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It’s tax time — and Yvonne Hughes is loving it

PHOTO PROVIDED Yvonne Hughes’ office is located at 24 Eyer Lane, Lock Haven.

McELHATTAN — Yvonne M. Hughes, CPA, LLC works for herself and wouldn’t have it any other way.

At income tax time, she has a seven-day-a-week job. Even though her office is not on a main thoroughfare, clients like to drop in, sit in front of her desk, and enjoy what is almost a cozy atmosphere.

Hughes works in a building next to her house, with her office’s front door opening directly onto her driveway, at 24 Eyer Lane. The building started its life as a storage shed but has been completely remodeled to serve her clients and her business needs.

It’s more than convenient for Hughes, since her two youngest children are still in school.

A native of Swissdale (her maiden name is Hevner) and a graduate of Lock Haven University, Hughes started working in retail for Picway shoes and moved with the company to Virginia, then Wilkes-Barre before starting a new job in Lock Haven — “of all the places,” she said — with Emert and Associates.

PHOTO PROVIDED Yvonne Hughes sits at her desk where she spends a lot of time during this taxing time of year.

After three years with that accounting firm, her next career move was to Wayne Township Landfill. She wasn’t looking to leave the landfill job, she said, but one day, at a funeral service, she struck up a casual conversation with someone who turned out to be the director of West Branch Drug and Alcohol Commission. Not long afterward, he offered her the job of CFO for the non-profit agency, and she took him up on it.

“I liked it there,” she said of West Branch. She must have — she stayed for 16 and a half years, doing taxes and some accounting work on the side.

Hughes started on the path of earning her CPA license in 2002 and achieved that goal in 2008. When she felt it was time to open her own practice, she gave West Branch what amounted to a three-year notice, gradually reducing her hours for the agency. On Dec. 31, 2015, she officially went out on her own.

As she begins her fourth year as a business owner, she is happy and excited about doing bookkeeping, taxes, consulting, non-profit consulting. In addition, she continues to conduct financial trainings for the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

She said she prefers teaching people how to do their own books, rather than providing that service on a longterm basis for them, and she trains clients in how to use software like QuickBooks and Sage.

Hughes also uses her accounting skills to give back to the community, serving as treasurer of Millbrook Playhouse.

She likes hiking, biking and anything that keeps her outdoors and active. Spending time with her family is also something she enjoys, which includes two boys, ages 17 and 11, two grown daughters, and pets.

Her oldest son is a member of the Central Mountain High School swim team, YMCA Loggerhead Swim Team and high school baseball. Her youngest son is involved in YMCA Loggerhead Swim Team and AYSO soccer.

“They keep me busy and I love it,” she said.

The business started in Hughes’ basement, and when her clientele grew to 300 or 400, she created her current office. She recently hired a part time employee to help with filing and other office related items. Hughes continues to take new clients and foresees a future when she will hire other staff members and move into a larger office.

A self-assured person, Hughes said she has learned from every company she has worked for. Her original goal was to be an elementary school teacher, but as a student at LHU, she soon found that career would not make her happy. Her advisor helped her choose a variety of courses so she could explore new paths, and because she was an accounting instructor herself, the advisor enrolled Yvonne in one of her own courses. Accounting was the thing that clicked, Hughes said.

She now tells others, “If you don’t like it right from the start, change it!”

Decades later, she has a hundreds of loyal clients who seem to believe they can talk with her and work with her easily.

“The life experience I gained from working at the places I did gave me the confidence to start my own business,” she said. “And every year, I learn something new from my clients.”

Yvonne M Hughes CPA LLC

24 Eyer Lane,

Lock Haven, Pa.

570-367-9420

yhughes@yvonnemhughescpa.com

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