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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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April 2012 |
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In 1992, Dave Alpaugh started working with Paul on a part time basis. Dave was employed at the same office building with Hartman Coach, selling recreational vehicles. In the winter of 2004, Storms and Alpaugh moved to downtown Victoria to the brand new Clocktower building. Has office space gone up in rent over the years? "Yes," said Paul, "but we don't mind. It's quality space and we utilize it very well." Their suite on the second floor includes separate office rooms for each of the five people working there plus a storage area and access to a conference room across the hall. Walls were moved as the suite was recently remodeled to accommodate Bradley. Susan Storms and Amy Alpaugh, wives of the proprietors, also have key roles in the business. Has each of them an area of expertise? "We're experts in all areas," said Paul, understanding there is humility in truth. "We cover each other," he added. "We balance each other," agreed wife Susan. "We've become like a family because we are a family. Even Dick Alpaugh, Dave's dad, comes in to do the scanning and data archival." Said Paul, "We built our business from the ground up with a philosophy of close and competent service. I think tax preparation is a service. We like to be able to explain things to people so they know exactly what's being done and what changes every year." "We don't see our clients as customers but as friends," said Amy. Stated Bradley, who is on the same page as others in the office family, "Everybody's situation is so different and it's only fair to have someone competent to go through things with people, so their personal situation plays into the advice they get every year." "We're good at what we do," said Paul, who has acquired expertise in estate planning as well as income tax preparation. As the years go by, he has become keenly aware that "there are too many people in the wagon and not enough people pulling the wagon." In other words, a lot of people are paying taxes for too many others who are getting a free ride. "The best advice I give people every year is to make more money!," he said. "Don't let the tax code dictate your life, because once you figure it out they change it." "Or faze it out," added Dave. *** Dave Alpaugh graduated from Chaska High School in 1986 and from the University of Minnesota Carlson School, acquiring his CPA in 1994. Dave, Amy, and daughter Brianna live in Watertown. Their first daughter Kabrina was stillborn. Did Dave always have an interest in accounting? "I became interested when I was a senior in high school," he replied. "And then in college I didn't like tax. But now I do. College is so different from real life, including tax work. Learning to do it and actually doing it were better than studying it. But I've always liked numbers in one way or another. I enjoy problem solving and interacting with others." Since income tax season occurs intensively only once a year, what else does Dave do at Storms and Alpaugh? He replied, "I do payroll taxes, prepare checks for small companies, send out quarterly financial statements, and I do some consulting work in conjunction with estate planning and tax planning." Dave is also the IT man at the firm and that includes keeping records and files safe and backed up. "We have internal systems that automatically back up to a hard drive, and we also back up to an external system," he explained. "We have redundant hard drives." Dave's wife Amy graduated from Glencoe High School and Hennepin Technical College in Administrative Assistance and has taken classes at Mankato State University. Amy assists with payrolls, W-2's, 1099's, Accounts Receivable, statements, and tax preparations. Said Susan Storms, "Dave and Amy got married and couldn't stay apart and so the office grew." As for Susan, who has previously identified herself as French Canadian, she grew up in Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka and is a graduate of Minnetonka High School. "We had three boats," she said. "Then I went out into the real world and suffered just like everybody else." After high school, Susan worked at an Excelsior bank, then as a flight attendant for over 12 years with Northwest Airlines. "That's when movie stars were flying everywhere and didn't have their own planes," said the star-struck mother of two daughters, Emily and Sonja, graduates of Chaska High School, who were raised with Paul and Susan. Fashion retail was also her work for several years. The bride of Paul Storms since 1986, Susan has worked in her husband's accounting office for 22 years, answering the phone, arranging schedules, and contacting customers when tax work is completed. Paul stated that Susan's job at the front desk is to smile. ***
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