A Day in the Life of Clarence Churn, Senior Tax Accountant from OTA Tax Pros
OTA's Tax Pros Senior Tax Accountant shares a day in his life…
- Clarence Churn is the Senior Tax Accountant for OTA’s Tax Pros.
- Clarence's day starts at 6 a.m. and involves making sure people's tax returns are done correctly and in a timely manner while also making time for his family before and after work.
- Clarence walked us through a typical day for him.
___________________________________________________________________
Clarence Churn, Senior Tax Accountant at Tax Pros has a busy day.
Working out of the corporate office in Irvine, California, Clarence specializes in small business and real estate, making sure that almost 800 tax returns are completed and filed on time each year. That means Clarence is in charge of tax preparation, helping clients lower their tax liabilities, filling out forms, advising about future financial moves and so much more.
Clarence joined OTA in 2014 and recently celebrated five years at the company.
“I start my day at 6:00 or 6:30 by hanging out with my 6-year-old grandson for a few minutes. He's a little cranky in the morning, so I help ease him into his day. We're really close."
After spending time with his grandson, Clarence checks his emails and pours himself a cup of coffee, the first of several for the day. His second cup of coffee is on his way out the door but first, he hangs out with his wife for a few minutes.
“A lot of times we don't get to see each other especially during tax season, it's a busy time.” Then he is off to OTA. Clarence lives in Westminster. It takes him sometimes an hour to get to OTA during rush hour traffic.
“But I don’t mind it. I sip my coffee, listen to some jazz music, open up my sunroof and just drive.”
Clarence gets to the office about 9:15. He checks his voicemails.
“There's always a lot of voicemails from clients,” Clarence says.
He then checks his emails. Because Clarence is more of a “talking type person,” he likes to walk around the office and make sure everybody's okay and see if they need anything. Once he is settled in, the Tax Pros crew takes the trek up to the second floor together to get coffee.
“It started off with me going by myself but eventually became a team effort. I like to talk to people in the kitchen and sometimes would stay longer than expected. Everyone is so happy.”
Then it’s time to work on returns. Clarence is either starting a brand new return or following up with people to make sure that they have sent the last piece of information needed so he can finish them.
“We typically want to finish the returns by April 30th,” says Clarence. “From January to April 30th is a really busy time. We are here six days a week. I tell my team, I used to work for Walmart and it's like Christmas. You stay a lot longer to make sure all the shelves are packed. We stay here a lot longer, so we can make sure that we get to each and every person who wants to file their return on time.”
Clarence loves his job. “Out of all the jobs that I've had, this is by far the best place that I have ever worked except for a couple of military units that I served,” says Clarence. “I cannot imagine myself doing anything else or being anywhere else.”
When Clarence gets home in the evenings, sometimes he sits out back, and he and his wife smoke a cigar together. Sometimes he goes to the park with his grandson.
“He loves to go to the park,” says Clarence, “and I love taking him.”
Displayed on Clarence’s desk are an assortment of chocolates he shares with his team and his clients, as well as quite a few military coins he has collected over the years. The tokens are a reminder of not only his military service, including a stint in Iraq during Desert Storm, but they serve as a reminder of his commitment to helping people.
Clarence’s is truly one of a kind. He is always happy, warm, and grateful to be alive another day so he can help change lives.
“I am grateful every day. I wake up every morning and thank God that I woke up, because as I tell people, ‘Somebody didn't wake up this morning,’ That’s why I am always happy. He chose me for another day. I want to live it to the fullest. I want to be able to touch and impact people so that they could go forward and have a good day too.”