David Heilich, CPA, AEP®

The nature of tax law is constant change, but we instill in our team to take advantage of those changes and make them work to benefit our clients. Tax laws are always going to be shifting and evolving, and as a result it’s important to put together plans that are flexible. For example, for the first time in history, the lifetime exemption is likely to be retracted. That’s something that has never happened before. As such, it’s important for people in my role to be ahead of changes whenever we can. I tell my team to always prepare for more work in the future than we have today because tax laws are only going to get more complex, but hopefully those complexities will allow us to continue to find new ways to better serve our clients.

It was always interesting to me that, from a capital gains standpoint, you were never able to carry back your capital losses. So, when you think of the technology bubble, there were huge capital gains and then massive losses, and those losses carried forward. If you don’t use them before your death, they just go away and never get utilized. I would like to see some type of carry-back of capital losses regime would bring more economic balance to that part of the tax law.

I have had a lot of rewarding client experiences and am grateful to have many favorite clients. My favorite client experiences have been ones where we were able to improve family relationships that had been fractured by wealth challenges. We helped our clients learn how to better communicate with their family members and be more transparent about their estate planning decisions.

Making a difference in our clients’ lives on such a personal level is such a gratifying experience and makes me proud to be their trusted advisor.

I am the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family. I am fortunate enough to have memories of all my grandparents and six out of eight great-grandparents. Family is so important to me, and so few people get the opportunity to meet so many of their grandparents, so I really treasure the time I was able to spend with the Greatest Generation.

I challenge people to be their best and do things they think they can’t do. So many new accountants are just focused on the technical side of the profession, but I want to make sure the people on my team learn a lot and know that it’s not only important to be a good accountant, but it’s also important to become a client’s trusted advisor. It takes time and tenacity to nurture that relationship, and I act as a resource to make sure my team learns the nuances of both the accounting industry and managing relationships.

My grandparents. They made sacrifices that we truly can’t understand; it was just a totally different time. My paternal grandfather was in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and on June 20, 1944, his plane collided with another U.S. plane. Everybody in the unit died except for my grandfather. He was rescued by some Danish fishermen and was captured by the Germans, who made him dig a grave, which he thought was for himself but was for one of the men in his unit. My grandfather spent over a year in a German prison camp. Upon his release, he spoke with the pilot of the other plane in Nuremberg.  Despite going through such a harrowing experience, when he returned to the U.S., he became a committed father to eight children, and, along with my grandmother, taught his children to work hard and to do what is right.

My grandparents instilled in me the value of working hard and respecting others, and their influence molded me into the person I am today.