Bob Smith, CPA, knows the key factor in life’s equation: family.
“Among my eight siblings … everybody is in the health care field. I was the numbers guy, so I went into hospital administration,” said Smith, 55. “I enjoyed it thoroughly. But ever since my wife, Sharon, and I married and had our boys, my dream was to build a business we could all participate in.”
The financial aspects of Smith’s hospital work helped lead to his decision in the late 1980s to seek Certified Public Accountant licensure. His switch from CEO to CPA was met with support from Sharon, then an English teacher at Cary High School.
“It was a big transition,” Smith said. “I started the practice in August 1995, and went door to door to solicit business.”
“In the ’90s, I didn’t know if my boys would be involved in the business or not,” Smith said. “I already knew they were good with numbers. And when they took algebra, I made them show the work even when the teacher didn’t.
“But at 16 Blake got a job as a (grocery store) cashier, and they soon had him in the back office reconciling the money each day. I said, ‘Yes, I think he’ll be in this line of work.’
“I knew by freshman year of college for Cam. I didn’t push them, but I’m sure I had some influence.”
A third son, Chris, owns a landscaping business.
Smith followed up his CPA license by earning a master’s degree in business management. Today, Blake and Cam hold master’s degrees in accounting, and in January the firm became Smith & Smith CPA, P.C., with Bob and Blake as its practicing CPAs. Cam, an accountant for the firm, is pursuing CPA licensure.
Director of marketing Becca Smith came onboard as the firm’s first full-time employee in 2004, when she and Blake were engaged. Sharon, now retired from teaching, is an accounting associate.
The practice provides business and tax services to clients across the region. In 2011, Robert G. (Bob) Smith, CPA, as it was then known, was named Cary Chamber of Commerce Employer of the Year.
Here in the office, exercise equipment hints at the family’s work-life balance; there’s even a pull-up bar hung from a door frame.
“During tax season, from February through April, we work seven days a week, 14-hour days,” Smith explained. “We have TVs too — we tell people it’s to keep up with the news, but it’s also so we can watch ACC basketball!
“And our grandson Trent, who’s 5, claims to have his own office, from spending his first two years here before going to preschool.”
Behind Smith’s desk is a gift from Cam that reads, “Dad’s Office – Open for Advice 24/7.”
“I still don’t know if he means that in an endearing way, or that he’ll get advice whether he wants it or not,” joked Smith. “We have our ups and downs, but we enjoy what we do. It sounds quirky, but we honestly don’t have any issues. Everyone feels treated fairly, everyone understands our roles and responsibilities, and everybody knows we can talk about a problem.”
Clients like the family business model, too.
“We’re well established,” Smith said. “The longevity is here — that makes clients very comfortable, to know five years from now they will be dealing with the same people. My motto has always been ‘Take care of the client.’ If we do that, we’ll do just fine.”
Outside the office the Smith family, including five grandchildren, plays together too, taking collective holidays and vacations.
“We do a pretty good job of keeping work at work,” Smith said. “Yes, we have work-related conversations at home, and we argue about tax law. Then we say, ‘Hey, let’s find a new subject.’”
As patriarch of the firm and the family, the goal-oriented Smith leads in planning for the future. That won’t include his retirement, although he’ll consider four-day workweeks “maybe 10 years from now.”
“I enjoy this too much,” he said. “I feel like the luckiest man alive, getting to live my dream and work day in and day out with my family.”
