
©Dania Bagyi Photography
By Christine Graf
Tax advisory CPA firm Bucknam & Conley has relocated its offices to a larger space at 18 Division St. in Saratoga Springs.
Founded 30 years ago by CPA Melinda Bucknam, the business has six employees. Co-managing partner Carissa Conley, CPA, joined the firm two years ago and formed a partnership with Bucknam in 2021.
“We focus on tax work,” said Conley. “We don’t do audit work, and we don’t work with non-profits or government. We don’t take on small returns because clients won’t get the benefit of our services. Our main focus is on business advisory and tax advisory for businesses across the country of varying sizes and different markets.”
Approximately 50 percent of the firm’s clients are local, and the rest are spread out throughout the United States. Many operate in multiple states and require multi-state returns.
Bucknam & Conley utilizes the latest technology and is 100 percent cloud based. For them, it remained business as usual when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered offices.
“We already had a half and half work schedule and people were working from home half the time and coming into the office half of the time,” said Conley. “When COVID hit, our work flow did not stop at all. It was tax season, and we were able to get everything done. Our clients didn’t even notice that anything had changed.”
Since the start of the pandemic, staff at Buckman & Conley have helped clients optimize their employee retention credits and apply for New York State grants as well as PPP and EIDL loans. Many of their clients are restaurants—including many in downtown Saratoga–and all were able to survive the pandemic.