get good grades. I tried not to take any of it for granted because I had seen how difficult it was for people like me to be successful. At the start of career I worked long hours (90+ hour weeks in some instances) as a tax associate at KPMG in Denver. I wanted to soak up as much knowledge and skills as possible. I still made a lot of mistakes as I was learning and so it was hard for me to handle the critical feedback. But I hoped that one day it would help me to have the skills to help others to meet their tax needs while not overpaying the government. When my wife and I decided we wanted to start a family I knew that having children and working these crazy hours would not be sustainable for me. So, I ended up leaving KPMG and ended up working at the IRS. At the IRS I saw a lot of mistakes being made by trusted professionals and it was the taxpayers that were left paying the extra taxes and penalties for the mistakes of the tax preparers. By starting my own firm I hope to help these people not be duped or pay for bad advice anymore.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would definitely take them to hike a fourteener. My wife and I hiked a couple of fourteeners before having kids and it was always an adventure. My favorite was conquering the trio of Mount Lincoln, Mount Democrat, and Mount Bross. For dinner I would take them to Bao Brewhouse downtown. We’ve been there a couple of times and the dumplings are amazing. One of my favorite places for drinks either before or after dinner is to go to the Emerald Eye. They have delicious cocktails and a great variety.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This may be cliche, but my mom was a huge inspiration and support for me throughout my life and in pursuing my current career. My mom was a single mom to my brother and i and worked over 35 years at the Internal Revenue Service. She started out working in a call center on the bilingual line helping immigrants and those that could only speak Spanish understand and meet their tax requirements. She eventually ended up going back to school in her forties to get enough accounting credit to become a tax examiner at the IRS. I remember in high school discussing tax policy and tax positions with my mom. Seeing how this career in tax helped her support our family and getting exposure to tax rules at a young age led me to pursue an accounting degree at Colorado State University and a Masters of Taxation from the University of Denver.

Website: https://www.tailoredtaxandwealth.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-lambert-cpa-a4623472

Image Credits
abbywatkinsphotography.com