Thanks to Doug Mueller, a little town in India now has a school. Thanks to him—and his clients, family and friends—a dirt-poor community is richer. Last year, after visiting the small coastal town of Adimalathura, Mueller, co-founder of Mueller Prost CPAs + Business Advisors, launched a charity with wife Teresa called ‘God’s Precious Little Souls in India.’ To date, it has raised $40,000 and facilitated the construction of an eight-room school for 135 children. “That kind of experience changes you,” Mueller says. “We came home to St. Louis and realized how much we had.”
Mueller founded his accounting firm with managing partner Michael Prost in 1983 and has emphasized the importance of community involvement. “We try to be a giving culture,” he says. The firm’s employees support local organizations by contributing time, financial gifts and other in-kind donations. In addition, many serve on educational, professional and charitable boards, and support local charitable and civic organizations. Mueller says clients also have contributed significantly to the charity which, by way of monthly sponsorship, provides food, education and health services to the needy Adimalathura children.
Mueller, who grew up in a farming community outside of St. Louis, says he fell into accounting by chance. He had gone to University of Missouri-St. Louis to study engineering, but struggled with calculus. “I was always mathematical, but I just couldn’t ace it!” he says. “I took an accounting class instead and had much more success.” He put himself through college by working for the county Highway Department and then, as a junior, for a downtown CPA firm where he learned to type, make coffee and compile financial statements. “Soup to nuts, I learned it all,” Mueller says. After college, he interned at what is now KPMG, where Prost also worked. “We have been friends for a very long time,” he says.
Recently, Accounting Today named Mueller Prost one of 2016’s best accounting firms to work for. “We know the accounting industry is very competitive; we are proud to create a welcoming environment where our employees can thrive and we can be a part of creating their future,” managing partner Prost says. The award honors the best employers in the accounting industry.
Mueller Prost has four offices and 17 partners specializing in taxes, estate planning, business consulting and “good, old-fashioned accounting services.” Mueller says his particular area of specialty is tax and because tax laws are forever changing, he is forever learning. “It’s a very complex, ever-changing world, but my goals are always to make it as understandable as possible,” he says. “And to help people apply what they’ve learned and have as many options as possible for themselves, their family and their business.”
Pictured: Doug Mueller and Michael Prost
Photo: Tim Parker Photography
Mueller Prost CPAs + Business Advisors offers professional tax, audit, accounting and management advisory services to businesses and individuals. Pictured on the cover: Doug Mueller and Michael Prost. For more information, call 314.862.2070 or visit muellerprost.com.
Cover design by Julie Streiler | Cover photo by Tim Parker Photography
