Born and raised in North Dallas, Marie Kelly never thought twice about leaving. She attended the Ursuline Academy of Dallas and has grown with the city, remembering riding her bike with her friends down the LBJ Freeway as it was being constructed when she was a child. The Dallas Region has provided her with the opportunity to grow, network, buy her home, raise her family, and start her business.
After graduating from Texas A&M, Kelly worked her way up and retired from a large CPA firm. She left because she realized that she wanted to focus her efforts on entrepreneurs and non-profits. She began Kelly CPA in 2016, just west of downtown, as the sharpest looking firm in DFW, some may say. Her office is colorful, full of art, and pet friendly — not your typical CPA office. Her goal is to grow and help businesses and individuals with things like payroll, taxes, and budgeting. One of her mottoes goes, “unlike fine wine, unpaid taxes do not age well.” She wants her customers to devote the time to the work that they’re meant to do, and she promises to take care of the rest.
Kelly understands her customers’ entrepreneurial spirits because she shares it. Her team has the tools and knowledge to help large firms. The difference? Their edge.
Kelly said she likes to give customers advice like a mom would. She always thinks, “what would my mom tell me to do?” She isn’t afraid of the future of accounting and embraces artificial intelligence (AI). She believes that if accountants don’t embrace AI, they will be replaced by those who will.
Kelly is also devoted to helping the community by serving on the board of several organizations, including The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, Ursuline Academy, and the Kappa Alpha Theta Alumnae Foundation.
Kelly moved from North Dallas and now lives in Oak Cliff, where she enjoys the area’s entrepreneurial spirit and culture. In the future, she dreams of having her own foundation and continuing to help non-profits reach their goals by helping them learn about taxes and budgeting. She also spoke of writing a book one day. For now, when she’s not in the office, her most important job is watching her two grandchildren grow.
