As a Certified Public Accountant, John is passionate about helping families make great tax decisions!
by John | Apr 25, 2025 | Tax 101, Tax Planning
If you’re like many of our clients, you may have noticed that sometimes your W-2 withholdings don’t cover all the tax you owe when April rolls around. This is especially true for folks who receive additional forms of income beyond their regular paycheck....Download our free guide – Top 5 Big Tax Mistakes to avoid with Stock Options
As a Certified Public Accountant, John is passionate about helping families make great tax decisions!
Jeff is a CPA who has been working in public accounting since 2001. He is a graduate of Kentucky Christian University with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Business Administration and Bible.
Using his experience and knowledge, he enjoys educating clients in ways to allow them to make better tax and financial decisions.
When not working, Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife Starla, his adult children and their spouses, as well as his twin granddaughters. He also enjoys board games, cards, Jeopardy, as well as a variety of sports, with college football as his favorite.
Jessica comes to us with an 18+ year career as an accountant. She has worked as both a public and private accountant with over 10 years of experience in the construction industry. Born and raised in California, Jessica obtained her CPA license after graduating from CSU – Sacramento with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on Accounting.
Consistency, discipline and responsibility are among the top words used to describe Jessica and she will bring these skills to McCarthy Tax Preparation to ensure all of your tax needs are met.
Outside of work, Jessica enjoys reading, cooking and planning family vacations. An interesting fact about Jessica is that she is fluent in ASL (American Sign Language).
Joe has over 20 years of experience in public accounting. He graduated from Georgia Southern University with a Bachelors of Business Administration (double major in accounting and finance in 2001) and started his career with Arthur Andersen.
For many years, Joe was an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Georgia State University College of Law in 2019 and has been a licensed attorney in Georgia for the past 4 years.
Joe has significant experience serving clients with a global workforce, providing tax, compensation and mobility advice to employers, employees and self-employed individuals. He specializes in the taxation of US citizens and residents employed abroad as well as the taxation of foreign nationals by the US.
Joe is a veteran of the Marine Corps and active outdoorsman. On the weekends, he can be found hiking, kayaking and camping in the North Georgia mountains.
Denise Carnes has been a CPA for over 15 years. She specializes in small business accounting and taxes for individuals as well as corporations and S corporations. Denise graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting. She is passionate about partnering with her clients to provide them with the best opportunities to not only meet their financial goals but also use the best tax saving strategies to minimize tax liability.
In her spare time, Denise enjoys spending time with her husband and two children playing board games and tennis. She also loves to travel.
Sara has a Bachelor of Science in Technical Management Specializing in Accounting which she completed through DeVry University. Her love for numbers brought her back to finish her degree and join the public accounting world in 2017. Quickly Sara appreciated the value in helping businesses to make sense of their operations so they can make informed decisions for the future of their business.
When not working, Sara enjoys spending time with her three kids. They love to spend any time they can boating and camping.
Andrea has a CPA license and has spent most of her career working in the accounting and finance fields. She graduated from Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.
While accountants don’t generally tend to have a creative side, she’s an exception. Andrea owns a little home bakery that specializes in themed sugar cookies. You name it, she’s probably decorated it! When Andrea is not working or baking and decorating cookies, she is spending time with her husband Dean and a very spoiled Chiweenie named Chloe. They have two grown children and two granddaughters. In their spare time, Andrea and Dean love to travel the US and world.
Her favorite quote: Be a cupcake in a batch of muffins!
Matt is an Enrolled Agent with more than 10 years of experience in public accounting. He graduated from Excelsior College in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and initially started his career with the Internal Revenue Service as a Revenue Agent. In June 2008, Matt moved to public accounting with a concentration in tax preparation and consulting.
Kim is a CPA with more than 20 years of experience in public accounting. She graduated from the University of Wyoming, took time off for family, then later obtained her CPA license from the State of Wyoming in 2000. She is active in the Wyoming Society of CPA’s and a member of the AICPA.
Kim has found the most rewarding part of her career to be getting to know her clients and helping them to plan for the ever-changing tax environment. She specializes in small business and affiliated individual returns, but has also taught Quickbooks classes and given tax seminars. Her years of tax experience have allowed her to gain experience in many different fields including professional services, skilled labor, agriculture, natural resources and high income individual returns to name a few.
Kim lives with her husband of 29 years on the family ranch in Central Wyoming. She enjoys photography, running, hiking, horseback riding, spending time with her family and reading a really good book.
