Axiom Business Consulting Has Your Small Business Needs Covered

By Celeste McLaughlin

Tax Day (Wednesday, April 15) is closing in fast and Axiom Business Consulting offers comprehensive, all-in-one services for businesses who want more from their Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Axiom’s primary services include business and personal tax preparation, accounting and bookkeeping services, payroll services, IRS appeals and representation and financial audits, reviews and compilations.

Located in Telecom Park off E. Fletcher Ave, just a couple of miles south of New Tampa, Seema Jain, CPA, and her team partner with clients to offer much more than you might expect from a traditional CPA firm.

“We have a long-term focus for our clients,” says Seema, “and our philosophy is to always do the right thing for them. We believe in integrity and always treating people right.”

Seema earned a Bachelor of Administrative Studies (BAS) degree in Accounting and Taxes from York University in Toronto, Canada, in 1990. She also earned a designation as a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Ontario Institute of CAs in 2001, as wells as a CPA designation from the Florida Institute of CPAs in 2006.

She went into private practice in 2006. As Seema’s business grew, she says she wanted to expand both the firm’s staff and its services, so she moved her office to its current location in Temple Terrace, and named it Axiom, which she explains is a term she chose because it means “mathematical accuracy.”

“That’s the business we’re in,” says Seema. “It’s fundamental that our numbers are solid. Providing ethical and accurate accounting is the foundation of what we do. Having said that, we use tax planning in every possible way to help save every single dollar, to the full limits of the law.”

Seema’s husband, Sam Jain, is Axiom’s business development director and he is responsible for the marketing and leasing of the company’s long-term and virtual office spaces. The staff also includes Brittany, the office manager, and staff accountant Preksha.

 

Offices For Lease

Beyond its consulting services, Axiom provides office space for start-ups and other small companies. There currently are two businesses that maintain long-term leases — a financial consultant and a licensed clinical social worker. She says that about a dozen other businesses rent space on an hourly basis at Axiom, as well.

“We offer start-up businesses a place with a professional look and feel,” Seema explains. “Business owners can use our physical address, which adds credibility to their advertising. And, they have use of our boardroom, and our amenities, including a kitchenette, copy machine and scanner. And, each business has its own phone line, which our receptionist answers using each client’s business name. We have the infrastructure to handle that. You can specify how you want us to answer your phones with a script, if you’d like. We can make appointments for you, or forward your calls to your cell phone. And, best of all, the customer will never know; it’s completely seamless.”

Seema can relate to the need for these services. “I started my own practice in 2006 and didn’t want to have a lot of overhead, but I also didn’t want to have strangers at my home,” she says. “It’s not safe.”

She explains that this arrangement saves new businesses from having to make big investments in equipment and other overhead. Axiom even has computers available, although Seema says most people use their own laptops.

Clients who have long-term leases have unlimited access to the building around the clock. Virtual office clients share space during business hours. They set appointments when they need a day office, conference room or boardroom.

“With this arrangement, you feel like you have a whole team around you,” Seema says. “We refer business back and forth, and even celebrate birthdays together, which is something you don’t get working from home. So you have your independence, but we also offer some of the support of a larger company.”

 

Other Client Services

In addition to serving business clients with innovative solutions for meeting space needs, Seema says Axiom also is committed to giving proactive, forward-thinking general business guidance.

“We are here as a resource for businesses,” says Seema. “I believe businesses do themselves an injustice if their CPA only files taxes for them. We’re here for our clients year-round for support.”

For example, a business owner might wonder if they should have the business entity buy or lease a car for them. Should it be put under a business or personal name? “The answer is, it depends,” says Seema. “Give me all of your information and I’ll give you a solution.”

She says Axiom routinely handles corporate and personal tax preparation for businesses and business owners.

“We have experience with foreign reporting, which has recently been emphasized by the IRS,” Seema says. “Being from Canada and with extended family in India, I understand the nuances.”

Axiom offers IRS representation for people who have been audited or haven’t paid back taxes. Seema says they recently helped a client who truly didn’t know her husband wasn’t filing taxes. She was surprised to learn he owed the IRS $180,000 when he passed away.

“We were able to help her settle for a very low amount,” says Seema. In fact, that customer didn’t pay a cent, as the massive debt was waived under the IRS’s “Innocent Spouse Relief” program.

She wants people to know there’s relief for people who have made wrong choices and want to straighten it out and move forward. “We can help.”

Dr. Eric Carlson of Central Florida Eye Care Associates (located on Busch Blvd.) says he is one of Axiom’s newer clients, but in the couple of months he has worked with the firm, “they’ve done all kinds of work for me to really get things straightened out.”

He explains that, even though he was working with a CPA before, he had been turned down for loans because the bank told him his financial records were a mess. He thought he was going to owe about $10,000 in income taxes, and he was being audited by the state for a sales tax issue.

“Seema has taken care of everything and taken all the stress off of me,” he says. “She’s been so responsive to my needs. Whenever I send her anything, she does it right away. It’s been a pleasure working with her.”

And, Dr. Carlson isn’t the only client who is raving about Axiom’s services. Dan Byrne has been a client for the past year and a half. He is a Wesley Chapel resident who owns three corporations that operate Dairy Queen restaurants in Brooksville and Ormond Beach. “Seema is wonderful,” says Dan. “She is precise and thorough, and not afraid to spend time with you. You don’t feel like the timer is ticking every time you sit down in her office.”

Dan found the firm when his previous CPA, with whom he says he had worked for 25 years, retired. He interviewed several CPA firms to find the one that would be best for his businesses. Dan says Seema’s fees are in line with others who provide similar services, but he feels like he gets more for his money with Axiom.

Seema says that ‘feeling’ is intentional.

“We’re a well-established practice that goes out of our way to help our clients,” she explains. “Our clients have grown with us. It’s so rewarding when people come to me and say ‘I want to start a business,’ so we set up a corporation. Years later, we’re still helping them with services and now their businesses are flourishing.”

Seema says there has been a recent change in the environment where business owners now can do a lot of things on their own, but they still need tools.

“For example, when you hire us, we take full responsibility to be sure all of your tax forms are filed on time,” she says. “We take the time and energy and stress from you, and we stand behind what we do.”

Other areas of emphasis include audits and reviews for mid-sized businesses for lending and other purposes, such as going public, or if investors want audited financial statements.

“We have invested in the technology and have the expertise to do financial compilations, reviews and audits,” Seema says. “Not many small CPAs will do comprehensive audits because they don’t have the resources, technology or the willingness to assume the liability to do them.”

Another service they handle for businesses is complete payroll services.

“Let us do what we’re good at so you can do what you’re good at,” says Seema. “Let Axiom Business Consulting handle the back end of your business.”

 

Community Involvement

In addition to the sense of community Seema fosters within her business, she says she is actively involved in the community around her and says currently is getting involved in three primary ways.

First, she is on the board for TiE Tampa Bay, a non-profit organization that helps business entrepreneurs and matches investors with startups. She also volunteers as the treasurer at her place of worship, Jain Society of Tampa Bay in Carrollwood. And, she believes in the value of education for children, so she volunteers her time as the treasurer for the Bay Area Charter Foundation, a Board that governs two local charter schools in Temple Terrace and Riverview, so she can help kids have a strong foundation through a great education.

Axiom Business Consulting is located at 13234 Telecom Dr. in Tampa, in Telecom Park off E. Fletcher Ave., a mile or so west of I-75.  It is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. See Axiom’s ad on page 46 of this issue or, for more information, call 977-0089 or visit AxiomBusinessConsulting.com.