About
About Kathryn Lui
Twenty years of keeping books for business owners and non-profits, run as a remote practice from Mabank, Texas.
Background
Who You Are Working With
Kathryn Lui has spent more than twenty years keeping books for business owners and non-profits. She started well before the software made the easy parts easy, which means she learned the underlying mechanics rather than which button produces a report.
SmartAccounting Firm is deliberately a one-person practice. You are not handed to a junior after the sale, and the person who sets up your accounts is the person who reconciles them every month and picks up the phone when something looks wrong.
The work covers every industry, non-profits included. Breadth is the point: a problem that looks unusual in one trade is usually something she has already solved in another.
Kathryn Lui, owner of SmartAccounting Firm
In short
The Practice at a Glance
20+
Years in practice
Keeping books for owners and non-profits since well before the software did the easy part.
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Languages spoken
English, Cantonese and Spanish, plus American Sign Language.
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Areas served
Seven counties across East Texas and the Dallas area, plus Orange County, California.
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Core services
Bookkeeping, expense reduction, profit strategy, KPI tracking and tax planning.
Our Approach
How She Works
SmartAccounting Firm runs the Profit First way. Instead of hoping something is left at the end of the month, a set percentage moves aside first and the business operates on the remainder. It is a discipline rather than a trick, and it changes how pricing, spending and owner pay get decided.
The method sits alongside the bookkeeping rather than apart from it, so the allocations are based on numbers that are actually current. That only works if the books are kept properly, which is why the bookkeeping comes first and everything else builds on it.
Languages matter here too. Kathryn works in English, Cantonese and Spanish, and signs in American Sign Language. If that makes a conversation easier for you or someone on your team, say so when you book.
What we do not do
Prepare or file tax returns
Represent clients before the IRS
Audit or issue assurance opinions
Give legal or investment advice
Tax planning through the year is part of the work. The return itself stays with your CPA or EA, and Kathryn will say so plainly rather than take work she is not the right person for.
Are you a CPA?
No. SmartAccounting Firm is a bookkeeping and advisory practice. Kathryn does not hold a CPA or EA credential and does not prepare or file returns, which is why the practice works alongside whoever does yours rather than replacing them.
Do you work with non-profits?
Yes, and they are a deliberate part of the practice rather than an exception. Board and funder reporting has its own shape, and the books are set up to produce it rather than to be translated into it afterwards.
Is there a team behind you?
No, and that is the design. One experienced person who knows your file beats a rotating cast who have to be re-briefed every quarter.
Where are you based?
Mabank, Texas, in Van Zandt County. The practice is remote, so the location matters less than the hours, which are Monday to Friday, 3pm to 10pm Central.
Contact
Talk to Kathryn
A short call, no charge and no pitch. Bring your questions and the current state of your books.
Areas served
Van Zandt, Smith, Kaufman, Wood, Dallas, Hunt and Upshur counties in Texas, plus Orange County, California
Phone
Hours
Monday to Friday
3pm to 10pm Central