James C. Yochum, CPA, serves as the principal of our firm, bringing more than a decade of expertise in serving Cedar Rapids’ business community and individual clients. As a native of Cedar Rapids with deep roots in the community, his intimate understanding of Iowa tax laws and local business dynamics enables him to provide strategic insights that extend well beyond traditional accounting services.

His journey reflects strong ties to the Cedar Rapids community, beginning with his early education at Truman Elementary and Taft Middle School. His academic path took an adaptable turn when he transitioned to homeschooling through the Cedar Rapids Home School Association, while maintaining dual enrollment at Jefferson High School.

After graduation, James’s initial career aspirations led him to Kirkwood Community College as a pre-medicine student. During this time, he demonstrated his commitment to community service by volunteering as an EMT-Basic with the Central City Iowa Ambulance Service while simultaneously working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

His entrepreneurial mindset and desire to understand the business aspects of healthcare prompted a strategic shift in his career path. This led him to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with an emphasis in accounting at the University of Iowa. Which gave him the opportunity during his freshman year to work closely with small businesses in the corridor area and nationally, as the Chief Technology Officer of a student led start-up called Launch Services being ran out of the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory (BELL) , at the University of Iowa. During his junior year, James secured a position as a staff accountant at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids, one of Iowa’s few privately owned hospitals.

In this role, James found his niche by combining his medical background with business acumen. His unique perspective led to significant improvements in clinic operations, benefiting both healthcare providers and patients. His commitment to operational excellence was further demonstrated through his completion of a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification through the Iowa Quality Council, allowing him to implement several process improvements that enhanced hospital efficiency.

While implementing the new ERP system, James realized he enjoyed utilizing his accounting and tax experience to help others. In order to be well rounded in all aspects of accounting, he wanted to further pursue attaining work experience in public accounting- specifically in tax planning & preparation for businesses and high net-worth individuals.

After a long search he found a CPA firm that had been in business for 20+ years that specifically worked with high-net-worth individuals. There he worked closely under a partner with 42 years of tax experience, 20 of which was employment in public accounting firms where he provided tax and estate planning services to businesses and individuals in the local area. Ultimately that CPAs firm merged with a larger firm that specialized in audits for the construction and manufacturing industry, and James was their first hire.

James was responsible for the following:

• Researching tax law changes through pending legislation along with communicating those changes to partners and staff through education.
• Preparation of tax returns (1120s,1065,1041,1040, 990, 709, 706, 5500, 5227) in multiple states.
• Gathering apportionment data, and filing any applicable state composite and/or withholding returns.
• Initiating firm wide tax planning initiatives for businesses, high net worth individual clients, along with their trusts and estates.
• Providing responses to federal and state notices on behalf of clients to applicable revenue agencies.
• Providing assistance for in person IRS Examinations
• Organizing documents for all new client on-boarding consisting of:
• Reviewing all given accounting data, financial reports and supplemental detail to identify any errors or omissions.
• Referring recommendations to amend prior year returns to the engagement partners.
• Training staff on preparation of returns and bookkeeping for clients.
• Assisting in on-site audits during off-season for large national commercial construction companies.
• Analyzing tax account reconciliations/accruals (ASC 740) for audit clients.

After gaining the aforementioned experience, he decided to start his own accounting firm. This firm would not only serve clients locally but also virtually across the USA and overseas. The domain, purchased in 2014 while working for Launch Services, was linked to a web server. Registration documents were filed, and thus, Corridor Consulting was born.