Dave Del Sesto

I was born in 1960 in Providence, Rhode Island and at the age of four my parents moved our family to Orange County, California.  My elementary school years were spent in Fullerton with the remainder of my youth in Villa Park.  One of the things my father impressed upon me through high school was that I needed to have an in-depth understanding of tax law.  I took his advice, became a registered tax preparer and started with preparing my friends tax returns in 1978 when I was 18-years-old.  This is when I learned that preparing tax returns was something I loved to do and I haven’t stopped since. 

My first year out of high school was spent in Los Angeles attending a one-year program at California Center for Biblical Studies.  I then attended Cal State University, Fullerton and in June, 1986 graduated earning my Bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting.  Throughout college I worked full-time doing classic car restoration, selling life and health insurance and preparing tax returns.  Following graduation I went to work for Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) in Los Angeles and within six months found myself working in the Orange County office.  I spent almost three years with the firm.  I left them for a position as Property Manager at Warmington Homes for a year before I took over my current accounting practice I now have. 

My current tax practice began sometime in the 1930’s by my wife’s grandmother’s second husband, Don Frisbee.  He in turn sold the practice in the early 1960’s to my brother-in-law’s father, Bill Allan.  In January of 1991 I purchased it from Bill.  After spending 13 years growing the practice and assuming all the diversity and complications that accompany such growth I came to a crossroads in my personal and professional life.  My life had become too complicated and my clients were not getting the level of service that I thought was up to my standard.  In 2004 I made the decision to sell most of the payroll and bookkeeping work to a key employee of mine, Pat Wills, who had been with me for the last 12 years.  I did this in order to simplify my life and focus more of my attention on improving the level of service my clients would receive.

It is now 2010 and as I reflect on the change I made back in 2004 I am very pleased with the results.  I have been able to better serve my clients in ways that generate tangible results.  I have developed a Business Management service (see description under services) that has become very successful.  I am also continually receiving positive testemonials from my clients as I take a more active role in their tax situations and businesses. 

One last thing I would like to highlight has to do with my “Team Approach” philosophy.  When I first started out in this business I thought I could do it all and perform every type of service that an accounting firm was expected to provide.  What my last 20+ years has taught me is that some things are better left for others that are more qualified and that my “pride” is not worth giving my clients a quality of service that is below what I expect them to receive.  Therefore, over the years I have learned to say, “No, I cannot provide that service, however, I can work on finding you a qualified firm or individual that can and we will work together with them”.  I call this my “Team Approach”.  I have developed a team of professionals and consultants over the years that many of my clients have successfully worked with.  Having said this, I encourage you to bring me all of your business challenges to see what we can accomplish with the “Team”.

Myles Sterrett

Myles, a Southern California native, attended Murrieta Valley High School (MVHS) and oddly enough that is where he was exposed to accounting. During his junior year at MVHS Myles took introductory business and accounting classes and gained a quick appreciation for the trade. Considering accounting as a viable career Myles decided to study Economics and Accounting at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).

While pursuing his degree at UCI Myles co-founded a chapter of the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi. Myles saw membership grow from two members to over 50 in the first year. The chapter now boasts 50 plus members a year. During his junior year Myles completed an internship with Deloitte & Touche in their Business Advisory Services practice. In addition to his internship Myles continued to work part-time for Dave Del Sesto assisting in tax preparation and miscellaneous special projects.

Upon graduation from UCI he began his career at Deloitte & Touche and this is where he obtained his license to practice as a CPA in California.  At Deloitte & Touche Myles spent four years between the Business Advisory Services and Federal Tax departments. In the Federal Tax department Myles focused on high net worth individuals, partnerships, and corporate entities. After his departure from Deloitte he then spent the next year and a half working with Dave Del Sesto focusing on tax preparation/planning and business consultation.

In 2013 Myles moved out of public accounting to become controller for a private equity backed environmental company specializing in air testing and environmental laboratory services. Myles was controller through rapid growth helping double revenue over 18 months. Myles assisted in over 10 buy-side acquisitions; assisting in financial due diligence, operational integration, financial system design, maintaining bank covenant compliances, financial reporting, and financial audit preparation.

Myles currently resides in Murrieta, CA with his wife Elaina and two sons Remy and River.