Meet Mathieu Aimlon, expert-comptable diplômé non inscrit (France), CPA (U.S.), Principal at Aimlon CPA P.C.
Can you tell us more about your educational background in France and in the U.S.?
My college education is distinctive. I have education in business with a master’s degree in business from an ivy league (Grandes écoles) accredited business school in Paris (France). I also have education in business law and taxation with a college law degree in business law and taxation from Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, the Law University of France. I rounded off my education with a Postgraduate degree in human resources management at Université Paris V René Descartes.
What convinced you that embracing an accounting career is a smart choice?
I started my career as a Human Resources Assistant at a small and medium sized company in Paris. The company employed about 500 people. I helped with recruiting and was the in-house employment law counsel: employee related matters (employment contract drafting, career advancement, employment termination, etc.), unions relations (relations with employees’ representatives, unions).
Employees’ representatives would ask me to review the company’s financial statements that management is required by law to share a copy with them. In those days, I was frustrated for not being able to help them interpret the company’s performance and financial position satisfactorily. I’ve decided, after a long period of unemployment, to go back to school to develop my accounting skills. I was considering transitioning to a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role. CFOs of small and medium sized businesses’ responsibilities typically include payroll and human resources management, and it is a high demand occupation.
Financial accounting has been the most challenging courses of the school curriculum: often I’d post journal entries the wrong way around. However, I was able to overcome the challenges and made it to the highest level of accounting qualification in France, the Diplôme d’expertise comptable (“DEC”). The DEC is approved as a PhD level of education in the European Union Education Systems.
I worked in CPA Firms in France for several years. I’ve offered expert guidance to individuals, bio tech startups, small to medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations, small-cap to large-cap public companies, and privately held multinationals. I then diversified my activities in the U.S. I worked for several years in U.S. Accounting Firms and earned the U.S. Certified Public Accountant (“CPA”) credential. That gives me the option to practice public accounting in France and or in the U.S.
What convinced you that starting your own certified public accounting firm is a smart choice?
I founded Aimlon CPA P.C. to help small and medium-sized businesses reduce their taxes and raise capital. Small and medium-sized business owners often don’t have in house the resources that they need to support their business decision-making process.
What drives you, and what do you most appreciate about your role as a certified public accountant (“CPA”)?
What drives me is playing my part in non-profit organizations’ managers, entrepreneurs, established business owners or managers’ projects and contributing to their success. I’ve supported hundreds of startups, entrepreneurs, established businesses, nonprofit organizations, individuals including expats in the U.S.
A few of the startups I assisted were lean when we began and are now selling worldwide, are valued at over $1 billion, or their stocks are currently publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It is not all about our fees. Our commitment is to partner with and to mentor our people, so they develop, our existing clients and prospective clients so they build wealth and create value, and to contribute to our profession and to society at large.
