Kimberly C. Shaw, MIM, MAAc, EA, FA Fellow
Owner and Senior Tax Advocate
When I was working at the CPA firm here in El Paso, it struck me that, no matter how much work I was doing for the clients, I never got to see them, speak to them or advise them directly. That concerned me. Then I discovered that the CPAs were doing all of that, but only sporadically and never in consult with me, the person who had actually done the work and reviewed the file. I also discovered that the prices being charged were so high that small businesses really couldn’t afford them.
So, I decided to start my own firm with the express purpose of filling the information and assistance gap for small businesses that were too big to be run out of a simple checkbook but too small to afford a CPA firm’s hourly rates. I named it “Individualized Systems” because we work at providing individualized quality service to each and every single client who walks in our door whether they earn $1,000.00 a year or $15 million.
That is still my primary focus. While the business has grown large enough that I can no longer provide all that service personally, I work hard at making certain that my clients get the attention they need, have their questions answered and receive sound financial and tax advice regardless of their age, income level or business status. I care for each and every client that comes through my door. They are each unique and special people who have taken a difficult step in either becoming entrepreneurs or in asking for help with a problem they don’t understand. I take their financial security very personally and strongly feel that I have a special and essential responsibility to be a partner in their success.
My education has been extremely broad and varied starting with my childhood growing up traveling throughout Central and South America where I was fortunate enough to have exposure to several languages and multiplicity of cultures in addition to an excellent formal education. My parents were constantly ensuring that we had every opportunity to wring every drop of education possible out of any experience. My mother, in particular, could make a simply outing into an incredibly interesting educational event. A University education was never optional for us and the love of education instilled in me as a child has continued to this day as evidenced by the multiple degrees and areas of interest I have studied over the years including visual and performing arts, auto mechanics, education, photography, animal and plant cultivation and care, health and wellness, and so many others.
Part of the reason I went in to taxation as a career was that it affords me the opportunity to study and learn on a daily basis and not only academically. I get to learn about people and expand my understanding of life and society as a whole which makes me a better person. My business affords me the daily opportunity to indulge not only my passion for puzzles, mysteries and learning, but also allows me to help people in a very significant way while doing so. I love my job!
If you wish to review my specific academic and employment credentials, please take a look at my Curriculum Vitae which is linked below. If you want to find out who I am and how my business can work for you, please call us and make an appointment to interview me and my staff. I think you will find that we are “just what the doctor ordered” to make your life easier.