The E&A Difference

The E&A difference is the commitment and added value we bring to every engagement through a deep understanding of each client and applying professional judgement. Clients often comment on E&A’s “personal and passionate professionalism.” Simply put: character matters!

E&A’s team members are talented generalists, who have chosen to specialize in ERC because of its huge benefit to clients. By combining these talents and utilizing our network of outstanding allied professional services firms, E&A meets changing service needs created by COVID relief, most notably for ERC. We’re proud of and enjoy working with clients enthusiastically to help them achieve their goals.

Knowledge and insight are intangible products E&A provides to clients. We know we must share that knowledge with you in meaningful, useful, and understandable ways.

What Does E&A Do as a Value-Added Provider?

We research applicable government orders via a national database; develop and bullet-proof a client’s rationale for the claim.
We recommend client-specific courses of action, and create and file Forms 941-X for each quarter.  E&A also provides audit protection and/or fee indemnity.

Team Members

E&A carefully selects team members for optimum value and impact with clients. Team members have held positions inside companies (financial services, technology, manufacturing, construction, and educational institutions) providing experience on your side of the desk. When workloads and/or specific client needs warrant it, we supplement our permanent staff through long-standing relationships with senior accounting specialists.

CPA’s and accounting firms frequently refer clients to E&A for ERC matters. They turn to us for our expertise and ability to work side-by-side with them on specialized engagements.

Meet Our Team

E&A recruits outstanding team members, utilizes their sense of personal responsibility to keep expanding their expertise, and encourages entrepreneurial thinking. That process provides a team focused on providing creative solutions to enhance your success, instead of just being skilled technicians.

All of E&A’s team came from personal referrals and that team is committed to providing high-quality, high-value, professional ERC services. Accordingly, every team member can handle multiple ERC roles.

Joe Eckelkamp
  • Joseph T. Eckelkamp, CPA
    Joseph T. Eckelkamp, CPA

Joseph T. Eckelkamp

CPA (inactive)

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Joe Eckelkamp, E&A’s founder and sole owner, has over 40 years of diverse financial experience.

He founded E&A in 1996 after serving as Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance, or Controller at several companies, including financial institutions, a data services company, and a telecommunications company. Joe started his career with a “Big 4” CPA firm.

Joe is accomplished in financial advisory, “Rent-A-CFOSM” services, taxation, and business operations. Helping businesses adapt and improvise while they are restructuring and/or during acquisitions/divestitures led E&A to realize far earlier than most firms how impactful ERC would be for existing clients and others. By early 2021, it was, by far, E&A’s largest practice area. As a result, E&A shifted its business model in mid-2023 to focus exclusively on ERC.

Joe earned BSBA and MBA degrees from St. Louis University and attended executive education programs at Harvard. His awards include the SBA’s Accountant Advocate for Small Business Award (for a four state region.) He’s also been named a “St. Louis Unsung Hero” by the St. Louis Small Business Monthly.

He’s served on numerous boards of directors and is currently Board Chairman for Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis. In the past, Joe served as Chairman of the MOCPA’s Business Consulting Services Committee and as a member of the AICPA’s Tax Practice Improvement Committee.

  • Jim Allison
    Jim Allison

Jim Allison

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Jim Allison joined E&A as an Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Specialist in 2022 after a successful 50 year banking career. 

Jim and Joe have worked together in many roles over the last 40 years and Joe sought his help as ERC activity exploded. During his career, Jim managed retail sales, customer service, and bank operations functions, as well as regulatory and compliance management. He was President of a 15-bank Midwest User Group for deposit systems and served on the National Advisory Board of 12 banks to implement new capabilities.

He earned his BS degree in Business Administration at Southern Illinois University and received a Graduate Certificate from the University of Virginia Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.

Jim is a positive, client-focused team member who moves quickly to claim ERC while using a well-documented, cautious, prudent, and lawful approach to achieve optimal results. He has the expertise needed to ensure solid processes exist while keeping E&A focused on great results. He is committed to obtaining ERC funds for businesses, not-for-profit organizations, churches, and private schools.

  • Jennifer Endsley
    Jennifer Endsley

Jennifer Endsley

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Jennifer Endsley is an experienced professional who has worked at E&A for over 5 years in many roles in addition to being a local electrical contracting company’s accountant. 

Jenn is a key part of E&A’s service delivery team. She understands ERC’s enormous impact and quickly became E&A’s primary claim preparation and substantiation expert at E&A and has become E&A’s “go-to” person for ERC work. Her prior experience at E&A included individual & business taxation and special projects.

She graduated from Maryville University with a Bachelors in Accounting, and also received a Bachelors in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing from St. Louis University. 

  • Christina Mauer
    Christina Mauer

Christina Mauer

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Chrissy is a key ERC resource as the primary contact for all client-facing communications.

Chrissy joined E&A early in 2021. She serves a critically important role at E&A by serving as the primary client interface. She’s highly versatile and provides technical and logistical support wherever it is necessary.

Prior to joining E&A, Chrissy managed a successful small business where her focus was building trust with the clients and forming relationships that allowed her to better serve their needs. Her experiences also includes customer service at a major St. Louis marketing company.

She graduated from University of Missouri – St. Louis with a Bachelors in Criminal Justice and has an extensive background in client service.

  • Tomi Akin-Deko
    Tomi Akin-Deko

Tomi Akin-Deko

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Tomi handles clients’ accounting, bookkeeping, and tax needs, and specializes in expatriate taxation.

Tomi joined E&A in 2018 after graduating magna cum laude as an international student from Maryville University with a degree in Accounting and a minor in Cybersecurity. Before joining E&A full-time, she had internships with a commercial bank and a regional CPA firm, gaining experience in auditing and tax preparation.

In addition to client accounting, bookkeeping software, and tax services for clients with high expectations, Tomi is proficient in Microsoft applications and QuickBooks (Online & Desktop). Expatriate tax is her area of specialization and she supports a critically important outsourcing niche for E&A by working with CPA-firm colleagues, largely in the area of expatriate taxation.