My professional accounting timeline began at Pace University, NYC Campus during a lecture at Accounting 101 class when Professor Irving Jankowitz threw a chalk at me for talking in class. I threw the chalk back at him partly out of reflex, and mostly out of disagreement over him concluding that I violated class rules. I was not talking in class. The guy next to me was mumbling about not understanding something Professor Jankowitz had said, and I ended up being the target. After I threw the chalk at him, he asked me to see him after class.

 

So, after processing the ooohhh and ahhhhs of the class as to what my fate would be, I resigned myself to the unfair consequences of my reaction. Guess what? Professor Jankowitz offered me one of three intern positions he had for the upcoming tax season. He liked that I stood up for myself. One for Lina. My first job!! In public accounting!! And I have never looked back.  

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My professional accounting life has always been in public accounting. Public accounting is where you work for a professional services firm that provides accounting, audit, tax, and consulting services to clients. It is never boring. You never go to the same old job. It is always entertaining and challenging.  

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Lipner, Jankowitz and Gordon was located at 11 Park Place literally on the shadows of the Twin Towers.  A block away from Duane and Reade (now the famous name of a drug store) and a block away from the Internal Revenue Service, a place I visited often in our quest to secure tax extensions.  Those days were all about paper. I did all things staff do like making a million copies, assembling tax returns, and taking lunch orders. Mr. Gordon liked Tuna on Rye with lots of sweet peppers.... I can’t believe I still remember that!

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After my introduction to public accounting at Lipner, Jankowitz and Gordon I went to work for N Rubin & Co while attending college. I worked full time and went to school part time. This small Manhattan firm had a specialty in servicing clients in the entertainment industry. They had some very, very, very, very, very famous clients. It was a fun place and I really learned how to keep books and how to use the up and coming personal computers.

 

Upon graduating Pace University with a Bachelors in Business Administration degree, I felt ready for the bigger guys. It was time to learn more and to make my incursion into the world of financial statement auditing.  I needed two years of audit work to get my CPA license in New York State. So, my next stop was with Mann Judd Landau, but my time there was short as they merged with Touche Ross (one of the big eight at the time) and I felt that I was not ready for the next level of global CPA firms where most work is highly specialized. I wanted more mid-level experience so I could see the big picture. I interviewed and got a job with Anchin, Block and Anchin which is a reputable top 15 accounting firm in the tri-state area of New York. I spent almost ten years at Anchin as a member of the audit department. Anchin offered me a great mix of work experience in both audit and tax. It is still a top-notch firm.

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I left Anchin when I relocated to the Sunshine State, to Miami, Florida to be precise, where after a two-month vacation I joined one of the “Final Four”. The final four were comprised of Price Waterhouse Coopers, KPMG, Deloitte and Touche, and Ernst & Young. I joined the tax compliance department of Ernst & Young in February of 1998 where I stayed until going solo in October of 2005.  

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My combined experience working for all sizes of CPA firms has given me a very good grasp of my profession. I have, after all, been in client service all my professional life.  I have serviced clients big and small in a variety of industries including Biotech, Labor Unions, Apparel and Textile, Food, Manufacturing and Wholesale, Commodities Brokerage, Technology, Entertainment, SEC, and Private Equity, to name a few. My experience spans accounting, financial statement auditing, tax compliance, tax consulting, process implementation and training, political campaign treasury and Not for Profit management.

 

Dranga Services LLC, the company I founded, provides tax and accounting services to individuals and businesses. And, I draw on all this experience to provide great client service. 

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Sincerely at your service,

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