Meet Our Team: Samantha Rathburn

A lover of country music, spin class and taking her dogs to brew pubs (since now it’s allowed), Samantha is a charismatic blend of accounting professional and Northeast Ohio native – the ideal team member for a community-focused CPA practice like BMF. Joining the firm 10 years ago as a tax staff member, Samantha has progressed into a management role as one of our Tax Managers, working with a variety of clients and individuals on their compliance, audit and tax planning strategies.

“I came to BMF from one of the Big 4 firms and found the culture here so much more engaging,” Samantha said. “People are open and friendly, and there’s an open-door policy that makes communication with leadership encouraging. It’s part of the firm’s philosophy to build a strong workplace culture – and I find that very empowering.”

People are open and friendly and there’s an open-door policy that makes communication with leadership encouraging. I find that very empowering.

– Samantha Rathburn

Samantha has embraced the community and firm culture in a variety of ways. She is a long-time volunteer for the Susan G. Komen breast cancer fund, to support her mother-in-law who is a breast cancer survivor.  She has championed our United Way workplace campaign for nearly all 10 of her years here, which resulted in awards and recognition for our unique campaigns, 100% employee participation and overall monetary successes. Samantha also served as Chair of our e3 committee, which stands for Employee Enrichment and Engagement – which is dedicated to enriching the experiences of all associates.

In addition, Samantha serves on our Technology Team as well as our Lean Six Sigma committee.

“Those are critical roles. Our work on these committees is driving important improvements in how we can better serve our clients. Technology investments have always been a core focus for us, so the tech team is pivotal in selecting, defining and testing the tools we deploy through our staff.  Lean 6, which is used by many CPA firms across the industry, is driving a complete overhaul of our workflows and processes.  It’s very exciting to be in the front row to contribute to both these projects.”

Samantha began her education on a dual-track for accounting and pre-law, with every intention of beginning her career as a divorce attorney. Along the way, she realized she preferred accounting and shifted the rest of her studies to the accounting arena. She’s committed to her education, and today is back in school working on her Master of Taxation degree. “The investment in my education and expertise will make me a better professional,” she said.

“Sometimes I deliver news to clients that they don’t want to hear, but over time they’ve come to trust my advice. Many of my clients have even become close friends over the years and I take great pride in that,” Samantha noted.

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