Melissa Lyman, CPA

Melissa Lyman likes two things that don’t always seem to go together: digging into complex tax issues and making them feel a whole lot less complicated for her clients. As Tax Manager at Account Sense, she draws on experience from both a Big Four firm and smaller boutique firms, where she worked closely with businesses and their owners. Today, she oversees tax compliance and strategic planning for small to mid-sized businesses, but it’s the collaborative side of the work she enjoys most. Whether she’s advising a client, reviewing a return, or mentoring a member of the tax team, Melissa values the relationships and time she gets to spend working directly with clients and her team.

Melissa’s path into accounting took shape at Brigham Young University. She originally had a different career plan in mind, but an accounting professor, coincidentally also named Melissa, encouraged her to see accounting differently and recognize just how much she could accomplish in the profession. She went on to earn her Master of Accountancy from BYU, with a minor in Information Systems, and began her career serving clients in Seattle before relocating to Arizona. She is a licensed CPA in Arizona and a member of the AICPA and Arizona Society of Public Accountants.

Originally from Mapleton, Utah, Melissa now lives in Mesa, Arizona, with her husband and their two young sons. Away from work, she enjoys reading, bird watching, riding her Peloton, and getting together with her book and cookbook clubs. She also plays piano and enjoys trail running, even completing a 10K trail race while six months pregnant.