OUR STORY
Built Different. On Purpose.
Chris Willis CPA isn’t a tax factory. It’s a year-round advisory practice built by a CPA who got tired of watching clients leave money on the table because nobody was paying attention between April and January.
Where It Started
I grew up in Houston, Texas. My parents weren’t college educated, and we weren’t a family of means — but I was taught to work hard, and that’s exactly what I did. By fourteen, I had my first job. By the time I hit college, I was digging ditches, hauling lumber, carrying shingles up roofs, and working for construction crews seven days a week just to pay tuition. Sometimes I still fell short and had to sit out a semester. But I saved my money, got back in, and kept fighting until I had that degree in my hand.
I was the first person in my family to earn a college degree.
Why Accounting
Honestly? A suite mate’s sister. She was an accountant working on her master’s degree, and she seemed to have her life together — nice car, good money, a real career. I opened up the Houston Chronicle, saw an entire section of the classifieds dedicated to accounting jobs, and thought: let me give this a shot. I changed my major, put my head down, and passed the CPA exam on the first attempt.
Buying the Firm at 26
While I was in college, I worked for a family friend who owned a small CPA firm in our coastal community. After graduation, I was ready to head back to the big city like most young people. I accepted a job in Houston and gave him my notice. That’s when he convinced me to stay and buy the practice instead. I was twenty-six years old. I was scared. But I wanted to be my own boss.
Those early days were brutal. I bought the firm on a note, had big debt payments, and would go months without a paycheck. Tax season meant fourteen, fifteen, sixteen-hour days, seven days a week — and sometimes I still came up short. But I had bankers who believed in me. I had people who’d been investing in me since I was sixteen years old hauling lumber. They fostered me, they helped me, and I wasn’t going to let them down.
Failure was never an option.
Why I Do It Differently Now
For most of my career, the work was backward-looking. Clients would bring their information, we’d prepare their returns, and everything was done in hindsight. Too many people treated their CPA like an administrative task — a once-a-year transaction. File the return, shake hands, and hope you get to talk again before next April.
That frustrated me for years. Because I could see what was possible when you actually sit down with someone and build a plan. When you’re proactive instead of reactive. When you’re a partner in their financial life, not just a paper pusher. So I made the switch — from administrative, backward-looking compliance work to year-round, proactive tax planning and advisory for clients who value that kind of relationship.
The Community
I’m an extremely loyal person, and for most of my career, I tried to solve every problem for everyone. Eventually, I realized that’s not sustainable. But what I could do is build something that lets me give knowledge, access, and real answers to more people than I ever could one-on-one.
That’s why I built the community. Group calls, direct access, and a network of business owners who take their financial lives seriously. I’m a teacher at heart — that’s what I’ve been missing in traditional practice, and that’s what I’m building now.
I also believe we’re living through a turning point in how businesses operate. Artificial intelligence is going to change everything — productivity, strategy, decision-making. I choose to engage with that technology because I believe that if you don’t, you’re going to be left behind. And I want my clients on the right side of that shift.
Outside the Office
I live in Southeast Texas with my wife — the best partner I could ask for — and our kids, who are the most important things in the world to me. When I’m not working, I’m an adventurer. I fly aircraft. I sail. I love being out on the water. Everything I do is for my family, and watching my kids grow into the people they’re becoming is the thing I’m most proud of.
I truly want to help you succeed. Every client who chooses to spend their money with me — I don’t take that lightly. I appreciate it. But I also know we can get more out of this if we work together and we plan. The clients who engage, who give me everything they’ve got — those are the ones who see the biggest results.
I’m not here to file your return and disappear. I’m here to build something with you.