I met Howard in early 2014 after seeking my attorney’s recommendations for a new accounting and tax advisor for my young business. At that time, I’d already spent years in the corporate world as a CEO and board member and worked with numerous financial professionals, hired a CPA to manage my personal and business tax matters, and, thought I knew what I wanted. Prior to meeting Howard, I’d also hired a well-respected national accounting and tax advisory firm, but found they didn’t “connect with me” as a new business owner and operator. Through countless meetings, it seemed the big firm’s advice was often opaque, required more meetings for follow-up, my review of lengthy, complicated documents, and we “inched” towards the proverbial goal-line, but never quite crossed into the end-zone.
Looking back over the past 9 years, I know I got lucky when I met Howard and started working with the Virtus Group! With Howard there was an immediate connection and he focused on my concerns, my challenges, and my business and personal goals. It was evident he not only understood tax, accounting and general business matters, more importantly, he lives it! He clearly wants me and his other clients to do well, understands the importance of being a strategic business advisor beyond serving as their “CPA”, and embodies the firm’s client-centered focus helping business owners grow and succeed!
Howard and his team have done a great job helping me with my various business and personal tax and accounting matters. They’ve also helped me learn and grow, as my thinking of owning and managing a business has evolved; I’m better off because of their help. Howard and his colleagues continue to be invested in my personal and business success and he is amazingly quick to respond to questions, provide advice and guidance, and, wants to know what and why I’m trying to achieve an objective so he can provide the best advice for that particular situation.
More importantly from a client perspective, Howard has hired, developed, and leads a dedicated team at the Virtus Group. I’ve been the beneficiary of the firm’s commitment to client-centered attention that is a part of their overall DNA. Pretty early on, Howard introduced me to David Chesley, who Howard described as a young associate CPA who joined the firm a few years earlier. Howard said David was smart, hard-working, knowledgeable, mature beyond his years, and dedicated to helping clients in the same vein as Howard’s focus. So, David, Howard and I began working closely together and over the past few years the Virtus Group has helped me form new businesses, and provided significant advice and support for business and personal financial matters. My primary contact at the firm has evolved over time and while I know Howard is always available, I’ve come to trust and rely on David. He provides excellent tax, accounting and strategic business advice and has been instrumental in my success!
While I know I can always reach out to Howard and occasionally will do so (with amazingly fast and excellent response), I rarely need to do so because Dave has done a terrific job, works well with Howard and other colleagues when he has any doubts, and brings to bear the full capabilities of the firm for my benefit. Within the past year Dave became a partner at the Virtus Group, which I believe recognized his competency, commitment to clients, and capabilities as a CPA and trusted business advisor. I still enjoy engaging with Howard from time-to-time, and I know he sets the tone at the top, but can honestly say without any hesitation or reservations, that I wholeheartedly recommend the entire Virtus Group if you need effective accounting, tax and general business advice.