09/12/2003
Sandra Abalos, PresidentAbalos & Associates
Phoenix, Ariz.
What she does: Runs a CPA firm focused on small business clients
Sandra Abalos has always admired the vision of entrepreneurs. And as president of her own CPA firm, Abalos & Associates, she has spent more than 20 years counseling small business owners on how to fulfill their dreams.
It is because of this dedication that the U.S. Small Business Administration recently named her one of the 2003 Small Business People of the Year. "I'm not the biggest, most profitable, most successful in terms of money," she says. "But that's not how this award was measured -- it was measured by contribution and impact. It's an honor because the award is for doing the right thing for the right reason."
Moving Quickly up the Ranks
Abalos didn't take long to move up through the ranks of the accounting profession. After graduating from Arizona State University in 1979, she joined a small CPA firm and by 1981, she was a partner. She enjoyed her work with small business clients so much that she set a goal of becoming a small business owner herself one day. When her partner retired in 1988, Abalos became the sole owner and managing partner of her own firm, which now has nine employees.
Helping Clients Swim, Not Sink
Abalos is often impressed with her clients' great ideas for their small businesses, but says that sometimes they have a harder time turning those ideas into reality. "They know where they want to go, but don't know how to get there," she says. "That's where I, as a CPA, can help structure and carefully analyze the financial part of their business so that they can achieve those visionary goals. We want to help them to swim, not sink."
Abalos admits that the economic downturn has been a challenging time for her clients. "A financial loss is not just a paper loss to entrepreneurs; it hits them in their back pocket," she says. "They ask me, 'When is it going to get better?' I tell them to plan for the worst and don't get comfortable -- that's the moment when you are vulnerable."
Adding to the concerns of small business owners, Abalos says, is the growing problem of providing health care. "It's becoming a real crisis for the small business community -- they are at an enormous disadvantage," she says.
A Turning Point
It's because of such frustrations that Abalos decided to join NFIB. "They have a strategic presence in Washington, which was impressive," she says. "And joining NFIB really jumpstarted my desire to be an advocate for small business."
In 1995, the same year she joined NFIB, Abalos was selected as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. "That year was a turning point in my life," she says. Since that time, she has chaired a number of state and region-wide taxation issue committees, and has met with the President, advised lawmakers, and testified before Congress. Abalos continues to serve as the Region IX Implementation Tax Chair for the White House Conference on Small Business and served two years on the Internal Revenue Services' Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee. She also has served on NFIB's Federal Regulatory Advisory Committee and Guardian Advisory Council and is active in the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).
Still, it's her job that brings her the most satisfaction. "I have the best job in the world: I get to work with hundreds of other small businesses everyday."
