CHRISTINA MINTON, CPA

Loving what she does and helping others succeed

by Mary Suman

Christina Minton, CPA

Tina Minton knows what you’re thinking, or at least what you’re expecting.

“What image pops into your mind when you hear CPA?”

The question is mostly rhetorical since Tina knows there’s a good chance you are probably conjuring up a dour, bespectacled, all-work-and-no-play fellow, hunched over a stack of tax forms, calculator close at hand.

“As you can see, we’re nothing like that, here!”

Nerissa Warmack, left, and Carolyn Satz with Tina Minton

“Here” is the office of Christina L. Minton, Inc. – Certified Public Accountants.  It is a warm and welcoming space where Tina has spent the better part of the past decade growing from a tiny start-up to a successful accounting firm with clients around the country and the world.  It is here that she has shattered that stereotypical pencil-pushing CPA image for countless clients with her easy smile, big personality, and quick sense of humor.

Tina earned her B.S. in accounting and went right to work for an accounting firm after graduation, earning her CPA along the way.  The job allowed her to hone her skills but the most valuable experience she gained was important insight about herself.

“I am not a good employee,” she says with a laugh.  “I just wasn’t really meant to work for someone else.”

After eight years, she left the firm and opened her own consulting practice on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.  There she perfected the art of accounting on a huge scale, managing multi-billion dollar pension funds.  But this self-described “people person” still felt like she was missing the mark on what she truly wanted to do.

“My passion has always been helping others to succeed,”  Tina explains.  “Being part of a bigger picture, helping a little business grow into a big business and meet their goals – that’s what makes my feet hit the floor each morning.”

So when marriage and family brought her to Hampton Roads thirteen years ago, she sold the practice in D.C. and jumped at the opportunity to redefine herself again.  This time, she started small.  Very small.  Working out of her Chesapeake home so she could be around for her middle schooler and two youngest children who were not yet in school, Christina started with just a single client on the books.  Over the next decade or so, Tina watched her children and her business grow.

Now, at the dawn of a new decade, there are big and exciting changes afoot for the company.  For starters, Tina recently contracted a second CPA to work for her firm. Carolyn Satz holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation and serves as an accounting professor at Tidewater Community College.  She also has a background in corporate accounting but left that side of the business to allow her more time with her six-year-old  daughter and four-year-old son.

Christina Minton and her husband, David, center, and her children Benjamin Hecker and Alexndra Hecker, left. With them are Tina’s oldest son Matthew Hecker, Kathy , and grandson, Jordan Hecker.

Tina’s favorite part of the tax business is interacting with clients, advising and counseling them, helping them strategize for the future.  She enjoys the meetings and other front line tasks.  Carolyn also enjoys working with clients but her real passion lies in deciphering what is, to the rest of us, undecipherable.

“My passion has always been helping others
to succeed.  Being part of a bigger picture,
helping a little business grow into a big business
and meet their goals – that’s what makes
my feet hit the floor each morning.”

                                                        — Tina Minton

“I actually really love tax research and keeping up with changes to the tax codes,” notes Carolyn with genuine enthusiasm.  “I like digging in and finding every possible deduction.”

“You know how every time they say they are going to simplify the tax code it gets more complex?” asks Tina.  “Well, that‘s why Carolyn’s here!  She loves keeping up with those changes.”

The addition of Carolyn to the team also means additional peace of mind for clients since each one  works directly with a true CPA.  In some accounting firms, it is not unusual for much of the work to be delegated to tax preparers.  Unlike CPAs, who have extensive education and have passed a state licensing exam, tax preparers can have as little as a single training course.  And should a dreaded letter arrive from the IRS, a preparer may not be qualified to appear before the IRS in place of a taxpayer.

“In some firms, a CPA may only see the forms long enough to sign off on them,” explains Tina.  “So if you have a question or concern, they won’t be familiar with you or your situation and will have to go back through your file from scratch to find an answer.”

The biggest change for the business in this new year is the move into a commercial space.  The company recently opened a new office on Eden Way in Greenbrier.  The office allows Tina to bring in more clerical and administrative staff to assist long-time Office Manager Nerissa Warmack and will be more centrally located for the convenience of clients.  With her two youngest children in middle and high school now, she says the time is right for a little separation between home and work.

“The problem for me is that I really love what I do.  This is not work to me,”  Tina says.  “With the office in the house, I’d always end up back in front of my desk even when I should have been doing other things.  The new office helps me delegate and really enjoy my time with the children before they head off to college, and with my oldest son, his girlfriend and my grandson.”

But don’t worry —  the move into office space isn’t changing Tina’s philosophy about doing business.

“When you walk through these doors, we don’t see you as just a tax return,” she explains.  “We see a person.  Someone we will partner with. We consider ourselves a part of your team.”

It is that inclusive attitude that keeps clients coming back year after year.

“I think all our clients end up hugging Tina before they leave.  Even people meeting her for the first time,”  Nerissa laughs.  “And when they return, she remembers them and knows what is going on in their lives.  They are more like family than clients.  It’s pretty obvious she’s not your typical CPA!”