JAMES A. SAYRE CPA

Jim possesses more than 15 years of experience in consulting and advising public and privately held clients in the areas of income and franchise taxation. As a Shareholder in the tax department, Jim is one of our firm’s leading experts in the area of accounting for income tax, including accounting for mergers and acquisitions, in accordance with ASC 740.

Jim has served clients in various industries, including healthcare, retail, manufacturing, technology and professional services. He provides services to the firm’s clients that include the coordination and review of corporate, partnership and individual tax returns, including implementation of tax planning strategies.

Prior to working at Schneider Downs, Jim worked at a Big Four accounting firm and a large regional firm, where he provided tax compliance and advisory services to clients ranging from multi-national public entities to family-owned businesses.

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Do you have a hobby/personal passion?
I enjoy playing and watching basketball.

What was the best advice you’ve ever received?
Everyone has something to teach so look for the lessons you can learn from other’s experiences.

Who is your role model?
I’ve had many in different aspects, but above all and for many reasons, my role model has been my grandfather.  He taught me to look for the value in a hard day’s work and that sometimes doing a task that others do not want to do can lead to better opportunities.

What was your childhood dream?
I wanted to be a doctor…..right up until I took my first science class and realized I should stick with math.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your college self? 
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, because those will teach the most impactful lessons.

What is the best or most interesting thing about your career?
The collaborative environment helping to learn from each other’s viewpoints and experiences.

What was your first job?
I worked at a carnival running different games….my first experience with long hours.

When you have an hour of free time, what do you like to do?
Spend time with my son and daughter.

Do you have advice for young professionals? 
Stay open to new experiences especially those that challenge you.  The areas that are difficult provide the most learning opportunities and the struggle helps you grow.

Our Thoughts On

FEATURED

Big Problem: Cybersecurity Defenses Compromised By Employees’ Passwords


Big Thinking: Significant Updates To The Cybersecurity Environment.

Shareholder ERIC WRIGHT has been involved with Information Technology with Schneider Downs since 1983 and oversees the firm’s thriving Technology Consulting and IT Audit & Compliance practices. Through this role, Eric brings extensive experience in assessing IT infrastructure and identifying cybersecurity risk and exposure.
One of our clients felt fairly good about their existing cybersecurity defenses. But they were still afraid of the unknown and newer cyber attack techniques. Through our regular audit procedures, we inquired about their current cyber controls and their confidence in withstanding an attack. We then performed a network penetration test which simulates an external adversary hacking their network. This procedure identified the client's unknown weaknesses in their defenses through a live test. “Within 48 hours, we were able to guess the passwords of close to 10% of their employees, effectively giving us VPN access to their corporate network and certain employee utilities, like email.” Eric said. "We also found that their corporate intranet site was visible over the internet and susceptible to login via the bad passwords. After identifying these issues, we worked with the client to make significant changes to their environment to make it harder for an attacker to break in." Schneider Downs provides Big Thinking and Personal Focus in delivering a variety of services for large and small businesses, both publicly and privately held, as well as nonprofit organizations, government entities and more. Through our commitment to thought leadership and knowledge management, we deliver the solutions our clients need with a personal commitment to service.

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