This week’s Membership Spotlight focuses on one of our newest members, G. Faith Owens. Faith is the owner of Grade A Business Services in Jefferson City, MO. While Faith has only joined MSA this year she is a seasoned accountant and tax preparer of 26 years.
Mrs. Owens is an Enrolled Agent and is a Certified Public Bookkeeper. She has an associate degree from Metro Business College and has attended Mizzou, as well as taking classes at a community college in Phoenix, AZ. She is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor who loves the “big catch-up,” as well as clean-up projects and multi-year compliance work.
Faith describes herself in her own words in the following passage. “I’ve worked with many industries. I’m currently heavily focused in construction, construction trades and real estate. Through all the years of ups and downs, I’ve been able to work with people I mostly enjoy while providing for my family. I’ve been lucky to work from home, mostly during school hours so that I could be Mom to three stepchildren I love dearly. They are all young adults now and I’m proud of them. As a solo operator, working from home 26 years ago, before it was considered normal, I sometimes have felt isolated from my peers. That’s why membership in this type of organization is so important to me.”
When asked what one item is that you cannot live without in your work she responded, “My phone. All my whole life is in there. From my contacts and address book to my calendar and task list. I have embraced texting with clients and wonder why I was reluctant to give clients my cell phone number in the first place.”
And her favorite tip for working in Accounting is “Often the truth is that we can’t care more about completing the work than the client. We have to be responsive when they are ready and patient when they are not able to step up to their responsibilities.”