Productivity in Practice

Firm Name: Van Bulck & Company, CPAs Location: Sumter, South Carolina Websit: www.vanbulckcpas.com
PRODUCTIVITY SCORE™ — 400 (The Productivity Survey is sponsored by Thomson Tax & Accounting. For more on this free business assessment tool, visit www.cpatechadvisor.com/productivity.)

The two met as a result of a double date arranged by a friend while Margaret
was attending Westminster School, a preparatory academy in Atlanta, and Hennie
was at UGA. The personal and professional lives of the two have been deeply
intertwined ever since. While Hennie finished his doctoral work and gained U.S.
citizenship, Margaret completed an MA in Economics, and both set off into the
lofty world of academia.

During the next 10 years, they taught economics and business courses while
on the faculties of Clemson, the University of South Carolina at Sumter, and
St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. “We’ve always
worked very well together, complementing each other,” says Margaret. They’ve
certainly had time to get used to it, since they’ve worked together for
all but about the first two years of their 30-year marriage, even sharing an
office at St. Andrews for a time.But the two started to think about “the
rest of our lives,” and knew it was time for a change. Margaret’s
father had an accounting practice in Sumter, so Hennie and Margaret both left
their teaching positions to work for her father and take courses to prepare
for the CPA exam. They both earned their credentials in 1985 and took over her
father’s practice a year later.

“This was still in the time when we used service bureaus for tax preparation,”
said Hennie while recalling the first tax season that he and his wife were in
practice. “I remember filling out input sheets and sending them to the
service bureau, working until midnight or later.” He also laughs about
the first real error he made. “It was late, and I had been filling out
K-1s for what seemed like hours, and I copied the K-1 sample data by mistake
and submitted it to the bureau!” Margaret was also challenged early on
as the partner responsible for obtaining new clients and building business relationships
without her father’s name to stand on.

Things have progressed a long way since those early days, with the practice
now serving hundreds of personal and business clients, specializing in providing
payroll and accounting services to small businesses, with a focus on physicians
and legal firms (Hennie’s specialties), and providing fiduciary and estate
tax and consulting services (Margaret’s specialties). In addition to both
being CPAs with advanced degrees, Hennie is accredited as a business valuation
professional. His Ph.D. and personal experience in business further strengthen
his consulting capabilities.

As Hennie describes his niche, “I don’t claim to be the smartest
accountant, and I don’t necessarily know the most code sections by heart,
but because of my background in both practical business and academics, I give
my clients broad business consulting expertise and help them plan for success.”

For Margaret, the key is helping people. “Fiduciary, estate and trust
work is profitable, but it also feels good to help people plan ahead,”
she said. “It’s important to get people to realize that estate planning
is something that they need to do while they’re healthy so that the tough
decisions don’t have to be made at a time when people aren’t always
at their best.” So she assists clients with planning wills and trusts,
living wills, and durable and healthcare powers of attorney. She works with
their legal counsel to see that these documents are prepared to best meet the
needs of her clients.

Technology has played a significant role in building and maintaining the practice,
from using virtual office technologies and remote data backup, to online portals
for clients. Hennie recalls the event that stressed the importance of keeping
data stored in a safe place: “When Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989, our power
was out and the computers were down, but our clients still needed their payroll.”
The events of September 11, during which time Hennie was stranded while on vacation
in Holland, reinforced the notion of business continuation, he said, because
whatever the disaster, it is imperative for any business to get up and running
as soon as possible in order to survive.

Adopting the virtual office technologies wasn’t an option for their
firm; it was a necessary investment that has proven valuable not only in offering
security, but also in client service benefits. Their use of various technologies
to enhance firm productivity earned Van Bulck & Company, CPAs a score of
400 on the Productivity Survey, an excellent achievement considering the size
of the practice, which has a total staff of five including Hennie and Margaret.

Running any small business can be demanding, and accountants know that running
one that other businesses depend on is especially so. But Hennie and Margaret
still make time to spend with only each other, with recent vacations to Hawaii
and Bermuda, as well as a condo on the South Carolina coast. Hennie also volunteers
as a Troop leader with the Boy Scouts and serves on the Executive Committee
and as treasurer for the Sumter YMCA. His model trains were dismantled during
a recent move, but Hennie hopes to get them back up and running soon.

Margaret is still active in the practice, especially during tax season, but
she has been increasing the time she devotes to photography, a passion she says
she’s had all of her life. She primarily focuses on natural settings and
on the relationship between humans and nature. “I’ve always loved
photography, but I didn’t always have the time to pursue it seriously,”
she said. “But now I’ve gotten to the point where I can be more
flexible with when and where I work, and the office staff can always reach me
for client issues.” When not in the office, she is likely to be at her
studio in the woods near Bishopville, or trekking across the country with her
camera. Her photographic passion has taken her throughout the Southwest United
States, as well as Oregon, Cape Cod and Maine.

The couple also has two children, both of whom are away at college. Marc,
who graduated from Emerson College in Boston, is now pursuing a Masters of Divinity
at Columbia Theological Seminary. Daughter Sydney is pursuing a degree in elementary
education at the College of Charleston. So whenever needed, they have two additional
excuses to travel for holidays or an extended weekend.

Along with Margaret’s decreased presence in the office, the practice
is about to undergo another change: Hennie has just accepted an offer to return
to teaching at USC Sumter, which he plans on doing in addition to running his
practice. “I love the contact with the students, and this gives me the
opportunity to get out of the office and connect with young minds again,”
he said. It will also provide him with additional guaranteed income and benefits
that are more expensive in the private sector. While the two- or three-minute
commute between home, the office and the university may help things, to accommodate
running a successful practice and also being a full-time professor, Hennie plans
on refocusing the firm on the more profitable A and B clients, while eliminating
the lower tier ones.

And so, although there may be another bend in the road that Hennie and Margaret
have shared for 30 years, wherever that road may lead, they will be together.
And odds are that they’ll be successful, whether it’s public accounting,
consulting, teaching, or photographing nature’s beauty. Hand in hand.
Partners in more than just business … partners in life. 

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(The Productivity Survey is sponsored by Thomson Tax & Accounting. For more on this free business assessment tool, visit www.cpatechadvisor.com/productivity.)