Tom Schulte, CPA

Bio

Tom has deep experience serving the unique needs of nonprofit organizations. He also works extensively with for-profit clients, including many pre-public companies, and provides mergers and acquisition expertise to businesses in a wide range of industries. He has also served on the boards of private and publicly traded for-profit organizations.

Tom aggressively brings problem-solving, timely communication and personal service to his clients, and his strong commitment to service extends to the community as well. He currently is a member of the Los Angeles County Library Strategic Plan Advisory Council and serves on audit committees for the Grammy Museum and the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation. He is the former chairman and treasurer of Easter Seals of Southern California and was also on the board of governors of UCLA Extension. He is a former member of the finance committee of GuideStar and has served as chairman or treasurer for the California Association of Nonprofits, the Los Angeles Business Council, the Los Angeles County and California chapters of Mother Against Drunk Driving, the San Fernando Valley Girl Scouts Council, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also donates his time to instruct accounting courses for numerous trade, university and community organizations.

Tom is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. He graduated cum laude with a B.A. in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and is a former UCSB Accounting Alumnus of the Year.

*Tom holds his interest in the firm through Thomas J Schulte, an Accountany Corporation

Experience

Associations

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
California Society of Certified Public Accountants

Community

Audit committee, Grammy Museum
Audit committee, Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation
Los Angeles County Library Strategic Plan Advisory Council.

Education

University of California, Santa Barbara

Experience

RBZ LLP
Arthur Andersen LLP

Speaking Engagements

2014 California Association of Realtors conference, Internal Fraud: Why They Do It, How They Do It and How to Protect Your Organization
2014 Colorado Association of Realtors Conference, Internal Controls: Essential

Q&A

I was managing partner of RBZ, which later merged with Armanino, during a huge growth period. I loved it, but I stepped down from that role to concentrate on my new roles as husband and father. I wanted to be present for my family. It meant giving up a role I loved, so it was a tough decision, but it was also an easy decision.

Everything. Digital media companies are gathering in what is now called “Silicon Beach” and are hugely changing the economy all around them. Much like Silicon Valley, this area is home to mature, well-known tech companies and also to many startups with dreams of IPOs, mergers and acquisitions. It’s an exciting time, and it’s exciting for Armanino to help these young companies the same way we help our Silicon Valley clients.

We had a very large nonprofit audit client that had been with us for 15 years. We said that they had to go out for bid, because it was fiduciarily wise, and told them we couldn’t bid because we had been with them for so long. They interviewed five other firms and concluded that they wanted to stay with us, despite us not having bid. They really appreciated the difference we had made for their organization.

Organized but relaxed; approachable and appreciative.

My dad. He is a true gentleman and lives by a few simple, fundamental concepts, such as “always do the right thing.”

Don’t just e-communicate. Look up from your iPad and learn to actually talk to people and to write without using emojis! Communicate―that is what this job is really about.