If you asked Christian Onyemem what it is that he does for a living, his answer would be that he owns his own CPA firm, Christian Onyemem CPA Firm, PLLC. If you spoke to him for five more minutes about his job, you would quickly learn that his answer doesn’t tell the whole story — not even half of it.
His industry is something completely different. He’s actually in the industry of growth.
Christian’s real passion is watching others succeed because of the work and guidance that he provides for them. It’s a means to an end.
He understood that about himself from a young age.
Christian’s father immigrated to the United States from Nigeria when he was just 18 years old. A young man in a foreign land with no college education, he began working two jobs: at KFC and a Church’s Chicken. From there, as Christian puts it, his father put in years of grinding and working odd jobs until he had the means to open the venture that would give him the success he had been looking for: a mental health clinic.
It was there that Christian’s father began hiring his staff, office managers, doctors, an accountant, and the accountant’s protégé — Christian.
At 14 years old, his father told him to keep track of the books, and he did. Christian will be the first to tell you that he didn’t know what he was doing, but his dad encouraged him to stick with it. He would do the data entry and then the CPA would review what he did.
Now, Christian could easily sit here and tell you that that is when he fell in love with accounting, but that’s not the truth, and he doesn’t feel the need to lie. He loved what he was doing at the clinic, but that was because his numbers drove the meetings and determined what moves the clinic would make next. Those meetings also gave him a deeper connection to the business and, most importantly, to his family.
“I enjoyed the meetings because there’s food there, my dad’s there, and my brothers are there, and we’re all there talking,” Christian said. “So, it’s just like your dad taking you out to go fish. My fishing trips just happened to be at his business.”
Through his dad, Christian was able to see firsthand what hard work and personal growth would get you. Through his dad’s business, he was able to experience how he could affect the growth of a business and how much he enjoyed having these meetings with his “client.”
He didn’t know it then, but those two things would end up being the driving forces of his CPA firm’s identity.
Right off of Highway 59, in the Upper Kirby area, sits Christian Onyemem CPA (or COCPA), operating since 2019. The firm specializes in business management, auditing, and comprehensive accounting services. They also offer a wide range of commercial and government services.
Beyond that, what COCPA excels in is its customer service.
“One of the largest complaints you hear about accounting firms is that their CPA is not picking up the phone,” Christian said. “I told my team we need to be a call center. That means we’re calling the client more to make sure they’re heard.”
For Christian and his staff, the priority will always be customer relationships. If you want a CPA who will only text or email when it’s tax season, then they can do that, but that’s not how they want to operate.
Getting to know their customers is just as important as getting to know their finances, and there’s a good reason for that. Christian has made it a personal and professional mission to ensure that his small and minority-owned businesses feel comfortable being open and honest about money.
“It’s the simple fact that I know some of my small business owners don’t feel comfortable talking with just anyone about their money,” Christian said. “I saw it firsthand with my dad’s business. In the world of accountancy where you’re dealing with numbers, people’s careers, and their ability to employ people, I need that business owner to get comfortable so we can see what issues they’re having financially and solve them.”
Christian said that a lack of comfort and communication can greatly impede growth and even hurt small businesses in the long haul.
For example, Christian had an Amazon logistics customer that was carrying too large of a fleet and getting charged for it. Christian advised him to reduce the fleet’s size, and the client saved money immediately and a lot more over time. This only happened because they’re able to periodically check their client’s books.
On the other end, Christian will take on a new client who decided to finally see a CPA because they were having an incredible year. It’s then that the person discovers they have to pay a large tax bill. This is something that can easily be planned for if they have a communicative CPA on hand.
“Imagine if LeBron James played basketball with a blindfold on the whole game — his talents are wasted,” Christian said. “That’s basically what my business owners are doing. If they don’t look at their numbers, they’re playing the sport of business with a blindfold on.”
Behind Christian’s leadership, the firm and its staff are setting themselves up for an incredible future. They’re looking to expand, buying up other CPA firms and establishing their brand of customer service.
Christian also constantly educates himself on AI and technological trends to see how he can leverage these advancements to better automate his business.
“I am always looking at ways to get back to what we do best, and that’s actually talking to the client and serving the client,” Christian said. “We don’t want to spend all of our time on backend office work, so we’re restructuring the firm in a way to be equipped to deliver our clients a better product.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Christian Onyemem CPA Firm, PLLC, you can call them at 832.871.4176 or email them at info@cocpafirm.com. Their hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit cocpafirm.com to see their full range of services and to get more information.
