Meet Ashley Fineman, formally Ashley Schmidt, a dedicated CPA with a passion for helping small businesses thrive. Ashley's expertise lies in assisting clients with tax compliance and accounting, allowing them to focus on growing their businesses and enjoy quality time with their families. Her commitment to work ensures peace of mind and a better quality of life for her clients.
Hello! I am Ashley Fineman (formally Ashley Schmidt). I was born and raised in a small town in South East, Indiana (very close to Cincinnati, OH and Florence, KY) called Milan, Indiana. If you've seen the movie Hoosiers, a movie about how the high school basketball team won the state championship in 1954, you may have heard of Milan, IN as the movie was based on my hometown. The population in Milan, even to this day is about 1,000, so it’s still very small.
I grew up on a cattle farm in Milan, where we raised and sold organic and grain-fed black angus to high end restaurants around NYC along with other places. We also used the meat to feed ourselves throughout the year, along with growing vegetables like corn and green beans. I spent my summers working on the farm where I was taught to have a great work ethic from my grandfather.
This is a part of one of the fields on the farm I grew up on, where the cattle would graze and where we would grow and bail hay.
My mother’s side of the family had a strong belief in Christianity. We'd go to church every Sunday morning & evening and again on Wednesday evening. When I was young, I would sing in front of the church on Sunday mornings while both my grandma and great grandma played the piano.
I moved out of Indiana when I was a junior in high school and moved to Fort Myers, FL, where I attended Evangelical Christian School. After I had graduated high school, my family moved back to Indiana, but I stayed in Fort Myers, as I loved the area. I attended Florida Gulf Coast University, where I received my Bachelors in Accounting. Shortly after graduating college, I passed all the exams to become a Certified Public Accountant.
Before becoming a CPA, I married my now husband, David Fineman, who is a respectfully known attorney in the Fort Myers area. He practices consumer law (bankruptcy & foreclosure), asset protection, estate planning, business formation & compliance, and also personal injury at F&L Law Group.
We have three sweet cats, Simba, Lula, and Smokey, and a beautiful brown lab, Gracie. We also had our first child, Alexandria, in July 2023!
I’ve always had a passion for numbers and a strong desire to own my own business one day, so shortly after receiving my CPA, I decided to open my own CPA firm, Reduce My Tax. Throughout my accounting career, I’ve worked very closely with hundreds of small businesses - helping them with their taxes and accounting - which I grew to love doing.
Over the years, it became apparent that many business owners struggle with the compliance side of taxes and accounting, especially with the tax deduction side to help them keep more of their hard earned money, which is why I opened this CPA firm; to help business owners save time and money with their taxes and accounting so that they can utilize their time on the things that matter like growing their business and spending time with their families.
I love the work that I do and love to work hard for the small business owner to help them not only reduce their tax liability, but to remain compliant with the tax laws and regulations - giving them peace of mind and a better quality of life.
We don't just do your taxes, we'll implement aggressive tax reduction strategies & guide your business to scale.
We'll do all the payroll, accounting & bookkeeping so your team can focus on production & growth.
We do things properly to protect you from the IRS. You'll also avoid the mistakes of DIY or amateur bookkeeping & tax.
While we are a virtual firm that serves small businesses nationwide, we particularly love serving Fort Myers, Florida, area small businesses. Here are some of the communities we specialize in.
If you're looking for a CPA near Fort Myers, Florida, a Bookkeeper Near Fort Myers, or Business Tax Accounting near Fort Myers, we'd love to connect and see if we are a good fit.
