ProSeries® Tax spotlight: Nayo Carter-Gray, EA, MBA

It seems you can’t go anywhere these days in the tax and accounting profession without hearing the name “Nayo.” Indeed, Nayo Carter-Gray is very involved in all-things Intuit®, including writing articles for the Intuit Tax Pro Center on showing clients how much value you bring and growing your advisory practice, and being a guest on the new In the Know video series. An Intuit ProSeries® Tax user, Nayo is head of 1st Step Accounting, a full-service firm in Baltimore, Maryland. I sat down with her to learn more about her practice, her tech stack, and even a bit about her first job.

Scott Cytron: Hi Nayo! Thanks for agreeing to participating in our ongoing spotlight series. Can you please tell me a few ways ProSeries benefits your practice?

Nayo Carter-Gray: Thanks for having me. ProSeries allows us to prepare tax returns for our clients in a streamlined manner, while providing a beautiful client report that helps us upsell our tax planning and advisory services.

SC: What is unique about 1st Step Accounting compared to other firms?

NCG: At 1st Step Accounting, we pride ourselves on leading with education, so we have service offerings for DIY entrepreneurs who are just starting their businesses, as well as full time entrepreneurs who are growing and scaling their business. This is our unique edge that helps us retain clients longer because we meet them where they are and solidify a long-term working relationship.

SC: What is your vision for your firm going forward?

NCG: I love the direction that my firm is heading in. Because education is a big part of our mission, it’s also embedded in our internal culture. I get to watch my employees grow into better accounting and tax professionals by really leaning into how they can better serve our clients by improving themselves.  I’ve always wanted to have a firm that was collaborative, so that’s the big vision: to ensure that our team members feel confident enough to fail knowing they have a team to support them in their learning journey.

SC: Very inspiring! How has your practice changed over the last 5 years?

NCG: The firm has grown immensely over just the past year. I went from just me and an admin to now having a team of five employees. Having a larger team allows me to focus on big picture strategy and ideas that I may not have had the time to lean into because I was engrossed in client services. Instead, I now get to try to deliver those “crazy” ideas that we always say we will get to someday.

SC: What is your firm’s tech stack, and what Intuit products are you using?

NCG: We use a lot of tech and that’s because I’m an app-acholic, but our primary tech stack consists of QuickBooks® Online, ProSeries, ShareFile, LiveFlow, Keeper, Monday.com, Anchor, Google Workspace, and Missive. I have an app for just about everything, so this is just tip of the iceberg.

SC: What do you like to do in your spare time?

NCG: I love reading, playing Mario Kart on my Nintendo Switch, and skating, which I admittedly didn’t make much time for this year because I was traveling a bunch.

SC: What was your very first job?

NCG: My first real job was as a file clerk at an Optical Center. I quickly rose up the ranks, was named an optician, and helped people pick out glasses and learn how to insert their contact lenses.  But if you want to go further back, I had a summer job in high school as a front desk clerk at a middle school. This was the job that I got to file my first tax return, sending me down this career path because I started charging all my friends to do their taxes and get them a refund … lol.

SC: That’s a great story. 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?

NCG: My iPad pro. I love it because I can get 95% of my work done on it and watch movies. It’s portable and powerful. I go nowhere without it.

SC: Thanks Nayo!