Our Team
Making Sure You Only Pay Your Fair Share
Stephanie A Horst, CPA, CGMA
Certified Public Accountant 1994
Certified Global Management Accountant 2014
Prior to joining the team at Deborah McDowell CPA PC, Stephanie worked in the manufacturing and service firm industries. During her time in industry she served as Controller and Director at two of Fort Worth’s top 100 companies. She has over 25 years of experience in helping small businesses grow and enjoys helping them plan for their future.
Stephanie is knowledgeable in the areas of financial accounting and controls, cost accounting, risk management, management reporting, budgeting, strategic business planning, fixed asset and inventory management, treasury management, collections, tax administration and planning, human resources, employee benefits and payroll. Her tax experience includes not only Federal income taxes but sales and use taxes, Texas Franchise Tax and multi state nexus and sales tax as well. Stephanie also has experience in mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and valuation documentation.
Stephanie enjoys meeting new people and helping people be successful
Throughout her career, Stephanie has been an active member of the FW Chapter Texas Society of CPAs, and was awarded the Young CPA of the year award two different times. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a former member of Financial Executives International ( FEI). She is a charter member of Women Steering Business, founded in 2013 to help further the education of future female business leaders by purchasing steers from young women each year at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Women Steering Business is the second largest sponsor of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and the Junior Sales of Champions. She enjoys traveling, volunteer work, being an active member at her church, listening to live Texas and Red Dirt music, working on her family’s genealogy and hanging out with friends, family and her dog Shiner.
Philosophy: Customer service is the backbone of any successful business.
Click Here to E-mail Stephanie
Deborah McDowell, CPA
“My passion is to assist individuals and business in reaching their financial objectives and avoiding crisis management and in achieving operating efficiencies. Small business owners are the backbone of America and face the toughest challenges on the road to success.”
As baby boomers hit retirement age, planning for the next phase of life has come to the top of the priority list. Deborah enjoys working with people facing changes, to help them find the right strategies for tax planning and life style changes the next phase of their lives.
Deborah has thirty plus years of diversified experience in financial accounting, auditing and tax planning in various industries, including: Insurance, Printing, Manufacturing, Distribution, Construction, Health Care, Professional Services, Real Estate, Intellectual Property, Financial Services, Hospitality, Food Service and many other industries.
Beginning with a large national firm and working with several medium sized firms in tax and audit, as well as in industry, Debbie has found her niche in service to individuals, estates and trusts and small businesses in a small firm environment.
Debbie is easy to work with on any level and truly enjoys finding solutions for tax dilemmas. She loves her river home retreat and enjoys riding the “spyder” with her husband and laughing with friends, coworkers and clients.
Philosophy: Life is too short not to enjoy every day of it!
Click Here to E-mail Deborah
Carol J. Todd CPA
Carol earned her certified public accountant designation over 35 years ago after graduating from the University of North Texas – formerly known as North Texas State University. Her career has always been in public accounting at a local CPA firm where she assisted various entities consisting of small businesses, individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates and trusts, to meet their tax filing responsibilities in the most efficient manner possible along with providing various accounting services. Her experience in audit, tax and financial accounting gives her a wide range of experience in various industries. This breadth of knowledge gives her the ability to be a problem solver for her clients.
She has experience in mergers and acquisitions, complex tax issues for individuals and businesses, Financial Accounting for GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) as well as business taxation such as sales taxes, payroll taxes, Texas Franchise taxes as well as issues confronting those clients doing business in states other than Texas.
Carol is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) and the Fort Worth Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs.
She has been a dedicated shareholder in a local accounting practice for over 20 years and has recently joined with Deborah and her team to continue providing those exceptional services to clients who rely on the firms knowledge and solutions.
Carol enjoys spending her free time with her Husband, Children and Grandchildren.
Philosophy: Dedication, devotion and commitment are keys to success.
Click Here to E-mail Carol
Maria Dominguez, Director of First Impressions
Maria joined the firm in 2015 as our Director of First Impressions. Maria is the first face and the first voice of the firm, ensuring we provide our clients with excellent customer service. Maria assists with accounting duties, data entry for tax returns and processes tax returns for electronic filing. Maria is your go to person. If she can not answer your question or solve your problem she will find someone in the firm who can.
Maria moved to Texas from California where she worked for a CPA firm for 14 years. Maria and her husband have three children. Maria enjoys spending time with her family, attending baseball games, and relaxing when she can.
Click Here to E-mail Maria
Maria’s Snowy Dominguez
Ms. Snow was the baby of the family until a tiny human came along. Now she gets extra loving from everyone and gets to sleep with her human brother, so that’s a decent tradeoff. Snowy is 5 years old and enjoys barking and stealing everyone’s socks, including the tiny humans.
Stephanie’s Shiner (aka “Little Big Paw”) Horst
Hi! My name is Shiner! I was rescued from the Parker County Animal Shelter at approximately five months old and 35 pounds in July 2018. The DNA test the vet ran says I am an Australian Cattle Dog/Siberian Husky/Stafford Terrier mix. I’m told that I earned my name because I was on my best behavior and that I “shined” above the rest at the shelter on adoption day. But rumor has it that my owner was drinking Shiner beer (“There’s nothing finer!”) while attending a party during the weekend after she adopted me and decided that would be my name because my fur was the color of Shiner Bock Beer. I am smart, outgoing, full of energy, have a big smile, lots of personality and big paws. I love to be around and play with people and other dogs. Today I am a 55 pound and growing bundle of joy!!