Our Mission and Commitment to You
- To maintain and upgrade our knowledge continually in all aspects of income tax preparation, tax planning and financial management and to treat statutory educational requirements as a minimum;
- To make every effort to obtain information and an understanding of all that affects your economic or financial situation, goals and views;
- To provide you with the full resources you would expect from a “large†accounting firm while maintaining that personal touch. We strive to offer innovative ideas and problem solving abilities to enhance and broaden your personal and business success;
- To respect your point of view, while assisting you to make informed decisions;
- To keep our relationship strictly confidential in accordance with our privacy policy;
- To provide you with the highest standards of work ethic with integrity, professionalism, reliability and courtesy; and
- To act as an advocate of your rights as a taxpayer by assuring you that you pay only the minimum tax you are legally entitled to.
Staff Profiles
Sherry Whah, EA
Sherry has more than thirty years of experience in the accounting field, including six years in the banking industry working in the accounting and auditing areas in Alaska. She completed courses from the University of Alaska and University of Maine at Presque Isle completing her accounting degree. She has owned and operated her own accounting and tax firm since 1978 beginning in New York State and moving it to Alaska in 1983. When her former company disbanded in 2010, she opened her current company, Sherry Whah & Associates LLC and with a team of 7 to 10 employees providing bookkeeping, payroll, and account management services to include income tax preparation for individuals, small business, corporations and non profits. Her services include small business consulting and IRS representation for taxpayer who are in controversy with the IRS.
Sherry teaches tax and record keeping classes for the University of Alaska Small Business Development Center, the Internal Revenue Service, and the National and State Associations of Tax Consultants and the Alaska Chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP). In addition, she is a regular instructor/teacher for the military day care programs and the Alaska Family Child Care Society and Child Care Connection (a Municipality of Anchorage program). She is a certified instructor with her certification from the IRS teaching complex tax law with explanation and evaluation of tax matters to other tax professionals.
She is the past president of the National Association of Tax Consultants and the Alaska Association of Tax Consultants. She is currently the President of the National Association of Tax Professionals, AK Chapter (NATP, Alaska Chapter formed in December 2012). Sherry is a Forum Member of the local IRS Forum on Ethics and the Alaska Tax Practitioner Forum. Early in 1996, she was appointed as a Forum Member for the Ogden Service Center’s Tax Practitioner Forum. She was one of five nationwide appointed to act as a liaison between tax practitioners and the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, while in this position, she was relied upon to communicate effectively with suggestions to improve communication and problem resolution.
Sherry received a Congressional appointment to the Taxpayers’ Advocacy Panel in 2002, serving for more than four years. She was one of over 100 citizens representing taxpayers. The Advocacy Panel empowers individuals, small businesses, and other federal taxpayers by providing an open, responsive forum for identifying problems, prioritizing concerns, making recommendations, facilitating positive ongoing change, and improving service within the IRS. She served as Chairman of several committees in that program.
Sherry has sat on various non-profit boards and currently is the President elect for Assistance Resources of Alaska (ARA) which is also a sponsor for the annual Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Site (VITA) held for the past 26 years on April 15th to assist those taxpayers who assistance would be out of their reach due to economic or other hardship including the military and elderly programs.
In her spare time, Sherry is found working at her church in the Religious Education Program for the children, assisting with various programs offered by the church to include her favorite pastime of cooking. She is rumored to be Mother to many and Grandmother to more, as often being called “Mom” by her staff and clients as well. She is currently researching the many log cabins of Anchorage to complete a fictional series of short stories on the cabins and their original (eccentric) owners.
Caitlin Davis-Tax Preparer
Caitlin began working with us early on as a teenager and began full time in May of 2012 when she completed her Bachelors of Applied Science Degree, specializing in Healthcare Administration. She is responsible for the income tax preparation for individuals and businesses, as well as interviewing clients to complete the organizer and review. Her IT knowledge and expertise has us leaning on her for computer issues. Her work also includes payroll. She regularly identifies potential tax credits and deductions as she ensures accurate and complete returns are filed in a timely manner.
Lori Wake-Tax Manager/Preparer
Lori’s history dates back to 2008. She brings with her a wealth of experience of owning her own business and work experience in the insurance industry. Her primary task as our Tax Manager is to lead and manage multiple tax engagements to deliver quality tax services for our clients. She is in charge of the preparation and review of all federal and state income taxes, to include individual and business returns. Her extended knowledge of QuickBooks and accounting assures our business clients’ records are accurate and updated accordingly with year-end adjustments.
Lori manages our year-end processing of organizers to be sent out annually. She also manages the payroll programs for the accounting department.
Ruth Dablemont-Bookkeeper
Ruth joined our group in April of 2014. Her employment experience in bookkeeping tasks dates back to 1989. Her experience in owning her own business brings great customer service skills when it comes to meeting with our clients. Ruth’s work consists of working with QuickBooks and maintaining accounts, paying bills, preparing financial statements and reports to include the profit and loss statements and balance sheets. She also prepares EFTPS payments for our payroll clients.