Who is EFS?
Who is EFS?
Encompass Financial Services : Company Biography
Encompass Financial Services, started out as Minner’s Bookkeeping in 2002 with Joel and Sharon Minner providing Basic Bookkeeping services out of their home in Salamanca, NY. In 2004, after many personal changes and decisions, Joel & Sharon moved with their daughter and pets to Clarksville, TN. Clarksville is more widely recognized as the home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), which allowed Joel & Sharon to meet and work with other fellow military veterans as they transitioned from military careers to being new business owners.
Around this time, the company added Payroll support to their portfolio of services based on feedback from our clients. A few years later, Joel obtained his Enrolled Agent designation allowing him to prepare a wider range of personal and business Tax Returns, while providing the highest level of quality services to our clients. Around 2014, Joel was hired by a local Clarksville CPA firm to support their bookkeeping, payroll, and tax preparation divisions causing Minner’s Bookkeeping to close its doors.
After working a few years at the local CPA firm, Joel and Sharon went back out on their own opening up Minner’s Bookkeeping & Tax Preparation, which better represented the suite of services offered by the company. Finally, in 2017, the company incorporated under a new name: Encompass Financial Services This firm was the culmination of Joel and Sharon’s vision to provide a wide range of financial services to the community, including Basic Bookkeeping, Payroll, Tax Planning, Tax Preparation, Tax Resolution, and Advanced Bookkeeping Services.
Our firm has been proudly serving our clients from all over the United States of America and we will continue to do so for as long as our clients and the community allow us to. Over the past two decades, we’ve helped thousands of clients with their various financial services needs and we are looking forward to helping thousands more over the years to come.
Encompass Financial Services, Team Members
Our services team is comprised of several very dedicated and knowledgeable employees whose goal is to provide an innovative customer experience addressing a variety of client needs and concerns; to encourage clients to become more confident in their responsibilities of business ownership and tax reporting obligations.
President & Co-Founder of Encompass Financial Services
Sharon Minner
Sharon Minner is the President, and Co-Founder of Encompass Financial Services, and has held this position since the company was formed in 2017. Prior to being at the helm of EFS, she provided administrative support and leadership to multiple companies for over 15 years.
Sharon works with the staff at EFS to ensure the company’s vision and mission are understood by all team members; that support systems are in place to provide employees and team members with the best resources to accomplish the work our firm has been hired to do; and that each team member and client know how much they are valued by our firm.
When Sharon isn’t leading EFS, and supporting her staff, she can be found clearing out some of the land around her home to build her personal paradise with Joel, her husband of 33 years. Together, Sharon and Joel have two beautiful daughters, Sara and Renae, and two awesome grandchildren, Jeromey and Cierra. Other pastimes including fishing and going for motorcycle rides with Joel.
Sharon is very proud of what Encompass Financial Services, has accomplished over the last several years and looks forward to seeing the next phase of growth and expansion for the firm.
Office Manager
Jessica Heisinger
Jessica Heisinger is the Office Manager at Encompass Financial Services. She has experience in all departments of the office from Tax Preparation, Payroll, Bookkeeping, to Operational Administration.
She currently handles payroll, helps facilitate between the Tax Team and clients, and assists management with the everyday operations at EFS.
She is always willing to help clients whenever possible with a smile on her face, and she thoroughly enjoys helping small businesses thrive.
Jessica is native to Missouri, and has roots in Kentucky, but she has lived in Clarksville for almost 20 years. She graduated high school with honors, and graduated college from Murray State University in 2003 with B.S.
Degree in Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Service Management. She quickly realized that she was more interested in Office Administration, and now has almost 20 years in client liaison and management areas.
Jessica is married to Bryan, a Registered Nurse, and has a daughter and son. Her hobbies include water activities, camping, hiking, biking and traveling. She is an active member of the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), loves to volunteering to help others, and actively participates in her son’s Boy Scout Troop.
Vice President & Co-Founder of Encompass Financial Services
Joel A. Minner, EA, Vice President
Joel is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Encompass Financial Services. In this capacity, Joel uses his two plus decades of experience to develop and train the company’s staff in all aspects of bookkeeping, payroll, and tax support services.
Joel earned his Associates Degree in Accounting from SUNY/Empire State College back in 2002. He took that degree, and his passion for numbers, and opened his first company, Minner’s Bookkeeping in 2002. Joel understood that his accounting degree was only the beginning of his professional development and over the next several years he earned his Enrolled Agent designation from the IRS; he subsequently obtained his financial advisor’s license (Series 7/ Series 66); and “finally”, became a fully licensed insurance agent.