Paula graduated from North Central College with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and became a CPA the same year. While working for a small accounting and tax firm in Chicago, she finished her Master of Science in Taxation from DePaul University. She has worked as an accountant and tax consultant for over 25 years for a number of companies mainly World Book Encyclopedia, Grant Thornton, Chiquita Brands and Jackson Hewitt. She and her husband enjoy traveling, especially to see their oldest son in the Navy and their youngest son play travel baseball.
Leo has been a tax accountant for more than 12 years. His background includes high net worth individuals, real estate, construction and small businesses. Leo graduated from Pace University’s Lublin School of Business in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two boys, exercising, trapshooting, reading, hiking and soaking in the sun at the beach.
Favorite quote – “Lets Make it Happen”
Amber is an accountant with 8 years of experience in public accounting. She has worked on both accounting and tax needs for a variety of client types including individuals, small businesses and non-profit organizations.
She enjoys interacting with clients to understand their unique situation to ultimately give guidance that will have long term benefits.
Outside of work, Amber enjoys traveling, specifically road trips, going to the beach whenever weather allows for it, and dining out with friends and family.
Brandi has worked as an Administrative Assistant for over 20 years. She has worked in the accounting field, as well as manufacturing and distributing. She brings a multitude of experience in different fields as well.
Brandi has been married to her best friend, Scott, for the last 20 something years. She has 2 wonderful boys who keep her on her toes with all of their activities. Her love for her family and friends is her driving motivation. Her favorite quote is one her dad is always saying “Adapt, Improvise and Overcome.”
Erika is an Accountant with over 4 years experience. Having obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2012 and her master’s degree in 2015, Erika has gained experience in accounting that has shaped her into the hard working team player that she is today.
Erika has always been described as a very detailed and analytical worker. Her love of numbers and her ‘get it done’ personality make her someone who will put in the extra time to accurately complete any given task. She loves providing quality bookkeeping support and also helping clients understand the details of their financial picture.
She understands that not all clients are the same and that individualized interaction makes for a better client-accountant relationship.
Outside of the accounting world, Erika enjoys, cooking, traveling and music. With the privilege of being a classically trained pianist and having taught piano throughout her college years, Erika holds a special place in her heart for classical music and loves to listen to her favorite composers, Rachmaninov and Chopin every chance she gets.
Amelia is an EA with more than 7 years of experience in small business accounting. She completed her bachelor’s degree in 2012 and her MSA in 2016. She is a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents and the Georgia Association of Enrolled Agents.
While working on her master’s degree, she began assisting small business clients with their accounting, tax compliance and tax resolution. Through this she gained invaluable experience and exposure to a variety of industries.
Professionally, Amelia enjoys working with technology and staying up to date with taxes. She embraces the demands to expand her tax knowledge through research and continuing education. She is passionate about helping her clients understand and take control of their unique tax situations.
Outside of work, Amelia enjoys cooking, painting, playing the piano, and spending time with her husband and two children.
Mary is a CPA who has been working in public accounting since 2010. After graduating from Mount Marty College with her bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and Business Administration, she began working with clients for all of their tax preparation needs. She is a member of the South Dakota CPA Society.
Staying on top of ever-changing tax law is a challenge Mary embraces. Using her knowledge and experience to help clients understand how their decisions impact the big picture is one of the things Mary enjoys most about her career. She also enjoys the challenge of handling the logistics of the firm.
When she’s not working, Mary and her husband Curtis keep busy with their three children. They enjoy traveling the country in their RV.
John is the founder of McCarthy Tax Preparation and a CPA with a background in public accounting and income tax. He’s helped numerous individuals, families and small businesses with income taxes and planning since 2001. He is also a member of the AICPA, Ohio Society of CPAs, and a past member of XY Planning Network, a leading organization of fee-only financial advisors who specialize in helping members of Gen X and Gen Y. John graduated from Purdue University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.
A self described “money nerd” John enjoys listening to personal finance podcasts and reading tax code and IRS instructions. When he’s not thinking about CPA stuff, he likes to spend time hiking with his family at the Cincinnati Nature Center and volunteering at the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), Earth Shares CSA.
Raising their family of homeschooled kids has been the focus and joy for John and his wife Sarah. McCarthy Tax Preparation was created to better serve families. By running a home-based, virtual business, they can be closer to home and share in their children’s learning and development. It is exciting to watch them grow and learn something new every day!