Partner Summit 2021

For over 20 years, Paul Miller has been building his firm with a focus on meeting client needs beyond compliance work, and with a business consultancy mindset.

When Paul became self-employed in 1993, Paul found resources for tax planning, business structure/entity optimization and overall business coaching difficult to find. After founding Business by Design in Edina, MN, his goal was to help other entrepreneurs and small businesses be more tax-efficient and make smarter business decisions, in addition to providing traditional accounting firm services.

Today, Paul has developed a firm which provides high-margin Advisory Services firm for small businesses. His firm’s advisory lead relationship with clients build multiple income streams for the firm and establishes a unique value proposition. His firm specializes in business planning strategies which help business clients with tax efficiency, business transitions, and/or equity building strategies. These value-based services virtually eliminate the client fee pressure situations many accounting firms find themselves in today.

Business by Design employs a unique “team” approach that pairs Paul’s own entrepreneurial expertise with a highly trained and diverse staff that includes accountants, CPAs, enrolled agents, paralegal and administrative staff to provide high-level, results-oriented services to their clients. Paul’s focus on progressive use of technology to drive firm efficiency and better serve clients, coupled with his consultative approach to helping business clients, has positioned Business by Design as a firm of the future.

Paul & his firm hold a key strategic relationship with Thomson Reuters to build and shape our advisory services offerings. The combination of Paul’s experience in day-to-day operations of an advisory services firm with Thomson Reuters expertise in software and consulting has resulted in creation and development of Practice Forward. Practice Forward is a service offering like no other in the marketplace that empowers firms to transform their business models through advisory services. 

As the managing partner of FMA, C.P.A., a business advisory, tax and accounting firm based in Clearwater, FL, Mark Martukovich is building a firm that focuses being the trusted advisor for his clients.

Since joining the firm in 2009, Mark had been trying to build a business model that promoted the practice as an advisory firm. However, he struggled with a clear message and delivery method. In 2014 he attended his first Partner Summit, where he was introduced to the Breakthrough Firm concept — and he knew he’d found the model he needed to transform the firm.

He took the next step with the Thomson Reuters Practice Forward™ offering, becoming one of the first Practice Forward “graduates.” Since then, Mark has been successfully transitioning his firm from a traditional tax practice to a business advisory and accounting firm.

Mark graduated from The University of Akron with a degree in accounting, and is a licensed CPA in Florida and Ohio. He began his career as a staff accountant in Cleveland, Ohio, and transitioned into a business development role when he became the director of business development for the College Store Trade Association. He then spent 10 years as a commercial banker in the Tampa Bay area, working with small businesses to help them finance their capital needs, streamline their businesses, and plan for their eventual succession. Mark has more than 30 years of tax and accounting, business development and consulting experience with small and medium-sized businesses, and is the Managing Partner for FMA, C.P.A.  He has successfully transitioned from operations into the being the firm leader that focuses on business development and growing the advisory practice.   He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the SPCA Tampa Bay and is an active member in one of the largest business networking groups in the country. 

Since 1989, FMA, C.P.A. has been providing tax and accounting services, and has significantly grown the firm’s revenues coming from offering advisory service engagements. While the compliance revenue from legacy clients remains a majority of the current firm’s revenue, the advisory revenue has grown to nearly 45% of overall revenue and is expected to grow to $1 million annually within the next two years.  As an advisory firm, FMA, C.P.A.’s clients view the firm as a professional board that helps its clients view their business and the relationship with FMA, C.P.A. as an investment.

Any CPA firm can record history, FMA, C.P.A. can help you build a future.

Brittany is managing partner of Lanphier LLP, a tax and advisory firm in Denver, CO, that she established with her husband, Dennis, in 2009.  Over the past 10 years, they have developed their practice around a relationship-based, advisory-focused approach to client service. 

Brittany and Dennis established their firm upon exiting Big 4 accounting with a vision for bringing big firm expertise to a boutique environment, serving small businesses and individuals with sophisticated tax needs.  However, in their first 6 years in practice, they found themselves running up against many of the challenges that so many CPA firms face in their efforts to provide excellent service – tremendous workload, long hours, growing overhead, and difficulty capitalizing on the value they were delivering to their clients. 

In 2016, they attended their first Partner Summit, and were introduced to the concept of the Breakthrough Firm.  The message resonated deeply with the type of firm they wanted to be while addressing the obstacles that were currently preventing them from achieving it.  Using the tools and consulting offered through Practice Forward, they have completely transformed their firm.  In the past 3 years, they have significantly increased top line revenue, bottom line profit, and profitability by client.  These changes have allowed them to grow their firm more strategically, increased cash flow for investing in new staff, and dramatically improved their quality of life as firm owners.      

Brittany graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a B.B.A. in Accounting and an M.S. in Finance.  She was recruited by Deloitte to join their International Tax team in Denver, where she met her husband, Dennis.  They now have 3 young daughters, Brooklyn, Addison, and Hallie, and make their home in South Denver. 

Brittany & Dennis continue to invest in their practice using the Breakthrough Firm principles to create systems that empower staff and allow them to step into a true leadership and growth role within the firm.

As a Principal Trainer at Thomson Reuters, Therese has more than 20 years’ experience empowering tax and accounting professionals to embrace change and improve the operations, profitability, and success of their businesses. 

For more than a decade, Therese has been a lead presenter at Thomson Reuters Partner Summits—an exclusive thought leadership event designed to help firms thrive. She has also presented at SYNERGY users’ conferences, Evolve Your Practice virtual event series, various profession events, and at firm-sponsored events. She has guided thousands of practitioners, in hundreds of firms across the country to take full advantage of technology and integrated solutions to save time by creating efficient and effective workflows. 

Therese joined Thomson Reuters in 1999 as a product support representative for the tax product suite and was also the product lead for UltraTax/1040 and e-filing. She has been involved in product validation testing, on-demand training development, and content creation. In 2005, Therese joined the Professional Services team where she provides onsite and web-based trainings for UltraTax CS®, Fixed Assets CS®, FileCabinet CS®, Planner CS®, and ToolBox CS®.

Therese holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in management from Western Michigan University, and is a CompTIA CTT+ Certified Professional Trainer.

As a consultant with Thomson Reuters, Mo is passionate about working with clients across the country and delivering an exceptional client experience. Mo specializes in advisory, tax, and operational workflow and is a lead presenter at Partner Summit, Evolve Your Practice, and SYNERGY Users’ Conference.

In 2012, Mo joined Thomson Reuters as a product support representative for UltraTax CS. He then became a specialist for UltraTax CS and served as a product mentor and trainer and assisted the UltraTax CS Development Team with product validation testing. In 2016, Mo joined the Professional Services team. Mo provides live and web-based implementations for Practice Forward, GoFileRoom®, AdvanceFlow®, Onvio®, UltraTax CS, Fixed Assets CS, Planner CS, FileCabinet CS, and NetClient CS®. He is also involved in developing training content and course materials.

Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Mo worked for a local CPA firm focusing on Individual Taxation. He manages his own firm providing tax compliance and advisory services to individuals and small businesses. Mo continues to work with firms across the country to bring positive change to their workflow, enhance their use of technology, and develop best practices to ensure their success in an ever-changing industry.

Mo holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Michigan University.