James Ray, CPA

Growing up in Texas, James Ray spent countless hours at his mother’s office where she worked as a bookkeeper, occasionally helping with filing.

Good at math by his own admission, he originally declared finance as his major upon enrolling at Texas A&M.

Then he took a couple accounting classes and found that he thoroughly enjoyed them. The rest, as they say, was history.

“I love solving puzzles, and to me, working on a tax return is kind of like a big puzzle.” James recalls thinking to himself in college. “I really like this, I’m good at it and it comes naturally to me. I think I can make a career out of it.”

James joined Rudler, PSC as a tax manager in September 2021 as the firm’s first full-time Texas-based employee. He previously worked at Mohle Adams, LLP of Houston, as a Tax Senior, preparing a wide range of complex federal and state tax returns for partnerships, high net-worth individuals, trusts and estates. He previously worked at Desroches Partners, LLP and JP Morgan Chase Bank, where he began his career a private client banker as a small business specialist and manager.

In 2020, James began to seek new opportunities and says he was drawn to Rudler because of the appealing work/life balance and family environment. His time with the firm to date has solidified this opinion that Rudler is the right place for him to nurture his career. He plans to extend that same level of personal care to his clients.

“My clients can rely on not just my expertise and my ability to deliver great results for them but feel confident knowing that we have an entire team of smart people and resources available,” he says. “Most importantly, Rudler is dedicated to providing great service. I'm a people person by nature and I want to get to know my clients beyond just crunching numbers. This firm really walks the walk on delivering that same level of care.”

James lives in College Station with his wife Erin, his son and daughter, their two dogs and two cats. James is an avid college football and baseball fan. He enjoys spending time with family as well as actively volunteering in his church, where he plays drums as part of the worship team.