Business Profile: James Hayes MBA & Co. Inc, Brewster

Ever since opening his new accounting storefront in the Village of Brewster, James Hayes can’t even remember what sleep is.

“What’s that,” Hayes said. “I have a coffee maker in the back. What do I need to sleep for?”

For James Hayes MBA & Co. Inc, time is money and as the village’s newest Main Street business dweller, Hayes has been putting all of his effort into becoming a long lasting presence on the block. After working from home for many years, Hayes knew it was time to move into an office. He’s certainly using the space as much as possible.

Hayes has been opening a few days each week at 4 a.m. before the sun even rises. Starting this week, he’ll be open three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday). With the addition of bright Open sign, he hopes to attract more early risers waiting for the train who want to drop their taxes off.

Open year round, Hayes has a great amount of expertise that can’t be found on TurboTax or a big chain tax return place. He is a general accountant that can do bookkeeping for small businesses and business evaluations. He can also handle audits for those clients facing them.

This time of year is easily the busiest.

Hayes said clients can stop by and drop off their tax information and come back later to talk for a few minutes before the tax return is complete. For those more complicated cases, it can take a little longer.

“My father was an accountant so I grew up around accounting,” Hayes said. “That was something I had always been around, though it was something that never interests me as a profession.”

As life grew on though, the thought of crunching numbers became more appealing.

After working as a paramedic for several years, he decided a career change was in order. He went to Pace University and earned a bachelors and masters degree over a five-year span. During that time, he had up to 20 clients for tax season each year and also continued as a paramedic. Until last week, he was still working as a paramedic during nights to ensure a steady income was coming in.

Hayes started looking for a space on Main Street but nothing really appealed to him. Finally he stopped in and spoke with the former person who occupied the office, Barry Hyatt who mentioned he was retiring. At the time, Hayes didn’t think much of it, but a week later he woke up in the middle of the night and realized he wanted that office if it was available.

“I couldn’t fall asleep after,” Hayes said.

He went to Hyatt’s office at 9 a.m. the next day and spoke with him and was eventually introduced to the landlord. Hayes moved in and with the help of his family, handled all the renovations himself.

Ironically, there was a time when Hayes commuted to the city everyday and would take the train from Brewster. He recalled that he always admired how the building he now occupies looked from the outside.

“When the opportunity happened for an office with hardwood paneling across from the train station in this really nice building, I had to jump on it,” Hayes said.

Tax season for Hayes is in high gear and won’t calm until April 15. Once that busy season comes to close, Hayes has a couple ideas what he’ll do next.

“I’ll probably take my wife and kids out for dinner,” he said. “I might get a little more sleep here and there.”

David Propper