Richard Ponce found more than an extensive education from the CBE. He found his wife, with whom he recently celebrated 32 years of marital bliss...
Richard Ponce graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the College of Business and Economics (CBE) at Cal State LA. While he made quite a few friends in the CBE, primarily through his role as both the Public Relations Officer and Vice President of the Hispanic Business Society, Richard's best CBE memory by far was meeting his wife at Cal State LA.
“We were introduced to each other through a mutual friend. We married after I graduated and recently marked our 32nd wedding anniversary. My wife and I have a business together and three wonderful children, one of whom graduated from Cal State LA with a BS in Public Health and the other will graduate December 2021 from Cal State LA with a BS in Nursing. Our middle child graduated from USC with a BS in Biomedical Engineering,” he tells us.
Today, Richard and his wife own their own company known as RCP Accounting & Tax Services, Inc. He is an Enrolled Agent with the IRS, admitted to practice throughout the nation. He is also a financial adviser with an independent firm based in Southern California, where he ensures his clients understand how their risk measures up versus their methods of operation, professional career, family plans, and retirement goals. Lastly, he is a real estate broker and offers clients’ services in that arena as well.
Of course, the road leading up to this point helped prepare him in his career journey. At the tender age of eight, Richard learned firsthand the ins and outs of accounting and taxes from his father who started a tax preparation business in Eagle Rock.
From working with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), to working at the Los Angeles Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (USSEC) as a Securities Compliance Examiner and Staff Accountant, and eventually on Wall Street as a Compliance Manager for various firms until March 2017, declaring Richard has accumulated a wealth of experience along the way would be a tremendous understatement.
“There was a time in my career where it appeared that there was an abundance of fraud being perpetrated in the offering of private placements in Oil & Gas programs,” Richard explains. “I developed a logical spreadsheet format using Lotus 123 with Wysiswyg that became an examination standard at the USSEC. This format allowed the agency to pursue Oil & Gas fraud in the other regions of the country.” He shares “I could see the writing on the wall that working as a securities compliance professional did not have much upside as we were seen as police officers on the beat by the securities sales’ professionals,” which led him and his wife to starting RCP Accounting & Tax Services, Inc., to offer taxpayers tax preparation, corporate formation, bookkeeping, payroll, and audit representation.
Outside of work, Richard enjoys spending time with his family, gardening, watching Dodger games at the stadium or on TV, going to the beach, and hiking in the local mountains.
Richard leaves our CBE students with these words of wisdom, “My advice is to keep an open mind in dealing with others. One does not know the other person’s experiences, attitudes or resources. However, if one keeps an open mind, one may find commonality with a new acquaintance and accomplish things that may have not been attainable beforehand."