“She was always a guiding force in my life,” Roland Manuel said. “When I was growing up, she made sure I went to church. When I got older, she made sure I went to college.”

And, even before he graduated from college, his grandmother hired him to work in her Palm Beach accounting and tax business.

“She’s my mentor and business partner and although we don’t agree on everything, sometimes we agree to disagree, we get along very well,” he said. “Our methods may be different at times. She’s from the old school, and I’m from the new technology era.”

Early 2014, Anita Manuel passed the torch to her grandson, promoting to him president and chief operation officer of Palm Beach Tax Group, Inc.  while she stays on as a director and handles work for her longtime clients.

“She wants to be able to travel,”

the new CEO said. He has worked at the firm since 2001. His grandmother has worked at Palm Beach Tax Group Inc., which began in 1968, for 34 years and has been president since 1983.

The business, with clients from all over the world, handles tax representation, tax preparation, tax planning, tax defense, tax resolution, payroll services and QuickBooks, he said.

“We are in the business of building relationships.”

The Manuels are Enrolled Agents,

“we are federally authorized tax practitioners, but we don’t work for the IRS,” he said. “Our specialty is in tax matters.”

Born and raised in West Palm Beach, he graduated from Palm Beach Lakes High School.

Growing up, he said, his ambition was to become an architect or a lawyer. But once he got to college and began working with his grandmother, his focus changed to business, specifically a tax and accounting firm. Today, he said, he’s right where he wants to be.