He runs one of the top CPA firms in Columbus. It all started with a shrimp boat.

As a boy, William Taylor Jr. would spend time working on a shrimp boat.

“It’s hard work and not much pay. Don’t let Forrest Gump fool you,” Taylor said.

His father did the job full time in Taylor’s hometown of Venice, La., where his mother worked for the U.S. Postal Service.

And as hard as the 47-year-old has worked through the years as a certified public accountant, Taylor can appreciate wearing a nice suit and sitting in an air-conditioned office.

“That experience makes this easy,” he said.

At 28, Taylor began his own firm in Columbus, Taylor CPA & Associates, which has grown from three people to 15 here with a couple more working in an Atlanta office.

“We are going to be adding more,” he said.

The proud Taylor can tell you the exact number of days since the beginning of the firm.

Every year, insurance company Aflac honors five vendors as partners of the year from among the hundreds of businesses which work with the company.

A company news release says they are chosen for “exceptional innovation and focus that helped drive the positive results for the company.”

There partners come from are five categories, which are diversity, quality, service, technology and value.

Taylor’s firm was chosen in diversity in 2017.

“It is a great honor,” he said.

His company does support services for the internal audit group, Taylor explained.

The accountant is used to receiving honors.

For example, in 2013 he was selected the Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s J.R. Allen Business Leader of the Year recipient and in 2007, he was on the cover of Georgia Trend Magazine as one of “Georgia’s 40 under 40,” the best and brightest individuals in business, government and the arts.

Hard work has always been part of his life. Taylor overcame a serious hip disorder in childhood to become a high jumper on the Tulane University track team, winning Metro Conference Championships.

After graduation, he worked for Arthur Andersen, at the time, one of the largest accounting firms in the world.

Looking for a change, someone suggested he come to Columbus.

“I thought they meant Ohio,” he said, laughing.

He came to work here for Robinson, Grimes and Company then started on his own. He had a receptionist and a part-time worker in a small office on University Boulevard. The firm has recently moved into a beautiful building he had built in the Brookstone Centre.

“We have clients in 10 states,” he said.

Taylor is an African American. Fewer than 1 percent of the CPAs in the United States are African American, he said.

He said many African Americans with accounting degrees, who like him are first generation college graduates, choose to take a good paying job out of college.

“I made less than many of them in the beginning. I worked 60 hours or more some weeks. I bust my tail. My payoff came later,” he said.

His office is intentionally diverse.

There are four men and 11 women. “We have black, white, Latino, Asian,” he said.

He said that at least once a month there is a cultural discussion in the office. “It is a way of learning about one another,” he said. “We find out what makes people tick.”

Taylor said he looks for top talent but wants a firm that reflects the community.

He said he received great support here from Dr. Emory Alexander and Dr. Robert Wright Jr.

“They have been my mentors,” he said.

He believes in helping others and conducts seminars on budgeting, business and personal tax strategies, wealth creation alternatives, and entity choices throughout the Southeast.

The company continually donates track and field and basketball shoes to various sports programs throughout Georgia and Louisiana. It also sponsors college internship programs for students pursuing a degree in accounting and funds a couple of scholarships.

He shares his free time with his son, William, and daughter, Megan. He loves to ride motorcycles and Jet Ski watercrafts and boats.

“The firm has come a long way,” he said. “We see a bright future.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2018 at 4:14 PM with the headline "He runs one of the top CPA firms in Columbus. It all started with a shrimp boat.."