1985 – 2019
Emerson H Lee restarted his career after the fall of Vietnam in 1975. He spent the next 10 years, learning English, studying for his CPA exam and working as a full time as a bus driver. After passing the CPA exam in 1983, he prepared tax returns as supplementary income before starting his accounting practice in Arlington in 1985. He provided basic bookkeeping, write-up, tax preparations and payroll for local Vietnamese businesses.
The firm grew from one employee to twelve, and grew from the initial 10 initial clients to over 500 today. A lot has changed since 1988, the firm grew from a single IBM AT personal computer to our dual redundancy hybrid cloud infrastructure. When I first entered the business, I believed that the accounting field lacked excitement or potential for innovation.
I also lacked the preparation and training required to be an accountant. Although I was unable to comprehend it at the time, my father constantly reminded me that my background, our clients and the internet would inspire me to change. In 2011, a major shift occurred in our firm. My previous knowledge of the sciences, information technology, telecommunication and accounting all came together when I was able to relate these components to modern accounting in an entirely new way.