Tom Gragg, CPA, CDFA, Principal

Tom Gragg has spent more than 30 years accumulating experience and knowledge in the field of business management. In response to client needs he has, in recent years, expanded the firm into a full-service accounting firm offering accounting, tax and financial planning services for individuals as well as small businesses. Tom has said his experience and his education are equally important assets when it comes to providing superior financial services.

Tom stresses the firm's philosophy that every client is a unique individual and every client service must be custom tailored for the client. New clients bring situations that are as unique and diverse as the individual in the client's chair. 

Born in Los Angeles, Tom was raised and spent much of his life in Kansas. He owned his own accounting firm in Oklahoma before moving to the Dallas - Fort Worth area in 1997. He owned two manufacturing businesses and has also worked as a management consultant and commercial mortgage broker.  Tom Gragg is also registered as a representative with the National Association of Securities Dealers.

As a management consultant, Tom Gragg has served as General Manager or been intergrally involved in the management of a variety of small business concerns.  Some of the companies he has owned or managed include:

• Electronics equipment manufacturer
• Kitchen cabinet manufacturer distributing products into 26 states
• Agricultural production facility
• Manufacturer of pottery and gifts supplying some of the nation's leading retailers
• Travel video production company
• Commerical architectural casework designer and manufacturer
• A small chain of retail furniture stores

In the nineties, he worked extensively with "turn-arounds" or troubled companies. He was often called in by attorneys or investors to analyze businesses that were in severe financial distress. In some cases, he was engaged by bankruptcy trustees to assume management of companies who had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "The turn-arounds taught me some of the most important business lessons of my life that I couldn't have learned in any other situation," Tom has said. In nearly every case he was able to negotiate with creditors, shareholders and attorneys and find a way for the client company to survive and prosper. In some cases, new capital or new ownership was found. "A small business means everything to the person who founded it and nurtured it. When a small business gets into financial trouble, the owner often becomes blinded by emotion and cannot see the possibilities.  It's seldom as bad as it seems to the owner but that is much easier to see from a fresh, external perspective."  Tom has a thorough understanding and extensive experience in guiding small businesses in times of growth and success but also in times of financial difficulty.

Tom has more than thirty years of experience working with business owners with nearly fifteen years as a business owner.  As an entrepreneur himself, he is uniquely equipped and qualified to assist small business clients with the myriad of problems that are a constant part of the daily routine of small business ownership. Tom's primary experience in small business ownership was in manufacturing. With as many as 175 employees, two factories and multi-state product marketing and distribution, he encountered many of the same problems faced by his clients.  This background as a business owner makes Tom a unique advisor because he sees beyond the financial statements and understands the complexity of pressures faced by business people. Client solutions are often found far beyond the scope of financial statements and accounting.  "I am an accountant." Tom said, "But I've also been a client. I know the value of having an accounting firm that does more than just record the transactions. A trusted business advisor is a completely distinct concept that can be critically important to your financial success."