Today, my team is
comprised of myself
bring over 20 years of
Accounting Experience,
as well as a forensic tax
attorney. We are also
able to offer clients
one on one
custom training.
Weekly or Monthly
booking, monthly
reconciliation, tax
preparation and more.”
Maritza Ruiz,
President
QuickBooks Pro Solutions, LLC
Office: 813.220.2602
Fax: 707-220-2604
08
Jolie: Tell us about where
you are from, and about your
family.
Maritza Ruiz: I was born in
Bronx, NY and was raised
between NY and PA. My
mother moved from Puerto
Rico to New York at the age of
17 and did not speak English.
She had me at the age of 18.
I have a brother and sister.
As many Hispanics know, the
children become the translators for their parents and tend
to grow up quickly. That was
true of myself. At the age of
14, I started working nights at
McDonald's, while still attending school and all of my sports
activities. Growing up my dad
kept all three of us busy with
school, activities, community
services and church.
Jolie: You are a Gulf War
Veteran; can you tell us about
your Military Career?
Maritza Ruiz: I graduated from
High School in June, 1986 with
honors and with the 4 yrs of
Air Force Jr ROTC I earned 2
stripes towards my rank when
I joined the Air Force. Once I
graduated from high school in
June, I had 1 month of vacation and on August 6, 1986, I
was off to basic training in San
Antonio, TX. My job in the
Air Force was in the accounting field, so here is where I
started my accounting career.
After technical school, I was
stationed at MacDill AFB and
here is where I spent my 12
years of service with 10 years’
Latin Times Magazine
active duty and 2 years in the
Air National Guard. I had the
opportunity to serve my country
by volunteering for the following deployments; the Gulf War
Desert Storm where I cashed
the checks for our military and
civilians stationed there and
then went to Guantanamo Bay
(GTMO) Cuba as a linguist for
the prison camp. This deployment opened my eyes to
another culture where I learned
so much of their traditions
and made some great lifelong
friendships. In Cuba is where I
had my first real Cuban sandwich and it was scrumptious!
Toward the end of my military
career, I took on the responsibility of raising my 3 nieces and
nephew. Not having children of
my own, it was a huge challenge to go from zero to three
in one day and to this day they
keep me on my toes. I was
determined to do the best I
could in my job and all activities to provide my children with
what I didn’t have. A couple of
years into the military my Chief
Master Sergeant (CMSgt)
Sidney Ebanks, pushed me to
go start college and I enrolled
at St Leo University where I
received my BA in Accounting.
Jolie: How did you get started
in accounting?
Maritza Ruiz: Working in
the military provided my first
exposure to accounting. After
the military my first civilian job
was with Chitester Management Systems. I started as a
www.latintimesmedia.com
receptionist with Chitester, and
continued to work there while
completing my Accounting degree. During this time, I taught
myself QuickBooks through
trial and error. In 2007, I finally
became a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
By 2008, I had worked my way
up to Controller with Chitester.
However, I decided it was
time to start my own company,
QuickBooks Pro Solutions, Inc.
and he became my first client.
My hope was to be able to help
many Florida small businesses
with their accounting needs. I
started using my knowledge
of the software QuickBooks
combined with my accounting
background and volunteered
my services to many small Hispanic businesses in the area.
In 2011, I won the Small Business of the Year Award, by the
Tampa Latin Chamber.
Today, my company, through
collaborative efforts, has a
wealth of resources to offer
to my clients including, a staff
of QuickBooks trained bookkeepers, and a tax attorney.
Together, we bring over 100
years of