Established in 1949, HBK CPAs & Consultants specializes in a wide variety of tax, accounting, assurance, and business consulting services for clients ranging from individuals to small businesses to multimillion-dollar corporations across the United States through its 11 office locations. The Business Magazine recently met with John Lombardi, CPA, CFE, CIRA, principal of HBK’s Erie office to learn about tax law changes impacting employers and the state of the accounting industry as a whole.
To familiarize our readers, please tell us how HBK got its start and the growth of the firm today.
HBK was established in 1949 when accountants Roland Hill, William Barth and Wally King first collaborated to form a partnership in Youngstown. Today, that modest accounting firm has grown into HBK CPAs and Consultants (HBK), which offers the collective intelligence of hundreds of professionals in a wide range of tax, accounting, audit, business advisory, financial planning, and other business operational and support services from offices in four states.
Presently, the firm is ranked in both Accounting Today and Inside Public Accounting magazines’ Top 100, and supports clients globally as a member of BDO Alliance USA. HBK maintains locations in Alliance and Youngstown in Ohio, Erie, Hermitage, Meadville and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, Lawrenceville in New Jersey, and Fort Myers, Naples, Stuart, and Sarasota in Florida.
What services does HBK provide to employers and small business owners and individuals?
HBK’s professionals deliver industry-specific expertise in manufacturing; health care, including long-term care; real estate and construction; automotive dealerships, energy and not-for-profit organizations. HBK combines the technical resources and expertise of a large national accounting and professional consulting firm with the personalized attention of local offices.
What distinguishes us is our ability to anticipate industry trends and position ourselves accordingly by establishing boutique services tailor-made for our clients’ needs such as Interim CFO, Payroll/Bookkeeping, Business Consulting, tax planning and Lean Six Sigma services.
Each year, changes are made to the tax code. What are the major ones affecting businesses in 2015? Please explain.
Businesses have long endured uncertainty over continuation of certain tax benefits. For the last few years, Congress has acted at the last minute to extend many tax provisions such as bonus depreciation and has increased both Section 179 expense limitations and R&D credit. These are not yet renewed for 2015 although they could be at some point. Also, many businesses will first be affected by requirements of the Affordable Care Act in 2015.
What significant changes are on the horizon that would be of particular interest to employers?
Industry-wide, there are many, but specifically within our firm, we are focused on arming our team members with the resources and support they need in order to foresee client needs in our niche markets. Active listening and anticipation of our clients’ “must haves” are top of mind to us. We feel our dedication to providing tailor-made strategic plans for our customers by giving them our undivided attention is a true differentiator for us.
The accounting industry is changing rapidly. What do you identify as the most critical industry trends and why?
We understand that creating value through provision of new services, strategic business processes and establishment of a strong organizational structure that supports an atmosphere of individuality and progression is the formula of a strong and growing company. We also realize that firms of our scope and size must innovate to meet and anticipate client needs to ensure client satisfaction and future growth. Long-term survival requires that we leverage the expertise of senior leaders to transfer knowledge to and develop younger talent and that is a concentrated area of focus for us.
What is the outlook for HBK?
Our objective is to determine the highest skills and greatest competencies needed internally to compete and succeed; build leadership at all levels and departments; to effectively and efficiently manage compensation and benefits; and to attract, develop, engage, reward and retain the diverse talent required to execute competitive strategies and solidify a gold standard in our client services.
For more information, visit www.hbkcpa.com.
