HBK Welcomes O’Brien to Auditing Team

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – HBK CPAs & Consultants this week announced that Shawn O’Brien, a certified public accountant, will join its team of auditing professionals. O’Brien comes to HBK following two decades at Thomson Reuters/AuditWatch where he was a senior consultant specializing in providing audit efficiency and quality, and core-level training for accounting firms.

“Shawn brings HBK and our clients the valuable experience of a professional who has been a key figure in a leading accounting resource products and services company, where he consulted CPA firms on assurance efficiency and effectiveness,” says Scott Roush, HBK principal and director of quality control. “We look forward to leveraging his expertise into our assurance business at its core levels.”

At AuditWatch, O’Brien was a popular speaker and presenter and provided training to firms on technical auditing topics; including an annual Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) update and content tailored to address firm-specific needs resulting from internal inspections, peer reviews, and PCAOB reviews. He worked with CPA firms to understand their current challenges and created tailored client-specific programs that met their objectives to increase the productivity and ensure the consistency of their audit practice. He also taught core-level staff training classes to groups ranging from staff auditors to partners, using real-life examples and conveying practicality by translating the audit standards to the participants.

In addition to working directly with HBK audit clients, O’Brien will lead process improvement in the firm’s assurance practice in support of the team’s focus on quality results and efficient practices. His role includes supporting the firm’s auditors and accounting staff with continuing education and training on everything audit-related, from standards to methodology and processes.

Before joining Thomson Reuters in 2005, O’Brien was an audit senior manager at Deloitte in Pittsburgh where he specialized in construction contractors, health care, nonprofits, and middle-market manufacturers. He also taught local and national seminars for Deloitte.

O’Brien graduated from Duquesne University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration majoring in accounting.

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