Melody Feniks, CPA, CGMA
Owner
Melody knew she wanted to be an accountant the day she discovered the magic of the bank rec in third grade (her friends and colleagues have always raised an eyebrow at this peculiar enthusiasm). She was curious about the gap between writing a check and the bank’s removal of funds, so a student teacher shared how the bank rec works. She knew accounting was her calling, set her sights on the profession, and pursued her passion with zeal. She is one of those rare beings who know what they want at an early age and actually stay with it.
Melody got her first accounting job in high school at a small company in accounts receivables and assisted with the manual bookkeeping process. She graduated from UAF and passed the CPA exam in her early 20s. She has always valued the small-business perspective, working first for a small firm in Anchorage before returning to Fairbanks in 1996. She worked for another small firm in Fairbanks until at age 30 she and a colleague started a new partnership firm. The partnership continued until her partners set their sights on retirement, and Melody created Feniks & Company in 2014.
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Melody believes public accounting is the heart of the accounting profession. She believes knowledge shared is power, and seeks to empower her clients by sharing her knowledge and expertise as an integral part of client service. She cares about the well-being of her clients, staff, friends, and colleagues. Accounting as a Healing Art is her way of making the practice of accounting analogous to the practice of family medicine.
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Melody serves on the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee, and recently completed service on the Board of Directors for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants which included serving as a Council member for the AICPA. She served on the AICPA’s Private Company Practice Section (PCPS) Executive Committee for five years, and also served on the AICPA Nominations Committee. Through her work with PCPS she taught Trusted Client Advisor Workshops, and helped form and currently chairs the Small Firm Women’s Networking Group. She was honored with the AICPA American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants’ (AWSCPA) 2016 Woman of the Year Award. She served her State Society in many roles, notably as past president of the Alaska Society of CPAs, Chair of the Ethics Committee, and Liaison to the Alaska Board of Public Accountancy on behalf of the Alaska Society. The Society recognized her service with its Distinguished Service Award and its Public Service Award. Melody also served as a Trustee for the University of Alaska Foundation for six years and chaired the Foundation’s Finance and Audit Committee for four years. She supports various philanthropic and social justice organizations, and serves on local non-profit boards from time to time.
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Away from work, Melody may be found traveling, reading, learning ballroom dance, gardening, landscaping, and sewing. She learned needlecraft at the age of five, and continues to practice. She also likes cooking, notably desserts, particularly pie (friends often request her crusts). Kinsale (her English Labrador, who is also the Chief Executive Funtime Coordinator (CEFC) for Feniks & Company) keeps her active in adorations and squeaker chase.
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So much of what people experience with finance has an emotional element. Finances can carry emotional stress, and people often carry hidden experiences of historic trauma, lots of fear and uncertainty, things hidden even from themselves until confronted with a financial situation. Many clients, in learning how to understand their financial situation, also experience a kind of healing by learning how to understand themselves and their emotional connection, and learn ways to heal the stress, fear, and emotional triggers. This empowers them to be more in charge of their financial lives. This is at the heart of what it means to practice accounting as a healing art.”
