Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Adler.
Hi Amy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been a CPA and fraud examiner for over 20 years now. I’ve also been divorced twice. After my second divorce, which went all the way to trial after a painful year-long process, I was sitting calmly in a yoga class when a voice spoke to me. It said “Amy, you need to become a divorce financial consultant. It’s the perfect ‘marriage’ of your professional expertise and personal experience, and you’ll love it because you will help so many people get through a very stressful time in their lives with the support you wished you had when you went through it.” I was working at a local CPA firm at the time. The partners loved the idea and let me run with it. I got licensed as a certified divorce financial analyst and started taking clients right away. The voice that spoke to me was right. It fulfilled me in a way that I’ve never felt with my career before. Clients were so incredibly grateful for the help I and my staff gave them. I decided that this is what I want to spend the rest of my career focusing on. So in January this year, I left the CPA firm and started my own CPA firm that focuses on divorce consulting. I couldn’t be happier with that decision today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not. I’m a single mom of two teens, and they are expensive! My daughter just turned 16 and got her driver’s license and a car, and my son got braces early this year. Being self-employed is scary. I’ve always worked as an employee for larger organizations, so this is a big change with a lot of risks. Fortunately, the pandemic has made it a great time to dive into my work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My company is a licensed CPA firm in Texas. However, we don’t do standard CPA work. Our focus is primarily on a few different services that my associates and I offer folks who are considering, going through, or recently finalized a divorce:
1) we assist both spouses who want to divorce fairly amicably to value and divide their marital estate in a way that sets everyone up for success in their new lives. This way, they can avoid hiring attorneys until the very end of the process and can save a lot of time, stress, and money.
2) we assist attorneys and/or one of the spouses with compiling and valuing the marital estate and recommending options for its division.
3) we help clients build a reasonable budget for life after divorce. This is a key step in the process for many clients because it helps to determine whether they can afford to keep the house if they want it, for example. It also helps clients relax and know that they’ll be fine financially on their own, even if they haven’t had paying jobs for a while. We also meet with clients in the months and years post-divorce when they want to revisit their budgets and financial situations.
4) I can be a testifying expert witness and provide separate property tracing services or review tracing reports from opposing counsel.
5) we teach people who are recently divorced how to prepare and file their own income taxes so they can avoid paying a CPA to do it every year.
We do all of this work with a compassionate yet honest and firm approach because I’ve been there, and I know firsthand how it feels. There aren’t a lot of CPAs who do this work, but being able to help people think through the tax consequences of the decisions made in divorce can save a lot of money. And as an auditor and fraud examiner, I can help people feel comfortable that potential hidden assets are disclosed. I am also not afraid to tell clients when I believe that the time and effort needed to investigate a concern is not likely to result in a worthwhile outcome.
My company’s mission is to help people save money and stress and ultimately emerge from the divorce process confident in their bright future. When I see my clients’ faces relax after a meeting, it warms my heart. That right there is why I do this work.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Seeing my kids thriving and becoming more and more amazing people every day makes me happy. Helping others makes me happy, especially with something I’m uniquely good at. Relaxing with family or friends or a good book or movie makes me happy. Singing makes me happy. Seeing the world makes me happy. I believe I am here on this planet to make a difference in some lives, to enjoy the beauty of the world, and to let others make a difference in my life.
Contact Info:
- Email: Amy@yourdivorceasset.com
- Website: www.yourdivorceasset.com
- Instagram: @Yourdivorceasset
- Facebook: Facebook.com/adlerdivorcefinancial/