Joel’s first few years were devoted to developing his bookkeeping and payroll skills to support small and mid-sized companies better run their firms. Joel likes to look beyond the basic financial data and break down the numbers to see what is going on within a company. Breaking down the financial statements so that business owners can truly understand how their operations are running is really where his value comes to life.
Expanding on his skills, Joel obtained his EA designation a few years later.
Joel has since used his experience as an Enrolled Agent, and his passion to fight for his clients, to enhance the company’s tax division. This is especially visible in the tax resolution section where he’s assisted clients in a range of actions. From simple phone calls to clear up misapplied payments, to interacting with the Taxpayer’s Advocate Service on more stubborn situations, to successfully submitting Offers-In-Compromise on our client’s behalf, Joel has a very wide range of experience that he now uses to train the junior team members.
When Joel isn’t training staff, or fighting on behalf of our tax clients, he loves to spend his time with his beautiful wife of 33 years, Sharon, and their youngest daughter, Renae. He also loves taking time out to enjoy watching their oldest daughter, Sara, being a wonderful mother to her two children. In whatever spare time remains, Joel can be found riding his motorcycle with Sharon, fishing with Sara, playing Switch with Renae, or flying a plane to gain perspective.
Tax Services Team Leader
Jon-Christopher Wiseman, EA
Jon Wiseman, also known as JC, is an Enrolled Agent, and the Lead Tax Preparer at Encompass Financial Services. He first started out supporting clients in the Bookkeeping and Payroll divisions, providing him an excellent background in those areas as well.
JC received his Bachelors in Accounting from Georgia Southern, and an Associates in Computer Information Systems. Beyond his college education, JC’s designation as an Enrolled Agent means that he is required to go through at least 24 hours of Continuing Professional Education annually, providing him with constantly updated skills which he uses to help with clients trying to resolve tax issues.
JC has around 7 years’ experience in bookkeeping and payroll, and approximately 5 years in taxes. Currently he is quickly becoming very skilled in Tax Resolution services. JC enjoys his job and helping clients with their questions, which shows with how clients interact with him.
JC is happily married to his beautiful wife, Heather. When he is not working, he likes playing card games with friends and family, and just relaxing by reading, or watching tv.
Bookkeeping Team Leader
Andrew Towery
Andrew Towery has been with Encompass Financial Services, for over 5 years, and in that time has held multiple positions. He is currently the Lead Bookkeeper and is responsible for providing bookkeeping support to numerous clients in a myriad of industries.
This wide range of clients provides him with a constant challenge to hone his skills and provide the best service to all of EFS’s clients.
As the Lead Bookkeeper, Andrew has spent years refining the necessary skills to help clients manage their books and records. One of his main focuses includes completing initial company set-ups for clients in any number of states throughout our great country. Andrew enjoys working with clients, whether it is helping new clients set expectations on what it takes to run a business administratively, or helping established business owners refine their books to show how their operations are performing.
Andrew has lived in Tennessee since 1999. A Clarksville native, and former APSU student, he started at Encompass Financial Services, where he found his calling in bookkeeping. Despite hardships early in adulthood, Andrew has worked diligently to grow his skillset to support the firm’s clients at the highest level. To that end, he is currently working towards a Certified Bookkeeper designation. Future goals include earning his Enrolled Agent designation.
Andrew loves nature, and in his free time, you can find him wandering the woods of Rotary Park. He also enjoys cooking, staying active, and enjoying the company of his friends. Much to the chagrin of others, his secret talent is finding ways to incorporate a pun into any conversation.
Encompass Financial Service, Who would make a Good Client?
Just like you’re evaluating our firm to see if we’re going to meet your personal and professional needs, as a business, we too must carefully evaluate our potential clients for the quality of the relationship. Many companies try to be everything to everyone, but we’ve found that we get the best results for our clients when we work with clients that exhibit specific attitudes and characteristics. For us, our ideal client:
- Wants to learn about the administrative responsibilities of running a business, or preparing taxes, but doesn’t want to spend all their time doing that kind of work.
- Effectively communicates with our staff providing us with the requested information in a timely manner so we can do our job as efficiently as possible.
- Asks questions about how we are performing our services without questioning everything we do based on what they saw on social media.
- Wants to sit down and look at their financial numbers to better understand their Revenue and Cost Drivers, which will allow them to make better business decisions.
- Takes responsibility for their actions, or inactions, in their operations, and doesn’t just blame others.
- Focuses on problem-solving, not on blaming team members.
- Wants to work ON their business, not IN their business.
- Takes action and makes Intentional Decisions to affect the growth they want to see for their staff, clients, and company.
Personal and professional behaviors, attitudes, demeanors, and mannerisms are what make each client and company unique, and ours is no exception. That also means that we’re not going to be the right company for all clients. So, while we’ll always treat every client with respect and courtesy, certain clients are a better fit for our business model than others.