KEY STAFF
Byron R. Manning
Byron (“Bye”) Manning, founder and managing partner of Manning Accounting and Consulting Services, LLC, was born and raised in New Mexico. In fact, his family has been in New Mexico for more than 100 years. He was raised in the small community of Kirtland, growing up in family run businesses where he learned from his father and grandfather that friendly service and keeping your promises are the keys to a successful business and satisfied clients.
Education
Bye graduated at the top of his high school class and as the top graduate from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management in 1987 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a double concentration inAccounting and Finance. However, Bye wasn’t the normal business student as he earned 18 credit hours in Portuguese and Brazilian literature classes, all above the 270 course level, and he took one course each semester which required a term paper.
He has always believed that communication is important. Accountants aren’t known for their communication or writing skills, so taking courses requiring significant amounts of writing was his way of improving on an important skill and making himself better prepared to serve future clients.
Work Experience
Upon graduation, Bye went to work for Arthur Andersen & Co., one of the former “Big 8” accounting firms, where he chose the audit side of the business. The ability to see many different types of private businesses and governmental agencies up close was appealing, allowing him to work with oil and gas companies, savings and loan institutions, colleges and public schools, and not-for-profit agencies. In 1989 he obtained his Certified Public Accountants (CPA) license.
After ten years in Albuquerque, he and his wife yearned to return home to raise their three children, and for the next eight years he helped the family greenhouse business triple in size and sales, growing to more than $1.4 million in annual sales.
Then the opportunity to take over the reins of Central Consolidated School District’s (CCSD) financial operations became an exciting opportunity and challenge. The district was being threatened with takeover by the Public Education Department (PED) because of the financial mess it was in. Long hours were required to revamp the operations of the business office to improve operations and efficiencies. After only two years, it was no longer on the PED watch list but was used as an example of how a business office should run. Putting in long hours to complete a task is something he learned from both his father and mother, and he’s known as somewhat of a “workaholic.”Over ten years and four superintendents, Bye was asked to take on more departments and personnel to improve operations throughout the district, from food services to IT, from transportation to maintenance, from construction to custodial services, all while maintaining a budget in excess of $100 million and supervising over 275 employees.
In 2012, Bye returned to the public accounting world where he has supervised audits of school districts, charter schools, and not-for-profit organizations. He has also spent time helping seven charter schools with their operations, from budgeting to general ledger maintenance to PED and Albuquerque Public Schools’ reporting.
Now Bye has followed in a family tradition and opened his own business where he has asked many of his former colleagues to join him in providing quality service to clients throughout the state of New Mexico.
Family & Community
Bye has been married to his wife, Denise, for more than 30 years, and the two of them have raised three children, a son and two daughters. Their son, Chris, graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in secondary education. He also served in the Arizona Army National Guard where he served one tour in Afghanistan. Summer, their oldest daughter, is an esthetician and the mother of agranddaughter who has her “papa” wrapped around her little finger. Their youngest daughter, Sydney, is currently attending college in Idaho where she plans on becoming a nurse.
Denise is taking a very active part in the business as she and Bye enjoy working together. As empty-nesters, traveling together to provide audits, charter school services, and consulting services to businesses and governmental agencies brings an exciting new phase to their lives.
Bye has been very active in his church and community where he has dedicated years to the youth and their organizations. He has served as a coach for football, basketball, and baseball while serving on two different governing boards for years as their treasurer. He has also been involved in the Boy Scout and Cub Scout programs, currently serving as a Cub Master. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New Mexico Society of Certified Public Accountants.
