Empowering a CPA Solo-Entrepreneur During Tax Season Peak

Client Profile

  • Client: Stacey Adams, CPA (Owner)
  • Company: Stacey Adams CPA
  • Location: Sioux Falls/Brandon, South Dakota
  • Challenge: Managing a rapidly growing client base, including monthly, quarterly, and tax clients, while simultaneously supporting her husband’s booming new business.

Table of Contents


The Challenge: Reclaiming the Best of Me

Stacey Adams is a high-achieving CPA who transitioned from a corporate Controller role to full-time entrepreneurship. However, the dual demand of a growing practice and assisting with her husband’s startup left her stretched thin. As tax season approached, Stacey found herself:

  • Falling Behind: Processing sales tax filings at 11:00 PM on the due date.
  • Manual Overload: Handling tedious bank reconciliations and matching transactions with specific attachment requirements.
  • Operational Bottlenecks: Managing payroll across Gusto and QuickBooks while attempting to provide high-level advisory services like inventory margin analysis.

     

Stacey needed a knowledgeable QuickBooks expert who could function as a long-term partner, allowing her to focus on high-value client relationships rather than data entry.

Case Study: Hiring a Senior Bookkeeper


The Ataraxis Solution: Vetted Talent at Speed

Ataraxis stepped in to streamline the hiring process, leveraging our global talent pool to find a candidate with specific US accounting expertise.

  • Timeline: Within just 2 weeks, Ataraxis sourced and fully vetted two top-tier candidates.
  • Vetting Process: Our team conducted technical assessments to ensure QuickBooks proficiency, verified remote work setups, performed culture-fit interviews, and checked professional references.
  • Efficiency: Stacey interviewed one candidate and immediately recognized the fit, hiring her at a competitive rate of $12/hr.


The Talent: Spotlight on Joan

To solve Stacey’s challenges, Ataraxis placed Joan, a Senior Bookkeeper with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. Joan is a great example of talent Ataraxis provides:

  • Expert Technical Stack: Proficient in QuickBooks Online, Sage, and NAV Dynamics, alongside tools like Dext, Bill.com, and Slack.
  • Certified Professional: Joan is both a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a Certified Bookkeeper.
  • Proven Experience: Her background includes bank and credit card reconciliations, financial statement preparation, and managing accounts payable/receivable.
  • High-Level Oversight: In her previous roles, she was responsible for reviewing the work of junior staff to ensure adherence to strict accounting standards.


The Result: A Scalable Future

By integrating an Ataraxis virtual assistant, Stacey Adams gained more than just a data entry clerk; she gained a system.

  • Immediate Relief: Professional support for bank reconciliations and tax preparation support.
  • Scalability: With Joan managing the manual QuickBooks matching and transaction attachments, Stacey is now positioned to take on additional clients.
  • Seamless Integration: Utilizing Ataraxis’s provided VPN and time-tracking software, Stacey was able to onboard her new hire without investing in additional expensive infrastructure.

My hope is I can maybe take on a couple extra clients, if I can get my systems and processes in place with this VA helping me out.
- Stacey Adams, CPA


About Ataraxis

Ataraxis helps founders and operators hire MBA-level, dependable global talent for administrative, operations, and revenue-support roles—fast. We handle sourcing, vetting, and ongoing operations so clients get dedicated talent without the typical hiring drag.

If you’re trying to reclaim executive time, tighten operations, or build a scalable sales support engine, we can usually deliver vetted candidates in 2 weeks or less.

Examples of other roles Ataraxis fills:

Bookkeeper
Accountant
Accounts Payable Specialist
Accounts Receivable Specialist