YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – To many, the ideation of a certified public accountant conjures up an image of someone huddled over spreadsheets or a computer screen, sweating over line item after line item as they perform an audit or prepare tax documents.
No longer, says Jim Rosa, Principal at HBK CPAs & Consultants.
“We’re more than numbers,” he says. “It’s understanding what’s important to the client.”
Over the last two decades, the 75-year-old HBK has developed a strategy to cultivate experts and specialists that focus on specific industries. The idea is to grow a staff of professionals who know the nature and culture of each client’s business, and how to help it face challenges and opportunities.
“Back then, we called them niches,” recalls Jim Dascenzo, Principal and National Director of HBK Manufacturing Solutions. “Now, they’re solutions groups.”
The concept of developing industry sector specialists within HBK took hold as the firm’s client base became more diverse and the needs of different business segments changed, Dascenzo says. This required a drive to build closer client relationships with those representing a range of industries, including manufacturing, dealerships, construction, healthcare, nonprofits, and the emerging cannabis sector.
“In the last five years, we’ve made a strong effort to develop those specialists within an industry,” Dascenzo says. Gaining experience and expertise in this discipline makes it easier to understand the concerns and dynamics of manufacturers both large and small, he says. “If you own a manufacturing company, you want somebody working on your account that is familiar with the industry,” he says.
While this involves duties such as tax preparation and audits, it also opens the door for additional client services. “What we want to do is develop people who know the industry so they can do consulting, and bring real value to the clients,” he says.
Among the fastest growing and emerging business sectors across the country is the cannabis industry, which HBK started exploring 10 years ago, Dascenzo says. “A lot of accounting firms decided they were not going to work with cannabis clients,” he says. Therefore, many cannabis companies lacked the expertise to develop appropriate accounting, cash management and financial systems to steer their business.
That presented plenty of opportunity to build clientele just as state legislatures started approving legislation to legalize marijuana use for medicinal or recreational purposes. HBK became one of the first accounting and consulting firms to specialize in cannabis. “A couple of our younger partners said they’d focus on that,” Dascenzo says. “We’ve become one of the leading firms in the country working in the cannabis industry. We’re seeing a lot more opportunities across the U.S.”
The cannabis industry faces a set of challenges that are unlike traditional sectors such as manufacturing or construction, Rosa says. “A cannabis company, for example, cannot deduct a lot of what are viewed as traditional business expenses, because under federal law, it’s still illegal,” he says.
Construction expertise has also emerged as an important specialty at HBK. This year, HBK is ranked among the top 50 construction accounting firms by Construction Executive magazine. And, Accounting Today named HBK among its top 100 accounting firms, ranking it 27th among firms with a dedicated construction practice.
HBK’s construction solutions group serves more than 700 companies, including general contractors, bridge painters, heavy construction, homebuilders, and others engaged in the building trades.
Developing specialties in the dealership market also made sense, Dascenzo says, since that industry – along with manufacturing and construction – has a significant presence in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
“Obviously, we still have a lot of car dealerships as clients,” he says. But that industry is experiencing consolidation as local family-owned dealerships have been sold to large franchise operations.
“The local dealership is going by the wayside,” Dascenzo says.
Yet HBK can offset this segment of the industry with its strong client base of equipment dealers, heavy truck dealers and related businesses. “We have a really strong practice with equipment and truck dealerships,” he says.
Healthcare and nonprofits are other industries in which HBK has developed solutions divisions.
The firm has had relationships with healthcare clients since its founding in 1949. The division works with medical practices and specialists, long-term care centers, laboratories, nursing homes, residential care facilities, home care services, retirement communities, ambulatory services, therapists and other medical-related businesses.
Rosa says the concept is to present HBK as not simply an accounting firm, but as an organization that is prepared to support its clients across the board with financial consulting, information technology solutions, investment and capital advice, compliance and litigation services, and leadership and culture development.
“We’re not just CPAs. We’re a business partner,” Rosa says. “We’re a partner in their success and we’re a partner when things aren’t going so well.”
It’s all the result of a concerted effort over the last two decades to break down barriers within the firm to deliver more comprehensive services to HBK’s clients, Rosa elaborates. “We wanted to change the firm from this siloed, decentralized organization to a more total firm, where we work together in a wholly different way.”
This strategy has fed into the firm’s mantra, “Working together sets us apart.” Moreover, developing specialist industry divisions that seamlessly connect with those in HBK’s other service lines has added a more personal and human element to the entire business – one that is focused on the client.
“I believe in that human touch,” Rosa says. “I always want to know, ‘where do you want to go? What are your objectives?’ The stuff that has nothing to do with numbers.”
Pictured at top: Among the fastest growing sectors across the country is the cannabis industry.