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by Stephen Parezo

Karl Herba

August 8, 2005— It isn’t everyday that a major accolade is bestowed on someone. These are rare occurrences, sort of a once in a lifetime kind of achievement. That recently happened to Fiducial franchisee Karl Herba of Chittenango, NY, who was named the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) 2005 Tax Professional of the Year.

When Herba first heard he was in the running for the NATP’s top award, he admitted that he “really didn’t think that much of it.” Over the years he’s learned that if people say they’re going to do something, if it happens, it happens. Fortunately for him, it did.

“It was nice to think they thought enough to put my name [into the ring],” said Herba who was in his office when he received the word from NATP’s headquarters. “They told me I was selected for the award and they wanted me to come to the national conference in late July in Minneapolis.”

Surprised at first by the great news, gradually the thought of being singled out for this honor set in for Herba who started out in the tax profession back in 1975. He joined the franchise network in 1988.

“I was quite proud of it,” he said. “This is only the second time they’ve given this award for dedication to the community.”

Above and beyond in service

According to the NATP, the Tax Professional of the Year award recognizes those who go above and beyond in service to their community and profession. This is the highest honor that an NATP member can receive from the organization and is presented to the member based on their contribution to the community, to the profession and to the NATP.

Taking into account his long list of volunteer and community commitments, Herba remarked that he’s gotten out of it as much as he’s given.

“I’ve always felt if you give something back you always feel better about it,” he said.

His list of involvement includes: present and past NY NATP director; past NY NATP committee member, past NY NATP chapter chair of bylaws, past NY NATP treasurer, past NY NATP chapter chair of education, president director of Eastwood Rotary International, planning board member of Chittenango School District, officer and director of Service Station and Repair Shop Operators of Upstate, NY, former leader of Girls Scouts of America and member of St. Patrick’s Church in Chittenango.

In a nomination letter submitted by another NATP member, Herba was lauded for being instrumental in getting the word out on NATP, the NY Chapter and its education programs.

“He has done our flyers, arranged for blast faxes, made individual calls and a host of other assignments,” said the nominating writer. “At the NY Chapter level and at the local level he is always on the team no matter the issue or directive.”

The writer also noted that Herba “is a devoted husband, father, grandfather and is of great moral character including kindness, compassion and understanding for everyone.”

From tires to business management services

Born in Pennsylvania, Herba spent his formative years growing up in Syracuse, NY. Educated at Columbia University with a degree in economics, he began his career in sales for Firestone but later made the switch to the accounting field, trading tires for business management services.

“I still consider myself a business consultant more than a tax preparer,” he said. “The majority of my income is from my monthly clients and I work with them on a one-on-one basis.”

Herba serves on the New York State Gasoline Retailers Board, a large and influential lobby, for the industry. Many of his small business clients are service station owners/convenience store operators. He’s seen that industry evolve from selling strictly gasoline to offering a variety of products.

“It used to be a gas retailer doing some auto repairs or they sold some groceries,” he said. “Now you have people in the automotive industry who are in the grocery business who happen to sell gas.”

Those dealers just selling gas, Herba says are making 10 cents a gallon if they’re lucky and paying three cents a gallon on credit card sales.

“It becomes harder and harder to make business now,” he said. “Now they have to sell beer, cappuccino, latte, sandwiches and pizza just to make it. It’s just an ever-changing business.”

Don’t make a move without him

Back when Herba started in the tax field, he used to do all his tax returns by hand. But with tax laws becoming more complex each year, he can’t imagine doing that today. Many of his clients don’t make a move until they check with him on the tax consequences of their actions.

“I have clients that don’t do anything without consulting me,” he said. “They don’t go out and buy a $500 piece of equipment without talking to me about it first. I’m a sounding board for them.”

Over the years Herba has become adept at balancing his time between taking care of business and his volunteer commitments.

“I’ve never really said ‘no’ to anybody if they’d asked for help,” he said. “I’ve always said ‘I’ll get to it.’ ”

Herba hopes by taking care of his commitments that he’s making a difference, for instance, making small businesses stronger than they would otherwise be. He says he could probably count on one hand the clients who have left him in the last 25 to 30 years to go someplace else and remained in business.

“If you give a little bit back maybe a little bit more will come back to you,” he said. “I feel good about what I do and I do a good job.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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