Tiffany Vaught Website

Tiffany Vaught

Tax Accountant

Tiffany Vaught is a licensed CPA & CEPA based in Long Beach, California, with over 20 years of experience helping individuals and business owners navigate complex tax and financial decisions. In 2010, she founded Encurio, an accounting and consulting firm built on the belief that proactive strategy, thoughtful systems, and clear communication create better outcomes for both businesses and the people behind them. Encurio works closely with small business owners, real estate investors, and individuals with complex compensation, providing end-to-end support that spans accounting technology and processes, tax compliance, back-office accounting, and forward-looking tax strategy. Known for a practical, responsive approach, Encurio partners with clients to simplify complexity, reduce risk, and create financial clarity that supports sustainable growth. Tiffany holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from California State University.

Education

  • BS, Accounting and Finance, California State University

Certifications & Organizations

  • Certified Public Accountant
  • Certified Exit Planning Advisor

Favorite Piece of Advice

Taxes and accounting should be systematized, planned for, and delegated, requiring little of your time in the grand scheme of running your business and personal finances.

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Forum Comments (1)

How do you build generational wealth?
In my opinion, one of the biggest things people can do to build generational wealth is to work on their "money stories". Try to understand your psychology and how you make decisions around money. For example, once you realize, "Oh, I am actually sabotaging myself because I am too afraid of risk. I am holding too tightly to things, and not investing in whatever it is I need to help me grow my business/advance in my career, because I just view everything as an expense", you can build awareness. Or, another example would be someone who is spending too much, who needs to cut back, and who has a completely different money story.

Getting an idea of what the definition of generational wealth is for you, and what is "enough" for you and your family, is also really important. Then, it's important to understand if that's realistic with what financial steps you are taking. If somebody comes to me and says, "I want to build generational wealth so my kids never have to work, and I need $50 million to do that", I'll go, "That is great, but how are you going to get there from where you are now"? It is possible to get there for people, but you have to change how you think and the decisions that you make.

In fact, in my personal opinion, I do not necessarily want to build generational wealth. Look at the TV show Succession as an extreme example of this. Money is a tool, and it can do weird things to people when you have too much. As a parent, I think most of us want our kids to have it a little bit easier than us, but if you give a child a "frictionless" life, they may not know how to do anything! In my mind, if your kids will have access to money, you want to make sure they have the tools and knowledge of how to handle it. Not only that, you'd want them to understand the value of it and have gratitude for it.

Co-authored Articles (11)

How to Complete a W-9 Tax Form

Tax accountant Tiffany Vaught explains how to complete a W-9 correctly A W-9 Form is a common IRS document. If you were hired by someone as an independent contractor or received certain types of income, you would have to...

How to

Write an Accounting Ledger

Tax accountant Tiffany Vaught explains how to write a ledger and what to keep track ofKeeping a ledger is one of the tenets of basic accounting. Ledgers allow the company to quickly view all transactions in an account at...

How to File Your Own Taxes at Home

Learn to fill out your tax forms and save moneyFiling taxes can be a little overwhelming for most people, especially if you plan to prepare and file them yourself. Electronic filing options have made doing your own taxes...

How to Deal With Winning the Lottery

Tax accountant Tiffany Vaught explains what you should do first after winning the lottery Congrats! You just won the lottery! All those bad tickets and unlucky numbers can finally be put in the past. But what happens aft...

How to

Find Your GST Number

As of 2019, as many as 160 countries around the world have implemented the GST (Goods and Services Tax). If you operate a business in one of these countries, or if you sell goods and services in a country with GST, you m...

How to

Get a Resale Number

If you have a business through which you are purchasing products for resale, you should have a reseller's permit, also known as a resale number, reseller's license, or sales tax identification number. This permit allows ...

Deadweight Loss: What It Is & How to Find It

Use one easy formula to find the loss from taxes, subsidies, and more If you’ve ever had a conversation about the economy, you may have heard the term “deadweight loss” thrown around. While this term may sound c...

How to

Calculate Wages

If you work for an hourly wage, you may want to calculate your wages by hand to verify that the paycheck you receive each week is correct. In general, you only need to know your hourly pay rate and the number of hours th...

How to Pass a Life Insurance Exam

Eager to pass your life insurance exam but need the right game plan? No matter what type of insurance company you're looking to work with, you'll have to master this important test in order to earn your life insurance li...

How to

Buy Duty‐Free

Duty-free shopping involves buying products without paying taxes and custom duties fees typically assessed on those goods. This can be a very cost-effective way to shop for certain high-tax goods like liquor, tobacco, fr...

How to

Get Free Assistance Filing Tax Returns in Michigan Through VITA

In Michigan, households that make less than or equal to $56,000 a year (individually or as a family) qualify for free tax filing assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA). VITA is a program th...