Intuit® Tax Council Profile: H. Randy Hughes

H. Randy Hughes III, CPA, EA, CTC, CTRS, is founder of Counting Pennies, LLC, a full-service firm in West Palm Beach, FL. With dual residency in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, Randy is now a member of the Intuit® Tax Council, find out more about Randy in this profile about him and his firm.

Scott Cytron: Tell our readers about your practice.

Randy Hughes: Counting Pennies, LLC, affectionately called “CP,” was founded in 2002 under a different name at the time: Hughesworks. We are a boutique accounting firm with a niche in S Corporation formation. We also work with several high-profile clients in the entertainment industry.

At CP, we take work-life balance seriously. We find this helps with our creative capacity. All of our team members, including myself, work part time with three full weeks of vacation, plus an additional six personal days off each year. We also take an annual team retreat each fall; last year, our team retreat was in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, and this year, we will be in Orlando, where we will spend time at Disney World! Next year, we have our eye on National Harbor, near the nation’s capital.

Scott: How long have you been providing advisory services? What other services do you offer?

Randy: I’ve been involved in advisory work for more than 20 years, but we have only been offering it at CP since 2020. The wind that pushed us into advisory was actually the COVID-19 pandemic. Fearful that our thriving compliance business would dry up with many businesses having to close their doors or shift their focus, we decided to pivot and add advisory services to our compliance practice. And what a great decision that was!

CP started off only as a tax preparation practice. After a few years, bookkeeping was added. Now we have advisory with tax planning, tax resolution, and fractional CFO services.

Scott: How has advisory benefitted your practice?

Randy: Adding advisory to our practice has helped us add tremendous value to our clients, while enhancing our own professional experience. We have gone from a firm that only solved problems to now being a firm that prevents problems. Because advisory brings in higher revenue engagements, we have been able to reduce the number of clients we work with. Working with fewer clients give us more capacity to be creative and think outside the box. The more we can be creative, the more money we save our clients. The more money we save our clients, the more they pay us and the less time we have to work, which means more time spent with our families, resulting in a better work-life balance.

Scott: Why is the Tax Council important to the profession?

Randy: The Tax Council puts real people in positions to effect change. It helps to emphasize the practical application of tax and accounting principles. Accounting and taxation can’t just be professions studied in books or classrooms, or applied when taking a test. Real-world application is necessary for the principles of accounting and taxation to really effect change and result in improved lives.

Scott: What kind of Intuit software do you use?

Randy: We use Intuit ProConnect™ Tax and QuickBooks® Online. In fact, we require all of our bookkeeping and CFO clients to use QuickBooks Online if they wish to have us as their accounting firm.

Scott: What was your very first job?

Randy: Hmmm … I think a paper route was my first job: the Bowie Blade-News!

Scott: How can tax professionals keep up with all the changes in tax laws and regulations?

Randy: Networking with other tax professionals and attending webinars that offer continuing education is the way to go. Books and subscriptions to newsletters and tax journals are good, too, but for me, nothing is more engaging that an energetic, educational, and thorough virtual or live presentation on a topic of interest.

Scott: If you were stranded on a desert island with access to just one kind of technology, what would it be and why would you want it?

Randy: A telephone, hands down. You’ve got to connect with others. If it’s a smart phone with internet, then all the better!

Scott: Thanks Randy!