Who We Are

Our Business

Established in 1994, A.L. Wood & Associates began in the dining room of Ann’s home and she visited clients to serve their accounting needs. In 1998, our client numbers had improved and Angela Ivey, daughter of Ann, joined A.L. Wood & Associates. In 1999, due to even more growth, a separate building was erected behind Ann’s home to house the growing business.

After working in that small building for only two years, an opportunity came for the business to move to its current location in Benson, NC. In 2001, A.L. Wood & Associates opened the office and our client number grew exponentially.

While our company has grown through the years, A.L. Wood & Associates has always maintained the same goal that we started with: Providing accounting services for individuals and small businesses in our community at a fair price and with great support.

We enjoy getting to know our clients on a personal level and our office will always have an open door policy.

Our People

Ann Wood, Founder, Partly Retired

I was never able to go to college right out of High School, as it was unaffordable.  I met my husband and we married while he was in Pharmacy School and I worked while he completed college and got his Pharmacy License.  Then as I was 25 and he was 30, it was time to have our children.  We have 3 wonderful children and I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home Mom, which was very rewarding but I needed more in my life after the birth of my 3rd child.  It was not feasible to work and pay daycare for 3 children so my husband told me to go back to school, which had always been a dream of mine.  I started part-time while my kids were in preschool and elementary.  I started out thinking I would be a nurse but then I changed my major to accounting because I seemed to have a lot of strength in math and loved working with numbers, they made sense to me.  It took me 6 years to get my Bachelor’s degree in accounting.

I started out my career as an employee keeping books for different businesses to get the experience that I needed to further my career.  I worked for a company that when I left for a higher paying job, they wanted me to continue to keep their books on the side.  I did that for a year while working full time and during that time picked up several more businesses.  I then took the leap and started my business in my dining room at home, which was closed off as my office in 1995.  I continued to build up my business and in 1998, my daughter Angela, joined me working while she was in college.  By then we had built a separate building at my home for my office.

In 2000, my husband opened his own pharmacy and the building we rented and eventually purchased, had enough room for my accounting office.  We have grown significantly since then, we had to add an addition in 2005 and do a renovation in 2007.  We had more growing pains in 2013 and added on the last addition to our offices.  My daughter is now my full partner and we have 7 full time employees all year and 1 or 2 part-time during tax season. I am an EA.

Angela Ivey, Partner

Fall 1997, excited to start college, finally out of high school, time to start working on adulthood….. how did I end up here? I ask myself this often and I tell people all the time that people “HAP” into their jobs more often than they plan them. My freshman year of college I had all these plans to be a teacher of elementary education…I thought yes, this is what I want to do. 

And then the world decided to shake things up, in the spring of my freshman year, I had a huge surprise when I found out I was expecting my son. I was working 2 jobs and in college full time and I thought OMG how am I going to make this work. 

My mother, Ann, had already started A.L. Wood & Associates and was dedicating herself full time to it and her and my dad said you will not drop out of college. So in December 1998, I welcomed my son and started working for my mom, while still in college full time to be a teacher. The more months I put into working at the accountant office, the more I realized that I just got the concepts…they made sense… they felt easy to understand. By the Fall of 1999, I changed my major to accounting and completed my Bachelors with a double major in Accounting and Business Management. 

Angela has worked for the business since December 1998. In 2017, Angela became a partner in the business and is an EA. She has taken over all roles of running the company as Ann has slowed down for retirement. She has worked hard to promote growth for the business and looks forward to meeting new people each year.

Angela is a on the Benson Chamber of Commerce Board member, member of the NC Society of Accountant and National Association of Tax preparers.

Misty Brown, Accountant

Misty joined our team in May 2017.

She had worked in small business bookkeeping and for a loan office before deciding to join our office. She completed her Associates degree in Business Management from Johnston Community College in May 2016. After joining us, she decided to further her college career and complete her Bachelor in Business Administration/Accounting. In May 2020, she completed her degree from the University of Mount Olive.  She continued to further her knowledge by passing the Enrolled Agents Exam in November 2022 and is an EA and able to practice in front of the IRS. She is also a notary public.

Misty started with us learning the business from the ground up. She has done everything from answering the phones, to data entry, completing bookkeeping, payroll calculations and is now preparing tax returns for personal, Corporations and Partnerships. She is excited to continue to grow her client base and help individuals and business owners understand how taxes work.. Our plans are for her to start working more with Ann’s clients as Ann prepares to slow her working schedule to enjoy more time off for retirement.

Misty was raised in the Four Oaks area and graduated from South Johnston High School. She resides here in Benson with her husband Billy Brown and their son, Mason.

Ashley James, Accounting Assistant

Ashley joined our team in February 2013.

She was looking to re-enter the work force after staying at home with her children for 5 years. Angela asked her if she had ever considered accounting and convinced her to apply for a front desk job at our office. Ashley started working during tax season, in the middle of our offices busy time. She grew her skills by starting from assisting clients at our front desk, answering phones and has since invested the last 10 years gaining more skills to fulfill her important role here at our office.

She now spends her days calculating payroll, making tax deposits, completing data entry and preparing clients documents to be ready for quarterly and year end reports. Working directly with many clients she helps clients with questions for daily bookkeeping needs. Her supporting role to Ann & Angela has made her a huge asset. She has proven to be a vital part of our team and our clients enjoy working with her.

Ashley lives in Four Oaks with her husband Jason and her 3 children Tori, Caitlyn & Drew.

Debbie Hargis, Receptionist & Data Entry

Debbie Joined Our team in Jan 2021.

Debbie has more than 20 years of customer service, she has worked in local government and pharmaceutical. She had retired back in 2020, now she works at our front desk assisting clients that come in, answering phone calls, making appointments and works on data entry.

Debbie lives in Four Oaks.

Suzanne Godwin, Data Entry

Suzanne joined our team in Nov 2022

She had worked in the media business for almost 15 years. After being out of the workforce for a few years she was looking something part time. Angela asked if she would be interested in joining their team and she did. She answers the phone, data entry, helps at the front desk and anything she can do to support her coworkers.

Suzanne lives in Four Oaks with her husband, Jamie & their son, Jaxson.