Years ago all he wanted to do was play the guitar, but the lure of security also beckoned. Now he looks after the finances of guys who make music for a living. This is the year that David Taklender will receive his full professional CPA accreditation, and the offices of Louis Tommasino on Governor Drive will add a third full-time certified public accountant. Taklender started with Tommasino as a part-time seasonal employee three years ago and has worked his way up to being responsible for the firm’s entertainment business. The Tommasino firm is the business manager for the Motion City Soundtrack band and one member of the relaunched blink-182. Taklender handles all of the entertainment clients’ tax returns, which means he also has to file a return for each of the states in which they perform. Besides being the everyday “gatekeeper for their money” (both business and personal), Taklender and business management bookkeeper Adrianne Kozlik have to stay on top of everything during the nonstop madness of touring.  The right people all have to have credit cards. Hotel rooms and airfare have to be provided for, and petty cash that is not so petty has to be in place. But there’s always a good chance that an agitated call will come in pleading for money to be wired immediately so that the bus driver won’t quit. “We try to put all sorts of preemptive things in place so that everything goes smoothly but there’s always something,” Taklender said. He feels lucky to have landed at one of the few accounting businesses south of Los Angeles that handles rock bands as a specialty. A life in the music business was his dream Taklender once dreamed of being in the music business himself. “My father was a record producer and I wanted to go that route too,” he said. “The guitar was my love, my absolute passion.” To further that desire, he even went to sound engineering school. He eventually opted for the secure career of accounting but is beginning to feel the stirrings that might bring him back to creating music on his own. As his day job allows, he’s planning to record some of his own tunes and get them out on the Internet or in coffeehouses. “I’ll give it my best shot and maybe I’ll sell a few songs,” he mused. The Tommasino office has been a place to grow The music clients are only part of his responsibilities. He handles the majority of all business that requires IRS resolutions. And he is also developing an estate and trust administration area for the office. “Dave has communication and problem-solving skills to handle any complex tax strategy, or IRS problem resolution or tax authority problem resolution that may arise,” Tommasino said in an interview in March.  Taklender came to the Tommasino office after a number of years working for Deloitte and Touche, KPMG, Marriott and a couple of smaller offices. His bachelor’s degree is from Cal State Northridge. “What I try to do personally and as a company is to take people like David and develop them,” Tommasino said. Taklender has so far risen to every challenge. He appreciates the freedom he has to indulge in the degree of creativity that accounting allows him. He pursues continuing education enthusiastically, continually updating himself on the new tax laws and the lengthy lists of exceptions to them. “The legislation goes on forever,” Taklender said. “Usually there is one tax act passed every few years. Last year alone five of them were passed.” Constant study, enthusiasm help him meet challenges Taklender attends courses and continually references print publications and online research programs to enhance his knowledge of the basics. “If you need additional info on a particular code section, there is always something else to read,” he said. “The fun part for me is getting through the challenges. I’m actually enjoying doing this.” He has a house in Clairemont and is planning to marry Karin Stein in July. He acknowledges that this engrossing life he leads grew out of a newspaper ad he answered three years ago when Louis Tommasino was looking to add a part-timer to his office staff. “I needed something where I could feel challenged and yet be left to my own devices, to an extent,” he said. “We fulfill each other’s needs perfectly.” For more information, call the Louis Tommasino office, (858) 623-0336.