2023 Trusted Advisers Up-and-Comer: Blake Pace

As a certified public accountant with Decker & DeGood PC, Blake Pace has taken on work over his three years of employment that has led to not only growth in the number of clients but responsibilities he says wouldn’t be given to him at larger CPA firms.

At the firm, Pace provides financial audits for governmental entities, nonprofits and U.S. Housing and Urban Development organizations, as well as tax preparation and planning for individuals and businesses. In his short time at the firm, his annual billing doubled in 2022 from two years prior to $140,250, as he managed 28 governmental clients with auditing work and 16 clients with tax services.

“Since we are a smaller office, I am responsible for completion of many audits from start to finish,” he says, noting the work includes planning the project with local banks and drafting financial reports according to governmental accounting standards. “Typically, newer CPAs in my position would only be responsible for performing field work procedures.”

Additionally, he recently spearheaded a firmwide project to update its audit engagement legacy systems to a newer cloud-based software package. Pace says the software is responsible for many of the tasks required to complete audits, and he added it has updated many of the assignments and tasks required to execute an audit.

“This program has been revolutionary to how our office works through and completes audits and has greatly improved and protected many of our technological systems and processes,” he says, adding the software better allows audits to be performed remotely, which cuts down on travel costs and saves clients’ money.

Pace doesn’t take the impact of his work lightly.

“The primary impact my services provide is the assurance that citizens’ tax dollars are not misused, abused or prone to theft,” he says. “The majority of our client base, local governments, rely primarily on citizens’ tax dollars to operate. My services help hold local governments accountable, while also assisting them with creating an environment of financial transparency that their citizens deserve.”

While still early in his career, Pace, a 2022 Missouri State University graduate with a bachelor’s in accounting, says he plans to soon become a partner at Decker & DeGood. Pace says one of the company’s partners, Marshall Decker, is approaching retirement, adding he plans to buy out his practice.

“In the future, as I become a partner, I will make it my upmost priority to relentlessly try and match the legacy he will leave on our clients and our office,” Pace says.

Another of Pace’s goals is to become more engaged in civic work and networking opportunities in the Springfield community, which he calls the “forever home” for him and his wife. Aside from his volunteer work with Hill City Church, Pace is a member of The Network, a Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce-managed networking and advocacy group for young professionals. Professionally, he is a member of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.