When Walter T. Rea Jr. was a senior in high school, his dad took him to a friend's office who happened to be a Certified Public Accountant. On the wall was a huge CPA certificate. Even though Walter wasn't sure what the profession was, he said to himself, "That's what I want." He then went on to college, became a CPA and has been in the field ever since.

R. Lewis-W. Rea & Company was originally formed by Bob Lewis and Walter Rea in 1988. Bob retired in 2003. When Tim Taylor became a partner in 2004, the firm's name changed to Rea & Associates, LLP. From its Modesto and Patterson locations, the company serves more than 1,000 clients in 25 states, as well as several foreign countries.

Our offices are casual, yet professional. The staff enjoys holiday-themed office parties and our Tax Season bash. We keep the atmosphere light. We get to know our clients and their children. We love to hear where you're going on vacation — or where you've been. Although we like to have fun, we take our work and our relationship with you seriously.

Our mission statement reflects our philosophy: "With a dedicated staff, a commitment to leading-edge technology, and a company-wide devotion to excellence, Rea & Associates delivers prompt, outstanding services to our family of clients in a fun and friendly environment."

In order to give you the highest caliber service, we embrace the latest technology.

- We utilize our high-tech media conference room for staff training seminars, QuickBooks training seminars, client tax planning sessions and more.

- We're environmentally friendly with our "practically paperless" operations.

- We've upgraded our software and related education so we can offer many big-city services — with small-town, personalized service.

- You can enjoy 24-hour access to many of your records with our NetClient CS Portals: view, print and track items from this secure Web site. Speaking of security, we're vigilant about safeguarding your account data. What's more, statistics show that secure online records are often safer than paper documents.

We invest in our professional staff — sending them to multiple, on- and off-site training courses to keep their skills in top form, with a minimum of 40 to 50 hours of continuing education per year. We also assist with their college educations. Their increased knowledge and experience ultimately benefit you. The bottom line is, we really care about your family, your business and our community. So we give you our best quality every day.