Brian Bentson, CPA
Business Name: Bentson, Vuona & Westersten, LLP
Website URL: http://www.bentsonvuona.com/
Email Address: brian.bentson@bvwcpas.com
Year Founded: 1995
Number of Employees: 8
What does your company do?: Traditional CPA firm: Audits, Reviews and Compilation of financial statements; Corporate, Partnership, Individual, Estate, Trust and Retirement plan tax returns; Consultation on finance and tax matters.
Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?: The first phase was entering into partnership; the second phase was purchasing our facility and the third phase was promoting a senior manager to partner.
What processes or procedures have you implemented that have helped grow your company?:
We continually network within our community. As a local CPA firm our best referrals come from our peers and existing clients. We also maintain state of the art technology to service our clients.
What is most rewarding about running your business?: The satisfaction of being able to assist your clients meet their goals.
What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?: Challenges present themselves in a variety of ways, from staffing needs, to changing client demands. We try to either find solutions to these challenges internally or strive to guide our clients to outsourced solutions that will help.
If you were starting over today, what would you do differently?: I practiced for 10 years as a sole proprietor. I think that there is value and synergy in the partnership model. I would have built and enjoyed that earlier.
What advice do you have for other business owners?: Depends on the question. But in general, running your own business is a wonderful responsibility. But you must be diligent and cautious throughout. Over time you will see that your efforts will have built something that you can be proud of.
Please list any favorite books, tools or resources (software, website, etc.) you would recommend for others: A great book for the practicing CPA is: Firm of the Future, by Ron Baker. It’s a great discussion about breaking out from what was the traditional CPA firm model.
What is something that people might be surprised to learn about you?: I am pretty much an open book. So once you get to know me there are no secrets. I’m an avid San Diego Charger fan and would love to lower my golf handicap a stroke or two…
