Spotlight on CPA and Accounting Firm Founder Keila Hill-Trawick

Our Spotlight series highlights the careers and lives of tax professionals all over the world. This week’s Spotlight is on Keila Hill-Trawick, a certified public accountant who is founder and CEO of Little Fish Accounting, based in Washington, D.C.

Hill-Trawick launched her firm, which specializes in advisory and compliance services for small businesses, in 2018, after working as a senior accountant and senior auditor for several federal agencies. She also has co-founded Accountants of Color and serves on the boards of Brown Girls Do Inc., All-Options, and Tessera Arts Collective.

Among the things she enjoys are Talenti gelato, beach vacations, and listening to podcasts while walking her dog, Bear. “We think he’s a boxer-pitbull mix—he’s a pandemic puppy from foster care, so that’s our best guess.”

What’s your official title and what does it mean? My official title is founder and CEO. What that means around here is that I started the business and still run it. I am responsible for the general direction and development of the firm and my team, as well as being the voice of Little Fish Accounting to the world.

Free time: book, audiobook, or podcast? Podcast, every time. I love books (I try to read 30 to 40 per year) but I love the storytelling aspect of podcasts. I get sucked into them on walks with my dog and kind of miss the commute that came with leaving the house for work.

Tax is a huge subject. What’s your area of special interest? I focus specifically on micro businesses that earn revenue as service providers. This means the majority of our clients have one or two owners with teams of fewer than 10 and make money using their areas of expertise—think coaches, consultants, lawyers, therapists, even other accountants.

What’s the last movie or show that you watched and loved (DVD, Netflix, or in the theater)? I just recently saw “The Woman King” and basically cried the whole way through, which never happens to me. I loved how they showed strong Black women with so much nuance and care, and I left feeling more powerful than ever.

What college did you attend and what did you study? I attended Georgia State University for my bachelor’s degree in accounting, then Mercer University for my MBA with a concentration in marketing. (Can you believe I thought I was going to leave the field altogether?) Luckily, I found my love of accounting for small businesses, and the rest is current history.

Go to pick-me-up: Coffee or tea? Unfortunately, I discovered coffee last year, and now I need it every day. Although, starting to wonder if it’s coffee that I actually love, or the chocolate syrup I pour in it to make a fake mocha latte at home!

What’s the best tax or financial advice that anyone ever gave you? It doesn’t sound like financial advice, but it was this: Hire before you’re ready. Doing so has helped us to grow exponentially on the financial side. I think knowing your bandwidth, what you’re great at, and what you can do allows you to make strategic financial decisions about the direction of the company and the revenue you make. Doing it all yourself without getting help as soon as you can actually lowered my ability to make money, because it was solely dependent on me—my time, my wellness, my moods.

If you weren’t working in the tax profession, what would your dream job be? It’s funny to think this now, but I think I’d be a professor. Education is actually my favorite part of running the practice, and I love when I can see the light bulb go off for someone who now understands a concept that was confusing or frustrating beforehand. Who knows? Maybe I’ll add that to my resume while I’m still practicing tax!

If you had the opportunity to make one change in the tax world—an extra credit, a disallowed deduction, whatever—what would it be? Pet tax deductions! They are members of the family too (albeit non-wage earners), and I’d love to know that the money I spend on Bear would lead to a little bit of a kickback from the IRS.

Favorite food, snack, or candy during tax season or other busy time? Vanilla fudge gelato layers from Talenti. I’m actually a bit miffed at the fact that one container doesn’t equal a serving size.

What tax news or move made the most impact on your practice or clients this past year? Clients are not too happy about the change back to 50% meal deductions. I think they’d already forgotten how recently that was the rule!

If you received a big tax refund check right now, what would you do with it? Go on vacation! With winter settling in, I’d much rather be on a beach.

You can find out more about Hill-Trawick on LinkedIn. and on her personal website.

You can learn more about Hill-Trawick’s business, Little Fish Accounting, on its website and on Instagram.

If you’d like to recommend a tax pro to be featured, send your suggestion to rbaker@bloombergindustry.com with the subject: Spotlight. Please include the following information: tax professional’s name, title, email address, and geographic area (city/state/country).