Member Highlight

Jason and Dawn Eger Eger CPA

Fort Collins, Colorado

By Cindy Carroll

Since founding the full-service accounting firm Eger CPA in 2009, Jason and Dawn Eger have helped their small business clients create a better financial future by taking a proactive approach to helping clients create wealth and achieve their business goals. Since joining PASBA on a whim in 2017, this husband and wife team has grown from a staff of five to 15 while serving small business clients in the Fort Collins, CO area.

Entrepreneurs are Jason’s favorite type of people.

“I love people who are motivated, fight complacency, are passionate and dedicated to accomplishing lofty goals, but taxes, payroll, and finances might not be their strong points. We are here so clients can leverage our expertise to create wealth and achieve their vision of business success. ”

After graduating from Northern Arizona University and becoming a CPA, Jason thought he would be in the accounting profession for about 2 years or so before finding his true calling. “I love everything about business and entrepreneurship and figured being a CPA would give me a sneak peek into how the real world works and then figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. But I fell in love with what I was doing and made the switch from working for others to owning my own firm in 2009. ”

Dawn comes from a family of entrepreneurs and was a third grade teacher before joining her husband in his business endeavors. “I dove right in and have done everything but tax returns. ” She is currently the Payroll team lead and assists in business development as well as keeping the Eger team organized and accountable. Jason and Dawn have a daughter (14) and a son (12) who keep them busy when not working or enjoying their many outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking, biking, camping, and really any event that gets the family together.

“Prior to joining PASBA, we thought we were doing pretty well and were already utilizing some PASBA type systems before we joined, ” said Dawn. “I was working on our new website and needed to link to a reputable accounting association for better SEO. As I was researching, I found PASBA. After reading the description, I told Jason this is just the kind of organization we should be a part of. ”

Considering the business was doing well, they were a bit skeptical of the initiation fee but joined and attended their Jason and Dawn Eger

first conference in Baltimore.

“We needed a trip away from the kids, figured it would be a good tax write-off, and we might just learn something new, ” she added.

“It was by far the most memorable conference we have attended, and it changed the direction of our firm, ” Jason stated. “Tom Bowman kicked it off with his infamous ‘Bowritas’ as he called his margaritas. He then generously took all 100+ attendees on a tour of his office with each department having its own station and sharing invaluable information on how they are organized and how they operate. We were blown away with their organization and his office setup. This helped us envision the setup of our new office we were designing at the time. ”

“We couldn’t believe they were willing to share all their trade secrets, ” said Dawn. “With some tweaks, we thought we can do what they are doing, too. ”

Team Eger was hooked and jumped right in implementing a lot of what they learned, receiving PASBA’s New Member of the Year award in 2018. Prior to this in 2016, the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce recognized Eger CPA as Small Business of the Year. More recently, the practice was winner of the NOCO’s Best Accounting Firm in 2020, and in 2021, Teresa Fitch, CPA, MAFM, was named as one of BizWest’s Notable Women of Accounting.

The team also learned along the way to remain true to themselves and their business. “You start to meet all these successful people and want to be just like them, ” Jason said. “Don’t drink all the Kool-Aid and copy and paste all the ideas. Sometimes they aren’t the right fit for your firm. Listen, learn, meet amazing people, take great notes, and then add on to and perfect what you are already doing. ” He tells of switching software because others were using it without attaining the same positive results, and this set them back as they ended up reversing back to the old software.

Since 2019, Jason has served on the PASBA Board, leads the Marketing Committee and is part of the FRG Committee. He is also on the board of 911 for 911, a local group helping first responders during these difficult times. Dawn is an ambassador and business member for Realities for Children, an organization helping at-risk and abused children. Eger CPA is very active in its Chamber of Commerce and supports a variety of other community causes.

Last year, Eger CPA moved into the Large Practice category with over 150 clients and more than 200 tax clients. “We never dreamed of having a firm like we have now and we are having more fun now than ever running it, ” continued Jason.

“So many people in PASBA have helped us immensely with our business, but I would give an extra shout out to our FRG and our local CASBA (Colorado PASBA) group, ” he credited. “I am in touch with these folks throughout the year. Especially this past year as we have had to deal with the PPP, ERC, and local law changes as well. We never could have helped our clients as much as we did without their guidance and insight throughout these turbulent times. ”

One of their most impactful takeaways from PASBA is the monthly set fee schedule. Jason remembered the words of Tony Fiore at the Baltimore conference: “If nothing else, implement this first in your business. ”

“Now our monthly fee is the core of everything we do, it ties everything together, ” Jason said. “It made us think about and clarify all the services we offer, the type of client we serve, and it holds us accountable to our clients. ”

Implementing a good practice management software is key to having a firm that can manage your client and staff workloads. The firm is currently in the middle of converting to the cloud-based Qount practice management software.

“This is helping us make better business decisions every day, like when to market, when to hire, and so much more, ” he explained. “With Qount and Excel, we have all the data at our fingertips. We are finding so many efficiencies and things we want to change. That is the beauty of Qount; it is customizable to our business needs. The developer is listening to PASBA members' wants and needs and incorporating our feedback into the software. ”

Currently, Eger CPA is creating a Sales & Marketing department with the addition of Nate Grossnickle in 2021. With a background in web design, marketing, and sales, he is taking over much of Dawn’s marketing responsibilities and assisting Jason in sales efforts. Nate recently initiated a referral program rewarding monetary bonuses for new business leads. “We are doing this in steps, ” explained Dawn,

“because we are finding lots of adjustments need to be made where we thought we were ready to add the role. We are streamlining fees, onboarding, and other processes even more. Because Jason and I were doing these roles automatically without thinking about them, we had to create the system and tools to empower someone else. ”

“This is a leap of faith, ” added Jason,

“but we are laying the ground work to add more salespeople to the department in the future. We have to do this in order to continue to grow. PASBA has given us the confidence to make these kind of growth decisions. ”

Jason’s goal is to double in size, continue to excel in service, and implement even more technology into the practice. “We’ ve only touched the tip of the iceberg with Qount and other pieces of technology. We are now delivering financial statements and tax returns for clients using videos through our portal system instead of just paper. They love that they can go back and rewatch anytime they want.

“Our big goals for 2021 and 2022 were to focus on our people so we have implemented the Gallup-based StrengthsFinder (now CliftonStrengths) coaching program. Similar to a MyersBriggs analysis, the program clarifies how individuals go about tasks. Treating people as your greatest asset is essential to a firm’s success. ”

“This has been invaluable for our company ’s teams, ” Dawn said. “Eger CPA is broken up into 3 teams – Accounting, Tax, and Payroll. We have focused on individual strengths to improve communication and production within the different departments and firm wide. ”

With employees spread out across a large region in Northern Colorado, Eger CPA is moving to a remote/hybrid working model, too.

“Of course, COVID sped up this plan, ” she continued. “Employees are loving a break from long commutes, the safety working from home brings, and the overall flexibility. We learned a lot from what other PASBA members were doing to make this work in their organization. We are leaving it up to employees to decide how often they want to come into the office. Adapting to what they want improves job satisfaction. ”

“Clients seem to be embracing cloud-based technology, too, ” concluded Jason. “They enjoy not having to come into the office to speak with us when we can Zoom or video conference. And technology has given us the ability to help more small businesses, no matter where their location. ”