Meet Palmer Leslie's Accountants
Company Philosophy
We believe that no client is too small and that everyone deserves enough time and attention to fully understand their accounting and tax returns. We strive to explain things to you in terms you understand without talking down to you. We also hope that you will feel you are as much a part of the process of preparing your financial reports and tax returns as we are. We feel that no one understands your business better than you do and you should have a say and be knowledgeable about any and all reports we prepare on your behalf.
We also believe that you are entitled to the best service we can provide in a timely manner so you don’t feel forgotten. We strive to return your calls in a timely manner and meet with you whenever convenient for you whether you have an appointment or not if it is in our power to do so. We also believe you are entitled to be treated fairly and pleasantly every time we see you.
We believe in the need for constant upgrading and training. We are constantly sending the members of the firm for professional development to ensure we can offer you the latest and greatest knowledge and technology.
We believe that we are just like you. We live here, work here and play here. We are as diverse as you are. We love what we do and enjoy doing it for you.
About You
You are any client who requires accounting, bookkeeping, tax or other related services. PL is a full-service accounting firm and can help you with any need you may have.
About Us
Tammy Leslie
Tammy was born and raised on the West Coast. Her family lived in a logging camp up Indian Arm when she was born and moved to various logging communities on the West Coast including Courtenay and Oyster River on Vancouver Island. Her family also spent over two years living in a logging camp at the top of Toba Inlet, eventually settling in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast.
In high school Tammy always found Math was her strongest subject and Algebra just seemed to make sense to her, so an accounting career was an easy choice. Tammy attended Capilano College in North Vancouver, BC graduating in 1985 as class valedictorian for Business Management Diploma. It was during this time that she fell in love with accounting, and specifically, The Tax Act. After college, she returned to Sechelt and commenced her first job in public practice working for Cameron & Associates CGA for the next 15 years and earned her CGA in 1989 while working there.
She moved back to Vancouver Island in 2001 and in 2006, she obtained a position as a senior manager at Atchison Palmer Chartered Accountants in Duncan. Not satisfied to hold just one accounting designation, Tammy went back to school to obtain her Chartered Accountant’s designation. The whole family (and most of the neighbourhood) cheered when she found out she had passed the 3-day Uniform final exam in 2009. This opened the door for her partnership in the firm that now bears her name.
Tammy currently lives in Yellowpoint with her dog, three cats and assorted goldfish. She has two grown children currently finishing university in various parts of the country who come home for holidays and fill the house. When not at the office she can be found riding horses with her fellow horse lovers, going to horse shows, riding her bike, walking her dog, and driving her two Camaro’s during drag race/car show season.
Tammy’s volunteer activities include sitting as a director for a variety of local community organizations including the Ladysmith Chamber of Commerce, Ladysmith Show and Shine Society, and Ladysmith Festival of Lights.
Alex Palmer
Alex Palmer is a Victoria educated Chartered Professional Accountant with more than 20 years’ experience. As stale and boring as this sounds, Alex has managed to keep his sense of humor, sanity and family together for all these years. Alex will chalk this up to the fact that he sincerely enjoys his profession. Coming out of UVIC in the 1980’s, Alex found the local job market to be severely depressed. Anyone that knows Alex might recognize that “severely depressed” is at odds with his personality and demeanor. With an enthusiastic gleam in his eye, Alex moved to Prince George where he was readily employed in a firm specializing in accounting for forestry companies.
Alex kept an eye on relocating back to some form of civilization and two opportunities came up: Duncan and Port Alice. The rest, as they say, is history. Duncan was an easy choice and the firm of Palmer Leslie was established and has grown to include twenty full time employees. In the recent past, Alex has been enthusiastically involved in the Practice, Review and Licensing Committee of British Columbia so it’s obvious that he really did select the right profession.
On a personal level, Australia holds a fascination for Alex and he has visited many times. More locally, Alex and his family of three try to get out and camp around BC during the summer months after tax season is over. Other extra-curricular activities include following the NHL hockey league and enjoying a riveting science fiction movie now and then.
Specializing in small business and Not for Profit business accounting, Alex still enjoys meeting and interacting with his business clients to help make the pain of numbers a little more fun.
Tavish Annis
Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Tavish grew up in Campbell River and has been a Cowichan Valley resident since 2014. Tavish holds a Chartered Professional Accounting Designation with an Honours Degree in Commerce.
With 13 years of public and private sector accounting experience, Tavish brings significant expertise in assisting clients with managing their day to day operations, tax planning and longer term goal setting. He is extremely knowledgeable about corporations, proprietorships, trusts, and personal taxes and believes in making accounting work for his clients.
Tavish is Palmer Leslie CPA’s newest partner and enjoys helping local individuals and businesses retain more of their hard-earned profits and savings by minimizing their tax liabilities and helping them plan for future growth. Tavish knew he’d joined the right firm when he read the Palmer Leslie slogan: Because meeting with your accountant should never be a taxing experience! "This is a great group of people who take pride in what they do and work hard to get you results, while maintaining a sense of humour and making accounting
more relatable."
Lori John
Lori John was born in Lethbridge, AB and moved to Duncan, BC to attend Queen Margaret’s School at age 15. Lori has called the City of Duncan home for over 35 years, where she met
and married her husband, Jeremy and raised her three sons.
Lori started her career as a bookkeeper in 2007 and, with encouragement and support from her grandmother, decided to return to school and obtain her CPA/CGA from Laurentian University in 2017. Shortly after receiving her designation, Lori joined Palmer Leslie to further her career and gain more experience working with local businesses. She was excited to start working with the people of Palmer Leslie because they provided a high level of knowledge, and the firm’s priority to help their clients navigate complicated issues align with her own.
It is a well-known fact at Palmer Leslie and amongst her long-time clients that Lori’s favourite time of year is personal tax season. It brings her great joy connecting with her clients and helping them understand how their success has come together.
When Lori is not at Palmer Leslie she can be seen helping as the treasurer of the Cowichan Exhibition Society or walking with her loyal companion Bella, the English Bull-dog.
