Prepping for a busy tax season

Only five months into his tenure at NorthWest Financial Services Inc., Treavor Dodsworth is putting his tax know-how to work with clients.

He emerged victorious from the first part of the uniform certified public accountants exam in October.

“I didn’t feel the best walking out of there,” Mr. Dodsworth said. “But I passed it and scored well above the line I needed to pass, so I was very pleased.”

Now he just needs to get through the remaining three sections of the CPA test and take the exam for his Series 65 license. He estimates it will take about 18 months to finish all the necessary exams.

Mr. Dodsworth hopes to play a bigger role at the firm next year, pitching in particularly when tax season arrives.

He’s also looking for new digs, as the hour-and-a-half drive to work is a burden.

Thus far, the biggest challenge for the 23-year-old is anticipating questions a client might ask in a meeting and firing back with answers. In one scenario, Mr. Dodsworth and his boss met with a client, and one of the questions caught him off guard.

“I probably wasn’t as prepared as I should’ve been, and my boss had to step in and answer some questions,” he said. “What I learned is to anticipate what the client will be asking and to be prepared for any and all questions that may come up.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Dodsworth has put his knowledge to work in other client scenarios. Recently, he came up with a potential tax-saving strategy for a client who is a farmer.

“I grew up on a farm, as well, and I knew some of the stuff that my dad has done with charitable giving,” he said. The strategy involved making charitable donations of grain to a nonprofit organization, such as a church.

“It’s an idea my dad had used, and I thought I’d share it with my boss,” Mr. Dodsworth said. “He thinks it’s something that might work, and we’re going to meet with the client to talk about it.”