We are committed to providing close, personal attention to our clients. We take pride in giving you the assurance that the personal assistance you receive comes from years of advanced training, technical experience and financial acumen. Our continual investment of time and resources in professional continuing education, state-of-the-art computer technology and extensive business relationships is indicative of our commitment to excellence.

We are a CPA firm and a proud member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Membership in the AICPA requires that our firm successfully complete periodic peer reviews of our accounting practice in accordance with standards established by the Peer Review Board of the AICPA. We are proud of the fact that we have passed each successive review with flying colors!

James D. Howard, MBA, CPA is the owner of the firm. Jim has provided accounting, tax and consulting services to McDonald's Owner/Operators and other clients since 1975.

Jim is a Nationally recognized expert in McDonald's taxatation and was a speaker at the 2001 and 2003 McDonald's National CPA Conferences. Jim was a member of McDonald's National Team of Experts, and his client Canterbury was chosen as the lead case in McDonald's Corporation's successful challenge to the IRS disallowance of franchise cost amortization (see Canterbury v. Commissioner T.C. 223).

Jim is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Society of California Accountants, and the Scholastic Honor Societies of Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi.

Jim is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the National Franchise Consultants Alliance (NFCA). NFCA is an association of nine top U.S. CPA firms specializing in providing professional services to McDonald's Owner/Operators. NFCA member firms are dedicated to sharing best practices in an effort to provide the finest level of service possible to their clients. James Howard is a proud member firm of NFCA!

Jim is the past President, former Treasurer and a founding member of the Orange County Ronald McDonald House Board of Trustees. Jim is the past Treasurer and former member of the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California, a non-profit corporation containing the Los Angeles, Orange County and Loma Linda Ronald McDonald Houses, Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, and the Community Grants Board. Jim is also the former Chairman and a founding member of the McDonald's Charities Investment Program (McCIP).

A firm is only as good as its staff -- and our firm is.... VERY, VERY GOOD!!!

Meet the Members of Our Outstanding Staff:

Shelly Mercer - EZ Access Accounting/Payroll Technology Manager. Shelly has a Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in accounting from California State University, Long Beach and 24 years of public accounting experience, and has been a member of our firm since 1996.

Joe Caruso - Senior Accountant. Joe has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. Joe has 17 years of public accounting experience and 17 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry. Joe has been a member of our firm since 1998.

Sheila Berman - Accounting Mangager. Sheila has a Bacelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. Sheila had 18 years of private sector accounting experience before joing our firm in 1999.

Jane Gambardella - Staff Accountant. Jane has a BA Management Degree with a concentration in Accounting and Finance from Virginia Wesleyan College, Norfolk, VA. Jane has 20 years of private accounting experience before joining our firm in 2000.

Ryan Howard -- Staff Accountant. Ryan has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Econonmics. Ryan graduated with Dean's Honors from University of California at Santa Barbara and joined our firm in 1999.

Diane K. Cleghorn -- Staff Accountant. Diane has 18 years of private sector accounting experience in a wide range of industries. Diane joined our firm in 2004.

Maggie Howard - Office Manager. Maggie has been a member of our firm since 1987.

Jennifer Pereda - Payroll Reporting Specialist, Jennifer has been a member of our firm since 1988.

Sheila Riley - Bill Paying/Payroll Manager.

Tiffany Tran - Payroll/Bill Paying/Data Processing Specialist.

Yadira De La Cruz - Payroll/Bill Paying/Data Processing Specialist.

Claudia R. Tehrani - Payroll/Bill Paying/Data Processing Specialist.