Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikol Ashual.
Hi Nikol, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started my tax journey during my senior year of high school 2006. I was working as a front-end manager at a grocery store after school. There was a well-known tax preparation company in the same shopping plaza as where I worked and they were advertising free income tax courses. A friend of mine that worked with me told me about it and we both signed up. The course was 2 nights a week and at the end of the course if you pass you could get an opportunity to work for their company so I said why not? My friend attended a few of the classes but she couldn’t continue but I kept going. I ended up passing the course and was offered a position as a seasonal tax associate. I was very fortunate to have worked in an office with such knowledgeable women. They helped me when I got stuck on someone’s return and I would always listen to them with their clients as they provided such a wonderful customer service experience. After the first tax season, I re-took the basic income tax course as well as took higher courses to be stronger in certain areas. My third year with the company, I became an office manager and I finished the year being awarded “office manager of the year” within our region which was from North Maine to South Florida. A year later, I had the opportunity to manage a tax office in Brooklyn, NY. My goal was to become a district manager in NYC so I figured this would be the “door” to that dream. That tax season in NY was a challenging one. Other office managers belittled me while the district’s maintenance harassed me. I don’t know how I was strong enough to overcome it all but I did. I never complained or told anyone about the harassment because I wanted to be taken serious for the district manager position. This is the first time I’ve ever mentioned it because I want to show that anyone can overcome anything. That tax season had so much snow that busses and taxis weren’t running so I spent some nights in the office. I rented a basement apartment with the only furniture being a twin sized bed. I sacrificed everything just to get the higher position. At the end of that tax season in NY, I exceeded the revenue goal by over 5% and my office sold more products than any other office in the district. Even with all of that, I was never given a chance to get an interview. The reason was because I didn’t have experience managing multiple offices. I moved back to Florida and I managed two tax offices during the tax season of 2013. I enrolled into college so my schedule was 6am-8am college campus, office 1 9am-2pm and office 2 3pm-8pm. During the off-season which was from mid-April to July, I was working in the year-round office. From October- December I was taking continued education courses and I was an instructor to a few income tax courses. I did a few more tax seasons and an opportunity was open for the district manager position. Again, I was never given the chance to an interview as they said they needed a “Spanish speaking” person however, they ended up hiring someone who knew no Spanish. They also said I made the company more money as an office manager. My last tax season with the company was in 2016. The company lowered my pay by $7 per hour as “I worked too many hours a year prior”. I worked that last tax season as just a tax associate and not a manager. I wanted to let my clients know that it was my last season with the company. I worked with them for almost 10 years. I grew close with so many clients, I had to provide them with a proper “goodbye”. The next year, I opened my tax business in a little office in a building. Only people who knew me or knew of me made appointments. My first year on my own, was in 2017 and I had about 50-60 clients. As the years have gone by, I now have over 1,000 clients and about 40 monthly bookkeeping clients. My sister now works with me and manages the bookkeeping part of the business. We are continuously growing and looking forward to what the upcoming years bring us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not. With any business, there is almost always a bumpy road. I have been fortunate to have such amazing clients. COVID has been a big bump in the road but it did open more opportunities with offering services to clients world-wide with the option of virtual appointments.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We treat each and every client exactly the same. We don’t prioritize any client over another. Each client is treated like family. When I prepare a tax return, I prepare it like it’s my own return. I go BEYOND the “extra mile” and I guide my clients with what they can do this year to make next year better. It’s all about taking small steps to making a big change. Our services are one-of-a-kind. It may seem like just another tax firm, but we provide each client with attention, care, and amazing customer service. My clients are so comfortable with me and we talk about everything. We go beyond bookkeeping with our business clients – we help transform their businesses from $0 in the business account to tens to hundreds of thousands plus saving them thousands of dollars in income tax.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Treating people right and having a passion for what you do is the true key to any success. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. If you love what you do, people can sense that. You will always thrive to go above and beyond for them and they truly appreciate that. Your clients will be your free advertisement by referring all of their friends and family to you and that’s exactly how I grew my company.
Pricing:
- Individual Returns start at $75
- Monthly Bookkeeping Services start at $275
- Payroll services start at $35
- Misc services prices vary
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tabsjax.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tabsjax
