057: Carl Chilton – CPA, Author, & Bomber Pilot!

Carl Chilton, one of the founding partners of Long Chilton, LLC, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast

From Accounting to Aviation

Carl became interested in accounting as a college sophomore when he took an elementary accounting course. He found that he related to the course and thought it made sense. Carl’s intention was to continue to the next level course, but life – specifically World War II – got in the way. Carl joined the military, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant and becoming a pilot. He was assigned to a bomber crew and deployed to Europe where he flew many missions. Upon his return, he returned to school and decided to re-take that elementary accounting course, and then take numerous other accounting courses.

Back to Accounting

After graduating, Carl began teaching at Brownsville Junior College (now Texas Southmost College). During this time, he attained his CPA. Bill Long reached out to Carl and asked Carl to do some part-time work for him. After about a year or two, Bill asked Carl to partner with him and Long Chilton, LLC was established. Carl enjoyed working with the clients. He spent time consulting with them – particularly helping them with running their businesses, and of course, doing their taxes. Carl stayed with Long Chilton, LLC for thirty-seven years.

The Biggest Challenges

The biggest challenge of starting a business was getting connected and becoming well known within the community. Carl and Bill got involved with community groups, such as the Rotary Club, which allowed them to meet many people. In the beginning it was also a challenge to build up their revenue stream, but over several years Long Chilton was able to build up a substantial client base.

A Novel Idea

In addition to his other accomplishments, such as being a past president of the Texas Society of CPAs, Carl is also an accomplished author who has written many books. When he entered accounting, he joined the American Institute of CPAs and began contributing small articles to their Journal of Accountancy. From this, Prentice Hall (the publishing house) contacted him and asked him to contribute a chapter to a book in development. Prentice Hall then asked him to write an entire book, which Carl did. This book was Successful Small Client Accounting Practice, and it sold more than 26,000 copies in the United States. His only fiction book, Harlon Blake, CPA, is based on many of situations and incidents he encountered while working at Long Chilton, LLC.