Eric Thomas

Partner, Armanino Advisory LLC

Have open, candid conversations to address challenges head-on.

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Bio

Meet Eric

Eric is a Consulting partner with more than 20 years of experience serving nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Since joining Armanino, he has focused on helping nonprofits with their finance and accounting needs, so they can concentrate on developing their organization and delivering on their mission. He works with a diverse group of clients on their digital transformation and believes that regardless of size and age, organizations can benefit from incorporating enterprise best accounting practices through a solution that uses cloud technology and paperless processes.

Prior to joining Armanino, Eric led accounting and finance functions at Robert Half, Analytic Services, and Serco NA. He received a B.S. in business administration from West Virginia University.

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Experience

Professional History

Experience

  • Robert Half
  • Analytic Services
  • Serco
  • MorganFranklin

Associations

  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • California Society of Certified Public Accountants

Education

  • West Virginia University

Community

  • Auditor, Golden View Elementary School education fund
  • Youth softball coach

Q&A

Q. What is it about accounting and consulting that first drew your interest?
What attracted me to consulting was the variety of challenges, the problem solving and the opportunity to help people. Consulting lets you see a positive impact on companies and employees, and there’s a sense of reward in that.
Q. What was it that drew you to Armanino?
I looked at other firms that were great to work for and had a great culture, but Armanino’s startup culture combined with the stability of an accounting firm was most attractive. The quality and positivity of the people I work with are what keep me here. I really do have the opportunity to work with the best people in the field.
Q. Make a prediction and describe your vision of the future of the general business environment for your area of expertise or the industries you serve.
I predict that we are only years, if not months, away from a large chunk of accounting processes becoming automated. We’re already starting to automate processes with robotic process automation and AI, and this change is going to happen much faster than everyone expects. The impact won’t be that it reduces the amount of time people spend on accounting, but rather that it will increase the amount of analysis people can put into their financials and provide better information for the decision-making process.
Q. If you could pass on a nugget of wisdom to aspiring accountants or consultants, what would that be?
Throw yourself into the work, understand that you don’t know what you don’t know, and try to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible. Understand whatever you’re doing now is going to be very different in five or 10 years.
Q. Describe your work style.
From a team development standpoint, I do my best to be a coach, not a manager, and do whatever I can to support the professional and personal development of my team. It’s a very collaborative approach. We talk through challenges and I encourage them to come up with solutions so they can develop themselves while helping their clients. From a client standpoint, again, it’s collaborative. We get to the heart of what their challenges and issues are and have open, candid conversations to address the challenges head-on.
Q. What’s your proudest moment?
Personally, it’s marrying my wife, and having two daughters and seeing them grow into scholar-athletes. Professionally, it’s seeing the staff I’ve hired get promoted to manager and then develop their own staff. It’s also seeing clients we helped first get funding, then grow and be acquired.
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Industries Served
Eric's Thought Leadership
Outsourcing FAQs: 11 Key Insights for Business Leaders
Article
Learn how outsourcing can help your organization maximize efficiencies, reduce costs and scale for growth.

May 10, 2023
Year-End Checklist 1099 Filings
Checklist
Make sure your team is prepared to handle the latest processes and filing requirements set by the IRS.

December 21, 2020
Blog articles
Article
Watch out for these common (but preventable) professional services accounting pain points.

November 13, 2019