Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday, where the emphasis is always on a piece of gratitude to start the week off on a positive note, which for today is for a guy named R. Ronald Johnson, who is a CPA that rescued me at the 11thhour for my 2018 taxes.
I must say getting this year’s taxes done was probably the most stressful of all the years I’ve been living in Toledo thus far. Beginning back in the January/February time frame, I received notification from the woman who normally did my taxes that she was no longer going to be able to do them for me given the massive changes in the tax laws this year and her desire to make her life a little simpler. At first, I was disappointed because she had done such a superb job at them, as well as she never asked for any compensation, other than me either taking her out to dinner or giving her a gift card to one of her favorite restaurants. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was probably time given she had been doing them as a favor to me for the past bunch of years, mostly because I had sponsored her husband early on in his recovery, yet no longer was.
When my partner learned I didn’t have someone who could do my taxes anymore, he told me that his aunt would probably do them for me, like she does for him, and that he usually doesn’t have to pay her much either. After a quick meeting with her, she agreed to do them. By the time all my tax stuff was collected, it was about the 2ndweek of March. After stopping by my partner’s aunt’s house to give her everything I had, I suggested we sit down and go through it, which she promptly said there was no need and that she would be just fine. I was concerned only because I have some things that make my taxes slightly complicated, like some losses that continue to be carry forwarded from the business I went belly-up in many years ago. She reassured me it wouldn’t be any problem and that she’d be done with them in a few weeks. Unfortunately, a few weeks turned into just six days out from Tax Day, of which I’d discover upon stopping by her house that she had struggled doing them. After trying to help her with them, she asked for another day or so. Two days later, I was at her house on the Friday of the weekend before Tax Day, hoping to sit down with her one last time to get it all resolved. Regrettably, my taxes and my persistence at that point had stressed her out so much that she dropped my taxes in my hands at her doorstep and told me to get someone else to figure them out, leaving me in a panic and back at square one.
The first place I called was H&R Block, where I found that not only was the cost too exorbitant, but that they weren’t CPA’s. With my partner’s aunt not being a CPA either, I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice so I called the closest CPA in the area whose secretary promptly said he wasn’t able to take any new clients on. When I asked if she had any recommendations, she gave me one name, a CPA named R. Ronald Johnson. A few minutes later, I had Ron on the phone and told him my 11thhour dilemma. Ironically, he was able to take me in right then, so I quickly raced over to his office in Sylvania where I would spend about twenty minutes showing him what I had and explaining everything that had happened up to that point with my taxes. He reassured me everything looked straight forward and had no worries whatsoever, he told me he’d file an extension given how close Tax Day was at that point, said he’d work with me on the cost knowing my financial situation, and promised he’d get started on it no later than two days after Tax Day.
When I received a call from him saying he was done a mere day after the day he’d promised to get started on my taxes, I was frankly surprised given what I had just gone through all those weeks prior and was back in his office the very next day where I’d discover everything was more than accurate this time around. All my business losses were listed correctly this time, the numbers all lined up similar to previous years, and there hadn’t been any complications whatsoever, just like he said there wouldn’t. And as promised as well, he did greatly reduce his bill from his normal cost, which I thanked him profusely and told him he had gained a loyal client. As I drove home after that, I breathed a huge sigh of relief, knowing my 2018 taxes were finally behind me.
So, yes, I have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to a CPA named R. Ronald Johnson, someone I didn’t know up until just a few weeks ago, yet someone who took me as a client in the 11thhour of tax deadlines. I have plenty of gratitude for him, as he sure did make my life a whole lot easier when it came to doing my 2018 taxes!!!
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
