Mel Varrelman Financial Services

I had heard from local winery owner’s at the Farm Bureau that he was the most knowledgeable and well respected accountant.
He didn’t disappoint, completing the winery’s taxes and our personal taxes efficiently and on time despite our complex situation. He was always available for any questions we had, what we could claim and how are bookkeeping should work.
Highly Recommend

I had a financial consultation with Mel Varrelman in 2012. At the time I was a local small business owner who needed to clean up some of my accounting methods in Quickbooks. After my first meeting with him, the impression I got is that his business relies mostly on doing streamlined accounting for large businesses, but are a horrible choice for small business owners.
I myself am a small business owner, and so I mostly do my own accounting in Quickbooks. Not being an accountant or having any formal training, I approached him with some inconsistencies in the major forms (P&L, BS, Inventory Valuation). I asked several questions about how to categorize expenses in Quickbooks and what might be causing my problems, but he openly admitted that he did not understand the program, and even though he offered suggestions on what the problem might be, he was ultimately unable to help me.
Mr. Varrelman never mentioned over the phone how much his services cost, so one hour later without any questions answered, he told me I owed him $ 150. I was shocked, but what could I do? I’d had a «consultation» and I hadn’t liked how I had been counseled. I paid him and never returned.
I later found an incredible accountant in Napa, who I was very hesitant to approach, considering I’d just been «swindled» out of a noticeable amount of money. Her name is Julie Schmidt in Napa, CA. She didn’t own a big firm, and she wasn’t an expert in Quickbooks, but within 3 hours she came up with a solution that I would never have thought to try. All of my problems disappeared for guess what? Just about the same price.
I would recommend any small business owner to skip over Mel Varrelman and visit Julie Schmidt.