Shareholder, Tax
Office: San Francisco
Email: rgunn@bpmcpa.com
Rich started his career as a corporate tax specialist in the New York office of Price Waterhouse in 1986. He joined BPM in 1992, forming the Private Company Services group to work with clients who have real entrepreneurial spirit. "It's great working directly with hands-on business owners and founders: they are passionate about their work, visionaries in their field, and even artists in designing their own companies – and they are always great fun to work with," says Rich. "It’s important to see the business and each of its owners as one single client, in the same way that a doctor views a patient as being made up of many vital organs. For maximum health, efficiency and planning opportunities, you can’t focus on only the business, or only on taxes; you have to consider all the financial aspects of the business and each of its owners."
Rich's expertise includes:
- Advisor to owner-managed businesses, start-up companies
- Choice of entity
- Individuals, corporations, S corporations, limited liability companies & partnerships
- Tax planning and accounting services
- Financial management and reporting
- Cash-flow management
- Multistate and international operations
- Buy-sell agreements
- Exit strategies, succession planning and valuation matters
- Personal finance and retirement planning
- “Helping business owners sleep at night”
Professional Affiliations
- Past President and Chairman of the San Francisco Small Business Network
- Past writer, producer and host of the "small business segment" of the weekly cable TV show, SF Business
- Founding member of the Small Business Advocates in San Francisco.
- In 1997 he was awarded the Champion of Small Business by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
- Has taught the Choice of Entity course at the Small Business Development Center in San Francisco.
- Served as the small business representative and planning committee member for the San Francisco Economic Summit, Children, Youth & Families Summit, and the Welfare Reform Task Force under Mayor Willie Brown’s administration
Education
BA/Accounting – Bernard M. Baruch College, City University of New York
Licensed in both California and New York
Interesting Tidbit
Rich’s first bicycle was a purple Schwinn Stingray Deluxe with high handlebars, banana seat and a stick shift, which he rode through the streets of Brooklyn, NY. Today he has a sky blue Specialized Sirrus street bike which he rides 250 miles each month, exploring the neighborhoods of San Francisco.
