The accounting industry, nationwide and here in Northeast Wisconsin, has seen its fair share of mergers and acquisitions. In 2022 accounting firm M&A deals doubled from the previous year. For many firms, the increasing staffing costs, growing IT needs and demand for expertise beyond basic tax preparation and accounting, selling or merging is the only road forward. However, Hawkins Ash CPAs has leveraged its talent and reach to cement its independence as a legacy firm while providing clients nationally recognized, competitive, local tax, audit and advisory services.
Hawkins Ash CPAs was formed in 1956 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. From its humble beginnings of one office with 14 employees, the firm has grown to 10 offices with more than 180 professionals. Its trusted advisors serve more than 10,000 clients from offices in Green Bay, La Crosse, Manitowoc, Marshfield, Medford, Mequon and Neenah in Wisconsin to St. Charles, Winona and Rochester in Minnesota.
“Growing our firm is critical to our success,” said Abe Leis, CPA, managing partner. “In the next five to seven years, we’re geared to become one of the 100 largest CPA firms in the U.S. We’re currently in the top 200. We will continue to provide clients dependable, customized service and expertise.”
In 2021, the Firm made an assertive effort to establish its estate planning practice. Leis said, “Hawkins Ash has talent and resources to assist clients with their estate planning needs. Our team can assist with setting up an estate plan and be part of your estate planning team. Some estate plans need valuation of businesses, and we have certified valuations analysts (CVAs) who can perform these valuations.”
A critical part of the firm’s growth is dependent on the ability to attract and retain talent. Hawkins Ash CPAs is redefining work-life balance as part of the firm’s culture. “The firm has delivered autonomy to our professionals, which in turn has boosted recruitment of top talent and staff retention,” said Alysha Jeske, SHRM-CP, senior HR generalist.
Outside of “tax season” employees enjoy four day work weeks and the firm has worked to help employees find flexibility in their work day. Implemented in 2022, Hawkins Ash CPAs rolled out a program to aid their professionals who wish to set up space to work from home. Each employee was given a stipend and laptop to ensure remote work is feasible and effortless.
Hawkins Ash CPAs employees are passionate about fostering the next generation of public accounting professionals. The firm’s internship program provides college accounting students the ability to gain the full public accounting experience close to home while completing their education.
Hawkins Ash CPAs prioritizes the technological needs of its professionals and clients and has empowered the IT department to focus on consistency, timeliness and frontline technologies.
Bob Spencer, IT manager at Hawkins Ash CPAs, said this philosophy “results in the ability to update systems and provide access efficiently, all while minimizing downtime for users. We strive to ensure our professionals focus less on the function of the system and more on serving the needs of our clients.”
To ensure this seamless functionality, the firm embraced a secure cloud-based infrastructure to increase flexibility and to be prepared for any situation that arises in the IT world.
The Hawkins Ash CPAs professionals demonstrate knowledge and share accessible advice through podcasts, short videos, newsletters, articles and training events.
“We strive to keep accounting and tax information easy to understand,” said Corenne Gutierrez, marketing manager. “All this information is found in the CPA-HQ section of our website and on our YouTube channel.”
Learn more about the capabilities of Hawkins Ash CPAs online at www.HawkinsAsh.CPA.
Company: Hawkins Ash CPAs
Innovation: Accounting for the future
Website: HawkinsAsh.CPA
