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Raised in Whitefish, Sarah Gould ventured to Oregon and Idaho for her college education. She supported herself through college by interning as an auditor with a local CPA firm and cramming through the higher accounting classes at night. She was offered a job at that same firm immediately upon graduation.
Despite the incredible opportunities available to her, Sarah missed the Whitefish vibe, her family, and the endless outdoor adventures. Sarah moved back to the Flathead Valley and began putting down roots and furthering her career experience in accounting and finance — gaining valuable tax, auditing, nonprofit, corporate, and small-business expertise. She also garnered experience in business, leading nonprofit boards, working as both a CFO and a senior accountant with multiple large corporations. After 10 years in the field, she felt a calling to do things differently. As an auditor there were many experiences where Sarah walked into a business and noticed the look of fear and failure on her client’s faces before she even said hello. She reveled in the opportunity to meet clients, help them feel comfortable and confident in their accounting experience. She had (and continues to have) a genuine desire to help. Sarah says, "People often open business to share with the world their gifts; the chef, the graphic designer, the landscaper. However, there is a whole other part of sharing that craft with the world — the business side of things." Sarah noticed this stressful paradigm especially during tax time. Observations like this began compounding, and ultimately fueled Sarah's drive to open Elevated Accounting— a friendly firm putting people and their passions first, supporting business owners by solving problems and creating systems that work for people, for their business, and for their employees. "Business owners want to do what they love, not sit in a tiny office and crunch numbers," Sarah says. "That's how it should be, and that's how we manage our client-centered approach with businesses large and small." |
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Krista has been living in (and loving!) Montana for 12 years now—originally from beautiful northern Minnesota. She graduated from MSU Bozeman with a degree in Sociology, and then decided to go after bookkeeping, and earned a degree in Accounting. Accounting resonated with her because the concepts flowed easily, and she honed in a true passion for setting up a company's financials so they are streamlined with a consistent flow.
Lucky for business owners with little time to have their nose in the details, Krista's favorite task is dealing with account discrepancies. For her, it's not frustrating... it's like solving a puzzle! Krista likes taking the burden off EA's clients and putting them at ease, knowing the financial health of their business is being cared for by professionals. When not crunching numbers and solving puzzles, Krista spends most of her time with her partner, two baby boys and two giant dogs! |
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Six years ago, Kendra and her family had a notion to move out of the city and enjoy the great outdoors. So they packed up their belongings and moved to Whitefish, Montana... site unseen! They haven't looked back since. Kendra, her husband and 3 boys can be found enjoying everything indoors or outdoors Whitefish has to offer.
When Kendra was a little girl she could be found playing "office" in her mother's Accounting and Tax Preparation Firm. She took to playing with numbers at an early age and enjoys the little details and being able to help ease frustration for the client by taking the worry out of their hands. It has been a long time since Kendra has played "office." Today, it's her career. She comes with 20 years of experience in office administration and bookkeeping experience. She is most excited when helping clients with bank reconciliations and the bill payment process in Quickbooks — both online and desktop. |
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Stephanie grew up in small town Laurel, MT. Her career began as a receptionist and quickly advanced when she learned the ropes of the Corporate world. She has excelled in Payroll and has worked with over 31 restaurants to take care of employer & employee needs. She has specialized in employee/employer specific legalities. To complete the experience package, she has small business experience as a dance studio owner, teacher, & bookkeeper due to her time in Billings, MT.
In 2014 Stephanie and her husband decided to uproot their lives and plant themselves in the Valley with their two dogs. She is a certified Yoga instructor on the side and has specialized in Aerial Silk Yoga. Math and problem solving have always come easy to Stephanie and she shines whenever she can effectively work through a difficult number puzzle. She has a welcoming presence and a helpful persona. |
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Joanna Ahlin was raised in Kalispell, graduated from Flathead High School, and then decided to journey away to Illinois for a new adventure. She spent the next 14 years there and soon found herself married with two amazing kids. She worked for 10 years in multiple management positions and achieved proficiency in human resources, financials statements, creating procedures, critical thinking, organization, and attention to detail. She has always enjoyed dealing with numbers and making sure all the details are taken care of to fulfill the customers expectations.
After a successful career in Illinois, Joanna and her husband packed up both kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 turtle to move back to Kalispell to be closer to her family. She is currently enjoying all that Big Sky Country has to offer. When she is not working she enjoys going to the lake, playing with her kids and watching good movies. She also enjoys going for long drives to take in the beautiful scenery in and around the Flathead Valley. Joanna enjoys the family-like feel of Elevated Accounting and is more than happy to help any client or staff member with anything they need. Her main goal each day is to strive to make everyone’s day better than it was the day before. |
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Jesse grew up in Santa Barbara, CA and moved to Whitefish in Fall of 2019. She came here with her partner and children to be closer to family and enjoy all that Northwest Montana has to offer. She enjoys going to the lake, family get-togethers and working on her property and home during her free time.
After getting a degree in Computer Information Systems in college, she quickly learned that accounting was her passion. She spent several years in office management and bookkeeping for restaurants, before moving into higher education. During her time working for the local University, she continued her education in Accounting, and worked in various Accounting and Payroll processing positions within her department. Jesse thrives on being challenged in new areas and working quickly and efficiently to respond to client's needs. She enjoys month-end reconciliations when she can have meaningful dialogue with clients regarding their accounts. At the end of each day, her goal is to have made the client and her colleague's day, a bit easier. |
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Liz grew up in beautiful northern Minnesota where she cultivated a love for the outdoors, nature and animals. Hearing the call of the mountains, she moved west in 2016 and has lived in both the Coeur d’Alene, ID and Kalispell, MT areas.
These passions have also directed her professional life. She has worked at a high end pet supply store as well as Crown Enterprises (Sportsman’s and Ski Haus and Tristate Outfitters) where she first became acquainted with accounting, working in their accounts payable department. Liz finds the process of accounting to be the most interesting and fulfilling as everything has a rule and balances out in the end. She is meticulously detail oriented, efficient and organized. Liz joins our team from Coeur d’Alene, where she spends her free time with friends, hiking, and kayaking with her 3 dogs and 2 cats. |
