Wisely budgeting time: CalCPA Chair an overachieving, forensic force.

• Author: English, Damien B.M.
• Position: 2016 CalCPA chair - Cover story

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New CalCPA Chair Andy Mintzer can be called many things: a prodigy in his youth, ahead of his time once reaching adulthood and a pioneer of the profession. He graduated high school at mere 16-years old, college soon after at 19, and had a graduate degree as well as a CPA license by the age of 20, which made him the youngest CPA in Florida at the time. He went on to be on the cutting edge; edge--at least for the 80s--of educational content delivery, and then became a member getting in on the ground floor of what is now known as forensic services in California.

But you wouldn't know all this at first glance, although the beautiful Los Angeles home definitely tips you off to his success. His unassuming demeanor welcomes you in to his guesthouse office situated behind his family's home. He sits comfortably amidst framed pictures of the Beatles, Woodstock posters and stacks of accounting books. As soon as he opens his mouth you can hear the New York in his voice, and the speed and sagacity with which he speaks begins to make you aware that there is more than you can imagine going on upstairs. This man doesn't waste any time and works hard to get what he wants.

From Brooklyn Beginnings to the Sunshine State

Mintzer is a fourth-generation family member from Brooklyn, New York. His great grandparents came to Brooklyn from Eastern Europe. He says recalling what it was like growing up in New York then, it's very evident that it was a much different time than today.

"In the 60s and 70s there weren't the issues we worry about today. I wouldn't want my kids, at 13 or 14 years old, to be taking the subway to see a Mets or Rnicks game these days. I had season tickets for the Knicks when I was 14 years old. I'd take the subway to midtown, and the subway back after the game. The times really gave me full access to living in a large city at a very early age."

Mintzer's father was a stock broker, and the 14-year-old Mintzer would ask his dad constantly about the work, the financial reports his father was always poring over and the tools he saw his dad using--the classic slide rule, for instance.

"I do believe that influenced my interests from an early age."

Mintzer lived in Brooklyn through high school, graduating in 1974 at 16 years old, and his high school experience was atypical in some ways because of the age difference. "I was young for a high school graduate, and was really not involved very much in the reindeer games that typically go on at high school."

The Minzter family moved to Florida at that point, and Mintzer went straight to college at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. The family was looking for a state school for Mintzer for economic reasons, and he was attracted to USF because it was the closest thing to a city, harkening back to his time on the streets of Brooklyn.

"Gainesville, where the University of Florida is, is a small town. Florida State is in Tallahassee, which is also a small town. And I didn't want to go to any school in Miami because I wanted to be one of those kids who moved away from where their parents lived. So that left Tampa."

There was no mystery to what Mintzer would be studying once enrolling. "I walked in as a 16-year-old freshman and decided I wanted to major in accounting. I wish I could tell the story some other exotic way, but it was as simple as that."

Mintzer believes it was a sign of the times that made him destined to go into one of the mainstream professions. "I was going to be a doctor, a lawyer or a CPA. I hated chemistry in high school, so that ruled out doctor." His original plan was to get a CPA and also become a lawyer, since, if you haven't caught on yet, Mintzer was (and is) very ambitious, but this turned out to be too ambitious. "After my first business law class in college, I decided I didn't want to be a lawyer," he admits a bit abashed.

Moving at the Speed of Mintzer

Minzter did not waste anytime in college and graduated with his bachelor's degree by the age of 19. "I didn't see the need to jump immediately into the workforce, so I went after my Master's degree." Shortly thereafter, at the age of 20, he had accomplished the impressive feat of obtaining his...