For almost 20 years, Paul Miller has been building his firm with a focus on meeting client needs beyond compliance work, and with a business consultancy mindset.

When he became self-employed in 1993, Paul found resources for tax planning, business structure/entity optimization, and overall business coaching difficult to find. After founding Business by Design in Edina, MN, his goal was to help other entrepreneurs and small businesses be more tax-efficient and make smarter business decisions, in addition to providing traditional accounting firm services.

Today, Paul has developed a firm that provides high-margin business coaching, tax planning, and asset protection services for small businesses, employing many of the same tax planning strategies that larger firms offer. This creates a trusted advisor relationship with his clients, builds multiple income streams for his firm, and establishes the firm’s unique value proposition. Whether it’s tax savings, business transition guidance, or equity-building strategies, clients see the value Business by Design delivers — thereby virtually eliminating the client-fee pressure situations many accounting firms find themselves in today.

The firm employs a unique “team” approach that pairs Paul’s own entrepreneurial expertise with a highly trained and diverse staff that includes accountants, CPAs, enrolled agents, paralegal, and administrative staff to provide high-level, results-oriented services to their clients. Paul’s focus on the progressive use of technology to drive firm efficiency and better serve clients, coupled with his consultative approach to helping business clients, has positioned Business by Design as a firm of the future.

A Sr. Project Manager with the Training, Consulting and Implementation Services team, Emily is passionate about bringing positive change to firms and strives to deliver a seamless and positive client experience that contributes to a firm’s success. Emily joined Thomson Reuters in 2010 as a product support representative for UltraTax CS and Planner CS. In 2013, she joined the Training, Consulting & Implementation Services team as a sales and training consultant. In that role, she presented onsite and web-based technical demonstrations of the Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite, and worked with firms to ensure the tools improve their workflow. She currently focuses on the business model consulting offering, Practice Forward. Emily has presented at Thomson Reuters SYNERGY Users' Conference and at various professional events, including Partner Summit, trade shows and sales seminars. Emily holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Eastern Michigan University.